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Flyers Gameday w/ Updates: 12/18/10 vs Rangers

December 18, 2010, 9:58 AM ET [ Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Update 11 AM

Brian Boucher will start in goal today. Both Jody Shelley and Dan Carcillo are slated to skate in the warmup but it looks like Shelley will be a healthy scratch against his former team with Derek Boogaard out of the lineup for the Blueshirts.



****

PREVIEW 9:30 AM EST

The Flyers (21-7-5) will put their four-game winning streak on the line this afternoon when they take on the equally hot New York Rangers (20-13-1) in a 1 PM matinee at the Wells Fargo Center. This is the second meeting of the regular season between the clubs. The Flyers won at home, 4-1, back on Nov. 4.

Theoretically, at least, the Flyers have an advantage coming into today's game. The Flyers have been off since Wednesday while this is the Rangers' third game in four days. The same danger factors that applied in the Montreal game now work in reverse: The Rangers may be battling physical and mental fatigue over the latter part of the second and third periods. It will up to the Flyers to take advantage.

Both the Flyers and Rangers block a lot of shots. The Rangers' 559 blocked shots lead the League, three more than the second-place Flyers. Philly had been on a run of four straight games where they'd blocked at least 20 shots. New York, meanwhile, has blocked at least 17 in three straight games, including 22 in their comeback win against the Penguins on Wednesday.

The Flyers will have to cope without top defenseman Chris Pronger (foot surgery) for at least the next month. New York, meanwhile, will be without Ryan Callahan (broken hand) for 6-8 weeks.

PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)

FLYERS

Nodl - Richards - Giroux
Hartnell - Briere - Leino
JVR - Carter - Zherdev
Shelley -Betts - Powe

Meszaros - Carle
Coburn - Timonen
Bartulis - O'Donnell

Bobrovsky/Boucher


RANGERS

Fedotenko - Stepan - Gaborik
Dubinsky - Anisimov - Drury
Frolov - Boyle - Prust
Avery - Christensen - Weise

Staal - Girardi
Del Zotto - Rozsival
Eminger - Sauer

Lundqvist
[Biron]

*****

The now-infamous intermission address by Bruce Boudreau to his players was actually very mild. The coach was telling his team not to get down because they were trailing in the game, reminding them that the game was still winnable and exhorting them to do something about it before it was too late. Boudreau never got in players' faces, never singled out a particular player for humiliation in front of his peers, never kicked around equipment, never uttered a single threat or negative word about his players' character or manhood.

If Boudreau's profanity-laced speech broadcast on HBO's 24/7 was shocking to some people's sensitivities, I'd hate to see how they'd react to a John Tortorella eruption when his New York Rangers are in a prolonged losing streak or when Peter Laviolette is displeased with his Flyers' team. If they could have seen a vintage Mike Keenan meltdown -- one of his all-timers in which he had some players on the brink of tears and others the verge of strangling him -- Boudreau would seem like a choir boy by comparison.

On the flip side, I wish they could hear how players talk about their coach when he's out of earshot and they are engaging in a gripe session in the locker room or a bar.

Today's Daily Drop at Versus.com looks at this topic.
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