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The Flyers (3-1-1) will play for the first time in nearly a week when they take on the offensively challenged Florida Panthers (1-4-0) tonight in Sunrise, Fla. One advantage to the one-game-in-eleven-day stretch the Flyers are on now is that it's impossible for the players to look past tonight's game, regardless of how the Panthers have been playing.
On paper, this is a game the Flyers should win. After winning its opener in Helsinki on a shootout goal by Ville Koistinen, the Panthers have lost four in a row. The team has scored a grand total of 10 goals, and key players such as Nathan Horton and David Booth have been all but invisible in the early going of the season. It's debateable how much has been the lingering effects of playing the first two games in Europe. Radek Dvorak has been the team's most consistent forward over the last couple games and is coming off a game in which he tallied a shorthanded goal against Tampa.
Coming into the game, Philadelphia enjoys a huge advantage on special teams. Florida has converted an anemic 9.5% of its power plays so far (next-to-last in the NHL), while the Flyers are fourth in the league with a success rate of 29%. On the penalty kill, Florida is in the bottom one-third of the league (69.6%) while the Flyers rank fourth (88.9%). In addition, the Panthers are not a team that has been adept at coming back from behind, and the Flyers have scored first in all but one game this season.
Nevertheless, the Flyers can't afford to take the Panthers lightly. Florida has a history of giving the Flyers trouble regardless of the clubs' overall records. The Panthers went 2-1-1 against the Flyers a year ago. Tomas Vokoun is also capable of stealing low-scoring games for his team, while backup Scott Clemmensen went 2-0 with a 1.89 GAA against the Flyers last year as a member of the Devils.
The Flyers will have James van Riemsdyk back in the lineup tonight. The rookie will start the game on a hodgepodge line with checking forward Mika Pyorala and banger Arron Asham. His return will send Darroll Powe back to the fourth line center spot and Riley Cote back to the pressbox.
Anyone who knows me knows that Mark Howe is my all-time hockey idol. Therefore, I know of no higher compliment to pay a player than to say watching him reminds me of seeing Howe in his prime. But that's exactly who Nicklas Lidstrom has always reminded of. Today's Daily Drop at Versus.com pays tribute to the best defenseman of the last 20 years, one night after he recorded his 1,000th career point.
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I will be doing book signings for the Pelle Lindbergh book on Nov. 4 at the Chester County Book Company (starting at 7 PM) and on the afternoon of Dec. 12 at the Barnes and Noble in Deptford, NJ.
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