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FLYERBUZZ, OCT 28, 2013: A NEW STORYLINE, MESZAROS RETURNS, AND MORE
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POST-PRACTICE UPDATE (1 p.m. EDT)
The Flyers will feature one change in the lineup tomorrow night against the Ducks. Andrej Meszaros will be back in the lineup, paired with Kimmo Timonen. Erik Gustafsson will be a healthy scratch.
The team used the same forward combinations as Saturday's game. Adam Hall (a healthy scratch against the Islanders) and Jay Rosehill rotated on line rushes with the fourth line, so it is not clear as of yet which player will be in the lineup tomorrow. However, I tend to think it will be Hall, especially because he participated in special teams drills on the PK units during the second half of practice.
Craig Berube discusses defensive line change, balancing offense and defense
Andrej Meszaros talks about returning from being a healthy scratch
******** Monday Quick Hits
* As of the end of last night's games around the NHL, the Flyers have given up the fewest goals (27) of any team in the Metropolitan Division. On a league-wide basis, they rank 7th defensively. The improved team defense and the strong goaltending of Steve Mason are the biggest reason why I think the Flyers' have been better than their record suggests. If the team hadn't been off to their worst goal-scoring start in franchise history -- even with the five-goal outburst on Saturday, they've still only scored 1.80 goals per game -- people would be singing a different tune about this team.
* Tomorrow's game against Anaheim will be a good measuring stick for whether the Flyers are truly on the right track now after their back-to-back wins against the Rangers and Islanders. The Ducks currently have the third-best record in the NHL (9-3-0) and have scored the fourth most goals (39) in the league.
* The most lopsided 20 minutes of hockey I have watched this season was NOT the Penguins running roughshod over the Flyers in the second period of their game on Oct 17. Instead, it was the Ducks even more complete domination of the Dallas Stars in the second period of their game three nights later.
On that night, Dallas entered the period leading 3-1 and left trailing 4-3 in a stanza in which the Ducks spent 10 nearly uninterrupted minutes in the offensive zone -- maybe a defensive zone clear here and an icing there but no actual counterattack from Dallas other than one weak foray in the middle of a line change and a power play that went nowhere. Anaheim peppered the Dallas net with 23 shots in that period, and scored even strength, power play and shorthanded goals.
The Flyers had better be up on their skates and ready to deal with Anaheim for 60 minutes because, once the Ducks start the momentum rolling, they are very tough to contain.
* Alumni Birthdays: Kevin Dineen, the Florida Panthers head coach and the former Flyers captain, turns 50 today. One of the game's most intense competitors on the ice, he is also one of its classiest men off the ice. Winger Chris Jensen, who appeared in 20 games for the Flyers in late 1980s to early 1990s, also turns 50 today. Mark Cullen, who briefly played for the team during the 2006-07 season, turns 35.
* Today in Flyers History: On this date in 1977, the Flyers traded Blake Dunlop and a third-round 1978 pick (Gordie Salt) to the Minnesota North Stars, receiving Harvey Bennett in return.
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