Flyers Trends Part II: Goalies and Defensemen
Martin Biron:In five November starts, has a 2.57 GAA and .908 save percentage, including a 1.97 GAA in his last five starts.....Has strung three consecutive strong starts in a row after an inconsistent October....Has fared better on the road (2.75 GAA, .908 save percentage) than at home (3.43 GAA, .881 SV%) so far this season....Has started five games against Buffalo since being traded to the Flyers from the Sabres, posting a 2-2-1 record, 3.88 GAA and .864 save percentage.
Antero Niittymäki:The Finn has been the more consistent of the Flyers' two goaltenders this season. If you throw out the back end of the home-and-home with San Jose (in which the Flyers hung both Niittymäki and Biron out to dry throughout the game and starter Niittymäki gave up four first-period goals in 15 shots), he has a .916 save percentage on the season.....Has appeared in five games against the Sabres over the course of his career, with three decisions (one regulation loss, two OT/SO losses) with a 3.54 GAA and .875 SV%.
Kimmo Timonen: Has averaged 26:17 of ice time over the last five games and has two goals (1 PPG, 1 ENG), three points and is minus-one.... For the season, his average 25:40 of ice time ranks 11th in the NHL.... Has only been charged with eight giveaways on the season (87 defensemen in the NHL have been charged with more to date)....Has been more productive so far on the road (9 GP, 6 PTS, E) than at home (8 GP, 2 PTS, -3)....In 11 career games against the Sabres, has one goal (PPG), eight points and a plus-four rating.
Braydon Coburn: Has regisistered assists in each of the last two games.... His average 24:05 of ice time per game ranks 32nd among NHL defensemen....Has only been credited with 19 hits in the 17 games played to date, tied for 6th on the Flyers, third among Flyers defensemen and tied for 85th among all NHL defensemen....His 30 blocked shots rank third on the team and tied for 49th among all NHL defensemen....In the seven Flyers wins to date, has 5 points and is plus 3. In the six regulation losses and four OT/shootout losses, has three points, is minus-one and has 25 PIMs. ... In six career games against the Sabres, has two assists, an even plus-minus and eight penalty minutes.
Matt Carle:Has averaged 25:27 of ice time per game since coming to the Flyers from Tampa Bay....He has racked up 20 blocked shots in his five games as a Flyer, including nine in one game against the Islanders....For the season, ranks 9th in the NHL with 42 blocks....In two career games against Buffalo, including one earlier this season with Tampa, has not registered a point and is minus-three.
Luca Sbisa: The rookie leads all Flyers defensemen with 29 hits in 17 games and is second to Ossi Väänänen in hits per game....Has struggled with turnovers of late, being charged with six giveaways in the last five games.... Sbisa has averaged 19:31 of ice time in November, and is scoreless and minus-one over the last five games....He will play his first career game against the Sabres tomorrow night.
Andrew Alberts:The defensive defenseman has registered a point (3 A) in three straight games....Is plus-two in November and plus-four for the season....Ranks ninth on the Flyers and fourth among the team's defensemen with 19 hits in 17 games. ... He has provided better positional play than expected after being much-maligned in Boston prior to his acquisition by Philadelphia....Has had some rough games against the Sabres in his career. In 18 career games, he's minus-nine with one goal (SHG), two points and 21 PIM.
Lasse Kukkonen:Remains with the club after clearing waivers....Blocked a season-high four shots against the Islanders....Took a tough minus-two in the game against Atlanta, having just stepped out of the penalty box when one goal was scored after being victimized earlier in the game by a drop-pass by Ilya Kovalchuk and a perfectly placed shot by Erik Christensen....Has not played as well overall this season as he did early last season and is unlikely to remain with the club once some of the injured defensemen start to return....There have been rumors that his old Finnish club, Kärpät Oulu, will seek permisison from the Flyers to bring him back to Finland if he's sent to Phantoms....Has played three games in his career against Buffalo (0 PTS, -1).
Ossi Väänänen: Is unlikely to play tomorrow night as he continues to recuperate from surgery to repair a broken finger....His 1.75 hits per game (21 credited hits in 12 games) leads the team....Väänänen is plus four, has three assists and nine hits in his last five games played, although he has only played once since suffering the broken finger against Edmonton on November 2....The free-spirited Finn recently shaved his head, and in the past has sported a mohawk or bleached hair....Has played eight career games against the Sabres (0 PTS, E, 10 PIM).
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Line combos
According to today's Philadelphia Inquirer, the Flyers are likely to go with the following lineup tomorrow, if John Stevens stays with his practice lines:
Gagne - Richards - Knuble
Hartnell - Carter - Nödl
Upshall - Metropolit - Lupul
Gratton - Powe - Asham
Sbisa - Timonen
Coburn - Carle
Alberts - Kukkonen
Biron
[Niittymäki]
In addition, the Flyers
recalled Jon Kalinski from the Phantoms today. In 16 games with the Phantoms, the 21-year-old left winger has two goals, five points and 16 PIM.
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Prospects report
* Claude Giroux scored a pair of goals in yesterday morning's (11:05 AM start time) 5-0 win over Albany. Scott Munroe turned back all 31 shots he saw, while Jonathan Matsumoto (9th of the season) Patrick Maroon (4th of the season), Jeff Szwez (1st) tallied single goals. Giroux now has seven goals on the season.
* Munroe and the Phantoms have absolutely owned Albany of late. Going back to the Games 5-7 of the playoff series against the River Rats last season, Munroe has three shutouts, a 0.17 GAA and .994 save percentage against Albany in his last four starts.
* You can watch defenseman Kevin Marshall's Quebec squad take on Drummondville via a
free webcast tonight. The puck drops at 7:30 PM EST.
* Defenseman Joonas Lehtivuori has struggled since returning from a hand injury that caused him to miss about a month of games. With Ilves Tampere mired in 12th place, the defenseman has been moved down in the rotation from top pairing to the #4 defenseman slot. In 12 games played to date, he has one goal, two assists, -2 and averaged 19:37 of ice time.
* Mario Kempe and Rögle BK are back in action today, hosting Modo Hockey in Ängelholm. After being promoted to the RBK second line for a couple of games, Kempe (a former Modo prospect) is back on the fourth line. For the season, the RW has one goal and six points in 19 games played.
* Jocke "Sunshine" Eriksson's streak of games of allowing two or fewer goals ended at five in a row, but he was victorious in his last start, a 10-4 win over Björklöven's J20 team.
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Flyers help with holiday food drive
If you watched Fox-29 news last night, you may have seen a report on just how critically low the city's food banks are for providing food to the less fortunate. Sadly, many private and religious organizations have experienced similar shortages at a time when there has been a reported 30% increase in the number of families that can't afford to put food on their table this Thanksgiving.
The Flyers are encouraging fans who attend this Saturday's game against the Coyotes to bring along a frozen turkey or coupon for a free turkey to the Wachovia Center. They will be collected as part of a drive in conjunction with 102.9 WMGK FM and CityTeam Ministries.
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Zaijian, Claude
In yesterday's NHL.com Across the Pond column, I wrote about Claude Lemieux's attempted NHL comeback and his decision to
sign with the China Sharks of the Asia League.
It was uncertain from the start how long "Pepe" played to stay with the Chinese club, which is owned by the NHL's San Jose Sharks. Well, it turned out he was only there for two games. The Sharks announced early today that Lemieux is
leaving the team.
A
blog written today by Japanese hockey writer (yes there are a few) Mikiko Kato claims that Lemieux will now move on to the Sharks' AHL affiliate in Worcester.
Contact Bill at
[email protected]
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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