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Meltzer's Musings: T-Minus 24 Hours

April 28, 2012, 7:22 AM ET [214 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Flyers' final practice before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the New Jersey Devils will begin at 11:00 am today at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees. As always, it is free and open to the public. A large crowd is expected, so plan to arrive early if you are going.

Peter Laviolette has tried to make practices as up-tempo as possible this past week, getting in short but intensive conditioning skating during the first half of practice each day. Yesterday was the first practice since the team learned who it will be playing in Round 2, and there was a lot of emphasis on special teams drills for the second straight day. Wednesday was spent on 2-on-1 rush offense/defense.

Meanwhile, the Devils had no choice but to take a total off-day yesterday following their Game 7 double overtime win over the Panthers on Thursday. They will practice today. With tomorrow's game starting at 3 p.m., there may not be time for a game time skate at the Wells Fargo Center tomorrow.

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The Flyers practiced with a full squad yesterday. For the second straight day, Nicklas Grossmann was dressed for full contact. He took all of his reps in line rush and PK drills with usual partner, Braydon Coburn. The other pairings yesterday were Kimmo Timonen with Matt Carle and Andreas Lilja with Erik Gustafsson.

Pavel Kubina took reps paired with rehabbing Andrej Meszaros. That would suggest that as long as Grossmann is able to play tomorrow, Kubina will be a scratch for Game 1 while Gustafsson (who had the best game of his career in Game 6 vs Pittsburgh) will stay in the lineup to start the Devils' series.

Marc-Andre Bourdon is still not skating or (to the best of my knowledge) doing off-ice workouts on practice days. Increasingly, I would not be surprised if his absence stretches through the remainder of the playoffs.

Brandon Manning did not practice with the main group yesterday, as he did earlier in the week. That's another indication that the Flyers expect to have seven other defensemen -- including Grossmann -- available come tomorrow afternoon.

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I had an interesting post-practice discussion with Danny Briere yesterday. I wanted to get a sense of whether the NHL's leading playoff goal-scorer has changed aspects of his personal preparation for the post-season over the course of his career. As is usually the case, Danny gave a detailed and thoughtful answer.

Said Briere, "As you get older, you know more about what it's like in the playoffs. You spend less time thinking about what might happen and just get ready for whatever comes. When I was a young player, I would get so hyped up the night before a big game. Sometimes, I would wake up feeling drained. The energy would be gone. So I try to keep it on an even keel more. Sometimes that's easier said than done.

"I think you see that during the regular season, too. You know how sometimes you have a big game against a really tough opponent and the next game out, there's a letdown against one of the worst teams in the league? You don't want it to be that way. But it's a big challenge to find that level, that energy you need. So that's really what I focus on now more than thinking about what's going to happen in the game.

"The other part of it is just knowing your body. As you get older as a player, you have to pay attention to that, too."

Another aspect of the Flyers' team preparations for the Devils is a meeting devoted to video review. I asked Briere if there is any benefit that can truly be gained by players from these sessions as opposed to the knowledge that comes from directly playing the opponent on the ice.

He responded, "Sometimes. I don't think there's any substitute for playing a team. We know pretty much what they're going to do, and they know us, too. But sometimes the coaches can pick on little tweaks you can make. They might find a 'fail point' on the other side we might be able to take advantage of. For the most part, though, it's kind of a reminder of tendencies you see when you play against them."

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Max Talbot had to undergo root canal and sustained a chipped tooth from his mishap at practice on Thursday. He is otherwise OK.

The injury happened when a Matt Carle shot struck Talbot in the mouth. The puck may have deflected off the stick of Eric Wellwood.

Talbot joked about the injury yesterday saying he was lucky the shot came off the stick of Carle ("fortunately it was him-- it was a muffin"), who is teased for not generating much velocity on his wrist shots. He also kiddingly pledged to "get the rookie (Wellwood) back."

Look for Talbot in his usual third-line wing spot on Sean Couturier's line tomorrow.

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I fully expect Evgeni Malkin to win the Hart Trophy this season. But I was mildly surprised that Claude Giroux did not finish in the top three in the balloting (AKA "named a finalist") for the NHL's MVP award. Personally, I would have chosen Giroux second in the voting. He likely finished fourth, behind Malkin, Henrik Lundqvist and Steven Stamkos.

That said, Giroux would gladly sacrifice the Hart Trophy for the the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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When two teams play one another as often as the Flyers and Devils do all season, there really isn't too much either side can practice to surprise the other.

Personally, I would love to see someone like Claude Giroux pull off one of those lacrosse-like trick goals you see every once in a while (cradling the puck behind the net and, in one swift motion, swinging around the post and dropping the puck inside the post). But things like that aren't practiced. They happen spontaneously and almost never in big-pressure games.

However, there was one of those goals scored in the IIHF World Championships last year by Minnesota Wild prospect Mikael Granlund. If there is any player on the Flyers with both the spontaneous creativity and sheer moxie to try an unexpected move like that in a playoff game, it would be Giroux.

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