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Flyers Wrapup: 10-24-08 vs. Devils |
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Wrapup (11:00 PM EDT)
As ugly as things have gotten at times over the early part of the season, one thing the Flyers can't be accused of is being quitters. They've kept on battling when they've trailed in games, and have been a resilient team.
It would been very easy for the Flyers to fold their tents after giving up a goal on a deflection from behind the net less than a minute into the game. It would have been even easier to deflate after Martin Biron let in a bad goal late in the first period to send the team off trailing, 3-2, despite playing a good opening 20 minutes on the whole.
But the Flyers kept battling, and kept capitalizing on their scoring opportunities. There were a few too many hairy moments trying to protect the lead in the third period, but Biron made the saves he had to make, and the club got a huge insurance goal from Joffrey Lupul to seal the game.
The Flyers had a variety of players step in the absence of Daniel Briere (more on him below) with captain Mike Richards and Jeff Carter setting the tone. They stayed out of the box for the most part also built on many of the positives outlined in the game preview:
* The powerplay has started to move the puck better. It was very important that the Flyers score on their five-minute powerplay in the first period, and they did. Also, any night where you get a pair of powerplay goals, you have to be pleased with the output on the powerplay.
* Jeff Carter, who has always been a streaky offensive player, has goals in four of the last five games. Make it five of six games now. Carter's goal was a beauty, right under the crossbar to the short-side.
* Joffrey Lupul (who is every bit as streaky offensively as Carter) is coming off a two-goal game against San Jose. As is often the case with Lupul, he scores again the next game after breaking through.
* Scottie Upshall is coming off a strong game, and has a history of success against the Devils (eight points in 10 games, including a clutch goal in the late-season victory this past spring that clinched a playoff spot). Upshall had no points in the game, but was in the Devils' faces and making things happen on the forecheck. It was another good game for him.
* If the Flyers don't score first, they've at least shown resilience this season when they're trailing. That was absolutely the case tonight.
* While the Flyers rarely defeat the Devils, they've had a handful of games in recent years where they seem to solve Martin Brodeur. Brodeur looked mortal tonight.
Tonight's game was far from a perfect 60 minutes of hockey from the Flyers. The defensive breakdowns were still there, the goaltending took awhile to come around, and they once again had a bad night on faceoffs (38%).
But right now, all that matters are the two desperately needed points.
Notes:
* Riley Cote tuned Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond in a fight that was almost as long as the Devils' rookie's name. Cote was looking for "Triple L" after getting boarded by him in the first period.
* John Madden's line usually gets the best of the Flyers. Tonight, they were minus-three.
* If Daniel Briere is truly going to be out 3-4 weeks, his sports hernia must be one of the mildest ones in recent memory. Those injuries usually take at least twice that long for the player to be able to skate again with his usual zip.
I just hope Briere and the Flyers play it smart and give him time to fully heal. If it's 3-4 weeks, great. But if it's six weeks or 10 weeks or whatever, so be it.
There's going to come a point where he thinks he feels better, only to go on the ice and find that it still hurts to make cuts and turns. The injury will heal on its own time, and can't be rushed.
We've seen what happens when players try to come back too fast.
In particular, I remember Mikael Renberg's 1995-96 "mild abdominal strain" all too well. He had preseason hernia surgery, rushed back too soon, reinjured it in December (and played with it for a month). suffered a so-called "mild" setback in January and then could hardly play the rest of the season. He was never the same explosive player again.
I also recall Joni Pitkanen's 2005-06 injury where he got off to a tremendous start, had the injury and came back about a week ahead of the initial prognosis. But when he came back, he became the tentative, indecisive player he was for the rest of his Flyers tenure. It really was a turning point in his career because that's when he became afraid of venturing into the traffic areas when he pinched.
There are other examples, but you get the point. Play it smart, let it heal fully and come back when you're truly ready.
Now in terms of what Briere's absence will mean to the lineup, obviously his creativity, speed and scoring will be missed, especially on the powerplay. But this Flyers team doesn't have offensive problems right now, and Danny's impact is on the offensive end.
So I think the club can withstand his loss, and manage around it. The number one priority remains improving the team defense.
Preview (11:00 AM EDT)
Things won't get any easier for the winless Flyers (0-3-3) tonight when they travel to Newark to take on the New Jersey Devils (5-1-0). The Flyers are also trying to snap a winless streak in New Jersey that now spans 12 games (0-9-3).
The Flyers' problems this season have been discussed to death, but make no mistake: Philly will continue to lose as long as they fail to execute a variety fundamentals (puck pursuit, defensive coverages, clearing the porch, winning faceoffs, avoiding bad penalties, etc). Starting goalie Maritn Biron has allowed at least one bad goal in each of his starts so far, and that trend needs to turn around quickly, too.
If they continue to give up the most goals in the NHL, we're going to be having "Should the Flyers draft Hedman or Tavares?" debates by February. No one wants that. The Flyers are -- or should be -- a much better team than the way they've played so far.
This isn't the 2006-07 bunch, even though they've played like it at times. The Flyers have also shown at times that they can give top teams a run for the money, they just haven't put it all together yet. Let's focus on some of the positives they can build from tonight:
* The Flyers have scored shorthanded goals in three straight games, and lead the NHL with four goals while down a man.
* The powerplay has started to move the puck better.
* Jeff Carter, who has always been a streaky offensive player, has goals in four of the last five games.
* Joffrey Lupul (who is every bit as streaky offensively as Carter) is coming off a two-goal game against San Jose.
* Scottie Upshall is coming off a strong game, and has a history of success against the Devils (eight points in 10 games, including a clutch goal in the late-season victory this past spring that clinched a playoff spot).
* If the Flyers don't score first, they've at least shown resilience this season when they're trailing (they've actually played better hockey when they're behind than when they've played with the lead, although chasing the game is no recipe for success).
* While the Flyers rarely defeat the Devils, they've had a handful of games in recent years where they seem to solve Martin Brodeur. It often seems to happen when they fire side-angle shots at his feet and crash the net for some rebound goals on the other side. Over the bulk of his career, however, Brodeur has owned the Flyers (42-22-1 with six ties in the pre-shootout era, eight shutouts and a 2.41 GAA).
Both teams are dealing with some injuries. The Flyers' Daniel Briere is day-to-day with the dreaded "lower body injury" (believed to be a mild groin pull) while Simon Gagne has been sick with the flu. If they can't go, Jared Ross and Darrol Powe are in, but I think at least Gagne should be ready to go.
In Wednesday's game, John Stevens benched defenseman Andrew Alberts in the latter stages of the second period and for all but one shift in the third period. Lasse Kukkonen, who started the game as a fourth line winger because there were no other players available when Gagne was a late scratch, ended up seeing a lot of ice time over the latter stages of the game. I wouldn't be shocked if Alberts is a healthy scratch tonight.
For the Devils, Brian Rolston (15 career goals in 43 games against the Flyers) has a high ankle sprain and checking center Bobby Holik has a broken pinkie finger.
The Devils are coming off a game on Wednesday in which John Madden scored twice, and leading scorer Zach Parise had a goal and an assist. Jamie Langenbrunner and David Clarkson also tallied goals.
Even without Rolston and Holik, New Jersey's lineup is packed with players who seem to feast off the Flyers.
Parise has 10 goals and 20 points in 23 games against the Flyers, veteran Patrik Elias has 21 goals (six on the powerplay) and 53 points in 55 career meetings, Brian Gionta has nine goals and 24 points in 31 games, ex-Flyer Dainius Zubrus has nine goals and 22 points in 33 games, and defenseman Johnny Oduya has three goals (two on the powerplay) and 10 points in 15 games.
FLYERS LINES AND SCRATCHES (Subject to change -- will be updated accordingly)
Gagne (flu) - Briere (LBI) - Knuble
Hartnell - Richards - Lupul
Upshall - Carter - Nödl
Cote - Metropolit - Asham
Coburn - Timonen
Sbisa - Väänänen
Kukkonen/Alberts - Eminger
Biron
[Niittymäki]
SCRATCHES
Briere (lower body injury) or Ross (healthy)
Gagne (flu) or Powe (healthy)
Kukkonen (healthy) or Alberts (healthy)
Jones (IR, hip)
Parent (IR, shoulder)
Hatcher (LTIR, knee)
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Note: I will post a Phantoms report and other prospect updates at the bottom the blog tonight or tomorrow morning after writing the game wrapup.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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