PREVIEW 6:30 AM EST
Trying to break out of an annual habit of stumbling through the stretch drive, the Philadelphia Flyers (34-21-7, 14-10-5 at home) return home from their four-game westerly road trip to take on the New York Islanders (26-28-9, 12-14-4 on the road) tonight at the Wells Fargo Center. The game starts at 7 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on CSN Philly.
This is the fifth of six meetings between the teams this season and final one in Philadelphia. After years of dominance by the Flyers, the Islanders have given Philly all they can handle this year. The Flyers have been outplayed in three of the four meetings this season -- all but the most recent one. The Flyers are 2-1-1 against New York this season.
Strong goaltending by Sergei Bobrovsky (in relief of a struggling Ilya Bryzgalov), mediocre goaltending by the Islanders' Rick DiPietro and two late goals by Danny Briere were the difference in Philly's 4-3 overtime win on Nov. 23.
On Jan. 12, Bobrovsky was sharp and Evgeni Nabokov made a single horrendous mistake (giving up a goal to Wayne Simmonds on a weak offering from a nearly impossible angle) in an otherwise solid performance. That was the difference in Philadelphia's 3-2 win.
The tides were turned seven days later at the Wells Fargo Center. Philly wasted a strong game by Bobrovsky -- who stopped numerous 2-on-1s and breakaways -- with a terribly sloppy performance. New York outworked the Flyers and Nabokov played very well in goal. A late empty-netter gave the Islanders a 4-1 victory.
On Feb. 7, Nabokov played one of his best games in years, stoning the Flyers on 45 shots in regulation and overtime (quite a few of the difficult variety) and then going 2-for-2 in the shootout. Bryzgalov only had to make 18 saves, but had to come up with several gems of his own. The game was tied 0-0 after overtime, but then the Islanders scored twice in the shootout to skate away with the extra point. For the first time in Flyers' history, their goalie was both credited with a shutout and charged with a loss. A vocal minority of fans booed Bryzgalov at the end for faring poorly in the shootout.
Bryzgalov enters tonight's game coming off a strong finish to an uneven game in Calgary (a comeback win via shootout) and an outstanding solid all-around performance after an iffy early goal in Tuesday's 1-0 loss in San Jose. His play against the Sharks was definitely the one truly bright spot from that game.
Coming into tonight's game, the first order of business is for the Flyers to put an end to the slow starts that have plagued them for too long. The team has given up the first goal of the game in eight straight matches and in 11 of the last 12. What's more, the team has only established a lead within the first 10 minutes of a game once in its last 35 games -- just seven matches away from a half-season's worth of games.
The Flyers have been an offensively fearsome team for much of the season, but the offense has been spotty since the All-Star Game; very much feast or famine. The club enters tonight having been shut out twice in the last three games and three times (including by Nabokov in the 0-0 shootout game) in the last month.
Danny Briere, who started the San Jose game on the fourth line before moving back up in the lineup to his accustomed second-line spot, took a header into the boards late in the game courtesy of a push from behind by Marc-Edouard Vlasic. After laying on the ice for a lengthy period of time, Briere went off under his own power and stayed in the game.
Assuming Briere is OK, the Flyers will have a complete lineup tonight minus their players on long-term injured reserve for the season. For New York, Dylan Reese (sprained knee) is out. Rookie Nino Niederreiter was a healthy scratch last game.
Both the Flyers and Islanders have won just four of their respective last 10 games. The Islanders have dropped three of their last four games but upended the Eastern Conference leading Rangers in their lone victory. On Tuesday, the Islanders were unable to protect a 2-0 lead in the third period and lost 3-2 to the Capitals in overtime.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
Hartnell - Giroux - Jagr
Talbot - Briere - Simmonds
JVR - Schenn - Voracek
Read - Couturier - Rinaldo
Carle - Coburn
Timonen - Kubina
Grossman - Meszaros
Bryzgalov
[Bobrovsky]
ISLANDERS
Moulson - Tavares - Parenteau
Grabner - Cizikas - Okposo
Ullstrom - Nielsen - Bailey
Martin - Reasoner - Pandolfo
Streit - Staios
MacDonald - Hamonic
Eaton - Jurcina
Nabokov
[Montoya]
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Flyers goaltending prospect Niko Hovinen has been out of the lineup this week for the Lahti Pelicans due to an unspecified lower-body injury. Earlier this season, the 6-foot-7 Finn missed some time with a similar injury. That has been the lone downside to what has been a fine campaign for him (2.30 GAA, .919 SV%, 4 shutouts). The Pelicans have six games left in the regular season, and are in second place in SM-liiga.
Ex-Flyers goaltending prospect Joacim Eriksson, whom the Flyers elected not to sign last year before the expiration of his NHL rights, has taken over as the starting goalie for SAIK in Sweden. Eriksson is among a handful of young goalies who have emerged as top players in Elitserien this year, which is the subject of this week's
Across the Pond on NHL.com.
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On Monday, March 5, the Flyersfaithful.com web site will be
holding a fundraising event for the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation at Fado in Center City Philadelphia. The event is a Flyers-themed pub quiz. The entry fee is $10 and the money will be split between the winning quiz team and an equal donation to the ESYHF.
Come out, have some fun and support local youth hockey for underprivileged youngsters who otherwise would not access to playing the sport.
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Use coupon code "FlyersBuzz" on
HockeyTickets.ca between now and the end of the regular season to receive a 10% discount on all ticket orders over $150 and also have a chance to win two free lower-level seats to a Flyers regular season game of your choice at the Wells Fargo Center.
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information click here.
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