Preview
The Flyers (23-12-9) need to rediscover their work ethic in a hurry as they complete the back-end of a two-game-in-two-nights swing through Florida. Tonight's opponent is a rested Florida Panthers (20-16-6) club that has won four straight games but is coming off a five-day layoff.
Last night, the Flyers dropped their second in a row (and second game to Tampa) after scoring first. They allowed play to get too wide open. With Philly hitting an offensive dry spell of late, they need to grind out a few victories and haven't shown that sort of commitment in the last couple of games.
As with the Lightning, the Panthers often seem to the Flyers trouble regardless of how the club is doing against the rest of the league. However, the Flyers are 2-0-1 in their last games against Florida.
Panthers player to watch: Florida's leading scorer, David Booth, hasn't done much damage (1 G, 2 A) in six career games against the Flyers. But he has been on fire offensively of late, heading into the schedule break before this game. He has eight points, including three goals in his last five games.
Flyers player to watch: Mike Richards had a horrendous game against Pittsburgh on Tuesday and is in the midst of his first real offensive slump since the 2006-07 season. He was held pointless in Tampa last night, marking the sixth game of the last nine that he has not registered at least one point.
From the team regarding Kimmo:
Kimmo Timonen on his injury
Q: Do you remember what happened?
KT: "I remember Richy shooting the puck but I didn't see what happened afterward. It was a deflected puck which hit my upper right lip. I remember bleeding hard. I remember everything. We will see tonight what happens (if he can play)
Q: Were you ever close to passing out?
KT: "I was pretty close. But like I said, I remember everything that happened and that I don't have a concussion."
Q: What is the damage?
KT: "There isn't any bone or teeth damage. I just got 25 stitches, inside, outside, everywhere. That's it"
Q: Can you play tonight?
KT: "I'm going to take the warm-ups tonight to see how I feel. I will probably have to use a full cage or something similar to that. We will see how it goes."
Lineup (subject to change)
Gagne - Richards - Knuble
Hartnell - Carter - Lupul
Upshall - Metropolit - Giroux
Cote - Powe - Asham
Timonen(?)/Sbisa? - Väänänen
Coburn - Carle
Alberts - Jones
Niittymäki
[Biron]
Contact Bill at
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