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Flyers Gameday: 3/26/12 vs. Lightning

March 26, 2012, 8:16 AM ET [760 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
PREVIEW 6:40 AM EST

Needing another victory to continue putting pressure on the teams above them in the Atlantic Division standings, the Philadelphia Flyers (44-23-8) wrap up their five-game homestand when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (34-33-7) tonight at the Wells Fargo Center. The game starts at 7 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast nationally in the U.S. on NBC Sports Network and in Canada on TSN2.

This is the fourth and final meeting between the teams this season. The Bolts have had a disappointing year after most preseason predictions ranked them among the playoff contenders in the Eastern Conference. However, as they often have throughout their history, the Lightning have given the Flyers trouble this season. Tampa has taken two of the first three games.

On Nov. 9, Tampa Bay captured a 2-1 victory on Brett Connolly's rebound goal in overtime. The game, which aired nationally on the former Versus, is most remembered for Guy Boucher repeatedly refusing to send a forechecker into the Philadelphia zone and Peter Laviolette responding by having his defensemen simply hold the puck in the defensive zone and refusing to skate into the neutral zone trap.

A month and one day later, the clubs rematched in Philadelphia. Tampa got the game's first goal before the Flyers exploded for a three goal outburst in the second period, en route to a 5-2 win. Claude Giroux suffered a concussion in the game after accidentally being kicked in the back of the head by teammate Wayne Simmonds as Simmonds attempted to hurdle over him in the neutral zone.

On Dec. 27, the Flyers were guilty of overlooking the struggling Bolts in a game sandwiched
between games against the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins prior to the Winter Classic. Philly paid the price. Although Tampa generated just 16 shots for the game, it blocked 22 Flyers' shot attempts and racked up a 5-1 win.

After the last meeting in Tampa, a frustrated Ilya Bryzgalov got caught up in a media circus -- much of it of his own doing. He ended up sitting on the bench watching Sergei Bobrovsky in a 4-2 win in Pittsburgh and a 3-2 loss at the Winter Classic. It was the nadir of Bryzgalov's season, and the personal tailspin continued for him until mid-February.

Fortunes have shifted dramatically since then. Bryzgalov has arguably been the best player (not just goaltender) in the NHL in the month of March, racking up a 10-1-1 record to go along with a 1.22 goals against average, .956 save percentage and four shutouts. Of course, the Flyers' improved team defense has had a lot to do with his wave of success -- just as it had a lot to do with his previous inconsistency -- but the goalie's play has been the single biggest individual factor in the Flyers' excellent stretch run.

Last game, the Flyers managed to score the game's first goal for just the sixth time in 21 games. That is something they will look to build off tonight.

Philly is 26-4-5 when scoring first, while Tampa Bay is just 10-23-4 when yielding the first goal of the game. The Flyers have shown themselves to be one of the best comeback teams in the NHL (and were scored on first in their lone victory against the Bolts this year). Even so, Tampa is infinitely easier to play against when Boucher is forced to open things up, leaving his club's so-so blueline and goaltending exposed.

The Lightning enter this game with a 4-5-1 record over the last 10 games. They've played a little better hockey of late, winning two in a a row coming into tonight. Steven Stamkos scored two goals in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Islanders, breaking a four-game point drought. Stamkos, who leads the NHL with 52 goals this season, has 10 goals and 15 points in 15 career games against the Flyers.

On the injury front, the Bolts are without Vincent LeCavalier (broken hand), goaltender Mathieu Garon (lower body), defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron (back surgery) and forwards Nate Thompson (upper body), Adam Hall (upper body) and Ryan Shannon (shoulder).

The Flyers are likely to feature the same lineup as they did in the 4-1 win over Montreal on Saturday. Andreas Lilja is day-to-day with an upper body injury, while James van Riemsdyk (foot surgery) and Andrej Meszaros (back surgery) are out until some point in the playoffs.

PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)

FLYERS

Hartnell - Giroux - Jagr
Schenn - Briere - Simmonds
Talbot/Read - Couturier - Voracek
Wellwood - Read/Talbot - Rinaldo

Carle - Timonen
Grossmann - Coburn
Gustafsson - Kubina

Bryzgalov
[Bobrovsky]


LIGHTNING

St. Louis - Stamkos - Purcell
Malone - Pyatt - Connolly
Wyman - Smith - Wallace
Labrie - ???? - Segal

Hedman - Brewer
Clark - Lee
Gervais - Mikkelson/Aulie

Roloson
[Caron]

***********

Flyers forward Max Talbot will be making a public autograph-signing appearance tomorrow at the Sports Cave in the Shops at Liberty Place (1625 Chestnut St., Suite 171) from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $30.

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.

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