Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Flyers Gameday: 11/21/13 vs. Buffalo

November 21, 2013, 10:07 AM ET [947 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
FLYERS-SABRES GAME PREVIEW (9:30 AM EST)

Looking for their fifth win in their last six games, the Philadelphia Flyers (8-10-2) will take on the Buffalo Sabres (5-17-1) at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7:00 p.m. EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philly.

This is the first of three meetings between the teams this season and the first of two in Philadelphia. The clubs will play each other again on January 14 in Buffalo and April 6 at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers are 5-2-0 in their last seven games against the Sabres.

Tonight's game is the middle match of a three-game homestand for the Flyers. The New York Islanders will come to town on Saturday.

FLYERS OUTLOOK

The Flyers opened their homestand with a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. The final score was a bit deceptive, as this was a much more tenuous victory for Philadelphia than the club's 5-0 win in Ottawa the previous Tuesday. Ottawa battled back from a 2-0 deficit and nearly took a 3-2 lead in the third period but for a fortunate dual skate "save" by defenseman Nicklas Grossmann. Philly responded by scoring three unanswered goals.

In Tuesday's game, Claude Giroux scored his second goal of the season and Wayne Simmonds notched his third. Meanwhile, Sean Couturier, Kimmo Timonen and Adam Hall (empty net) each tallied for the first time in the 2013-14 season.

Steve Mason continued his season-long outstanding play in goal, stopping 32 of 34 Ottawa shots on this night. Entering tonight's game, Mason has a 2.12 GAA and .932 save percentage; that ranks him sixth and fifth respectively among NHL goaltenders who have appeared in 15 or more games this season.

The Flyers have been playing strong hockey at 5-on-5 of late, and have not allowed an opposing even strength goal in the last four games. Meanwhile, the club's special teams fortunes have reversed in the recent games.

On the positive side, the previously struggling power play has tallied at least once in each of the last four tilts. On the negative, the previously rock solid penalty kill has given up at least one in four of the last five games, including two goals apiece in each of the last two matches.

First-line right winger Jakub Voracek brings a five-game point streak into tonight's game. During that span, he has two goals and four assists for six points. With a point tonight, Voracek will match his career-best point streak, which he has previously accomplished twice.

The Flyers will try to jump on the Sabres early tonight. First periods have been Philly's best game segment and Buffalo's worst thus far this season. The Flyers have outscored opponents by an 18-10 margin in first periods, while the Sabres have been outscored by a whopping 31-4.

Beyond the first period, Philly enters tonight having been outscored 17-9 in second periods and 21-13 in third periods. The Sabres have been outscored 21-19 in second periods and 19-16 in third periods. Both teams have lost one game in overtime.

SABRES OUTLOOK

The Sabres made huge organizational changes recently, firing their general manager and coach and hiring Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine to be the new director of hockey operations and bringing back Ted Nolan as interim head coach. The club also sent down three struggling young players.

While Buffalo is currently at the bottom of the NHL heap, this is still a game the Flyers need to play with some urgency as they attempt to climb one step closer to the .500 mark after a 1-7-0 start to the regular season. Last week, the Sabres knocked off the LA Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs in successive games. The previous week, Buffalo captured a shootout win over the San Jose Sharks.

Although former Vezina Trophy winner Ryan Miller is saddled with a 4-12-0 record and a 3.18 goals against average, he has played just fine in most of his starts. Miller's .917 save percentage is more indicative of his actual play. The Sabres have been outshot by opponents by a staggering 824-582 margin to date, and outchanched by an equally wide ratio. Many of the goals Miller has yielded have been on wide-open chances that he has had little to no chance to stop.

Leading Sabres scorer Cody Hodgson (seven goals, 16 points) notched a pair of goals in the team's upset win over LA. Since then, he has one assist in the last three games.

Matt Moulson has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 10 games since coming over to Buffalo in the blockbuster trade that sent Thomas Vanek to the Islanders. Moulson bagged a pair of goals against Dallas in his Sabres debut, but has not lit the lamp since then. However, he has three assists in his last four games.

The Sabres enter tonight's game ranked 22nd in the NHL on the power play (10 for 67, 14.9 percent). They are 23rd on the penalty kill at 79.2 percent but have killed just 27 of 37 penalties on the road (73.0 percent).

In the team's most recent roster moves, the Sabres ecalled forward Luke Adam and defenseman Brayden McNabb from the AHL's Rochester Americans. Additionally, young forward Mikhail Grigorenko has been returned to the Sabres after the NHL ruled he was not eligible for a conditioning assignment to the Amerks.


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

29 Ray Emery
[35 Steve Mason]

Potential Scratches: Michael Raffl (healthy), Andrej Meszaros (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).

SABRES

26 Matt Moulson - 19 Cody Hodgson - 21 Drew Stafford
82 Marcus Foligno - 23 Ville Leino - 63 Tyler Ennis
72 Luke Adam - 9 Steve Ott - 28 Zemgus Girgensons
78 Corey Tropp - 8 Cody McCormick - 65 Brian Flynn

3 Mark Pysyk - 10 Christian Ehrhoff
20 Henrik Tallinder - 57 Tyler Myers
4 Jamie McBain - 81 Brayden McNabb

30 Ryan Miller
[1 Jhonas Enroth]

Potential Scratches: Mikhail Grigorenko (healthy), John Scott (healthy), Mike Weber (healthy).

************

Kindle users: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information click here.

Click below to follow me on Twitter:

Join the Discussion: » 947 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Bill Meltzer
» Quick Hits: Week Ahead, Flyers Daily, Carnival and More
» Flyers Gameday: 3/16/24 @ BOS; Phantoms Update
» Wrap: Maple Leafs Down Flyers, 6-2
» Flyers Gameday: 3/14/24 vs. TOR
» Wrap: Flyers Defeat Sharks, 3-2