Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that tomorrow's game against Montreal represents an early-season "must" win for the Flyers.
I know it sounds absurd, but here's my logic. This team can't afford to go to Pittsburgh, where wins are as infrequent as appearances of the Yeti, and then trek to Colorado and San Jose on the extended road trip.
0-2 is not going to cut it. I will cut the Flyers some slack for looking dreadful the opening 20 minutes against the Rangers on Saturday night. It was clear to me which team had three games under its skates and which team hadn't played a minute of quality hockey against another opponent.
"We should have just brought it like we did in the second and third period," said Scottie Upshall. "We all could have brought a better game. Montreal is a good squad now and they made good moves this summer, they have Carey Price in net. We expect a good game."
How about a must win?
"Yeah, yeah, I like to treat the first couple games of the season as huge for a team's confidence and momentum," Upshall said. "For us, coming off a game like that last night where we came back. If we tie that game and go to overtime, maybe we win. That does so much for a club.
"Tomorrow represents a chance to go back and play hard ... We have to come out with a way better start to the game."
Simon Gagne had a strong game in the 4-3 loss to the Rangers, even scored a goal and was +2.
"We're looking for that first win and sometimes, it is the toughest to get and we have a team tomorrow that has some skill guys offensively and this is a huge game for us," he said. "We have to play the way we did that second and third period against the Rangers."
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News of the day? Coach John Stevens changed his defensive pairs ... Luca Brasi, err, Luca Sbisa, has been moved off from Lasse Kukkonen and paired with Braydon Coburn. They played together in the second half of the Rangers loss.
For more on that, read my story on Comcast SportsNet.com.
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