GAME PREVIEW (11:45 AM EST)
Starting a difficult slate of three road games in games in four nights, the Philadelphia Flyers (5-10-1) are in Canada tonight to take on the Ottawa Senators (7-6-4). Game time is 7:30 p.m. eastern. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philly.
This is the first of three meetings between the teams; all of which will take place within the next month. The teams will rematch in Philly one week from tonight and then conclude the season series back in Ottawa on Dec. 9.
After tonight's game, the Flyers return to the U.S. and have a nationally televised game in Pittsburgh tomorrow at 8 p.m. against a rested Penguins team. Thereafter, the Flyers have to return to Canada again for a game in Winnipeg on Friday.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are coming off a 4-2 win over Edmonton on Saturday afternoon. Jay Rosehill, Scott Hartnell, Claude Giroux and Vincent Lecavalier tallied for the Flyers, who had entered the game averaging less than one-and-a-half goals per game this season. Jakub Voracek and Matt Read notched assists in the game as well.
Although the Oilers are a struggling team, especially defensively, the win was encouraging for Philadelphia on many fronts. The team got goals from goal-starved players, who may now just be able to relax and play hockey. Moreover, the club responded well when faced with a bit of adversity. Twice, they retook control of the game after Edmonton narrowed two-goal deficits to one. Lastly, Steve Mason turned in the same sort of high quality goaltender performance that he's been providing (largely in vain) all season.
The Flyers took a day off on Sunday. Yesterday, the club held an ultra high-tempo practice in Voorhees, which included a segment of players doing sprints. The intensity of the skating yesterday surprised me a bit with a three-in-four schedule on the docket this week.
Energy management may not be a big issue tonight, but it may be as the road trip progresses. Ideally, head coach Craig Berube will be able to roll all four forward lines and defense pairs tonight and the team will not have to spend too much time killing penalties. Of course, all of this will be dictated by the actual game situations that arise.
Steve Downie (concussion, badly bruised and swollen face and eye) has been cleared to return to the lineup. Michael Raffl (flu) is out.
SENATORS OUTLOOK
Ottawa brings a three-game winning streak into tonight's tilt. The club, which is 3-0-2 for the month to date, is coming off of wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers. Tonight's game is the third of a five-game homestand.
The most recent game, a 3-2 victory on Saturday against the struggling Panthers, was a little close for comfort after the Senators quickly built a 2-0 lead. Florida twice shaved two-goal deficits in half and the Senators had to nurse a one-goal for half of a third period in which Florida outshot and outchanced them. Kyle Turris, Mika Zibanejad Clarke MacArthur notched goals for the Senators while the ever-dangerous Erik Karlsson had one assist.
Young goaltender Robin Lehner, the NHL's First-Star of the Week, made 26 saves for the win in the Florida game. Craig Anderson is expected to back in goal tonight.
Cherry Hill native Bobby Ryan had one assist in the Florida game to run his point-scoring streak to six straight games. Over that span, he has three goals and 10 points.
The Senators only have one definite injury-related scratch tonight. Erik Condra (sprained leg muscle) is unavailable. Veteran defenseman Chris Phillips, who did not skate today, is officially a game-time decision.
PROJECTED LINE COMBINATIONS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
10 Brayden Schenn - 40 Vincent Lecavalier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
9 Steve Downie - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read
37 Jay Rosehill - 18 Adam Hall - 36 Zac Rinaldo
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
26 Erik Gustafsson - 22 Luke Schenn
35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]
Potential Scratches: Michael Raffl (flu), Andrej Meszaros (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Steve Downie (concussion), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
SENATORS
Milan Michalek - Jason Spezza - Cory Conacher
Clarke MacArthur - Kyle Turris - Bobby Ryan
Colin Greening - Zack Smith - Chris Neil
Matt Kassian - Derek Grant - Mika Zibanejad
Jared Cowen - Erik Karlsson
Marc Methot - Mark Borowiecki
Joe Corvo or Chris Phillips - Patrick Wiercioch
Potential Scratches: Joe Corvo (healthy) or Chris Phillips (undisclosed), Erik Condra (leg), Eric Gryba (healthy)
************
Kindle users: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information
click here.
Click below to follow me on Twitter:
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»