There have been a number of Marty Brodeur milestones in his long career.
A number of them were set against the Flyers, but none can possibly be as big as tonight in Newark when he will try to break the record he and Terry Sawchuk share.
Marty is going for his 104th career shutout.
I think the Flyers are ripe for picking here, given they have been shut out three times in their last six games. The research done by Anthony S. shows that this has happened only twice before since 1968 to the Flyers.
When I brought up the record to Jeff Carter at Friday's non-skate, non-practice, he wasn't aware that Brodeur could get it against the Flyers.
But the look on his face suggested trouble and he shook his head in agreement with me when I suggested the Flyers are the best, possible team the Devils could face right now going for such a record.
I feel Peter Laviolette did something very smart yesterday. He gave his players a day off the ice. They did "dry land." I believe mental and physical breaks are important, especially when a schedule ramps up and is crammed with games every, other day.
“It’s probably not a bad thing at all,” Carter told me on CSNPhilly.com. “We’ve played a lot of hockey lately, a lot of changes, a lot of stuff going on. It’s always nice to kinda stay off, clear your mind and regroup.”
Laviolette's explanation: “It helps their body as well as their mind,” he said. “You’re asking them to play a certain style. We had a couple of good practices mixed in with four games, so that’s six, hard days in a row. We got a schedule coming up that doesn’t let up, either with three [games] in four nights.”
The Flyers are a club teetering on the edge. Management has already made a coaching change, that many Flyer fans had been calling for in recent weeks. But I feel that's not going to solve the overall issue that club chairman Ed Snider touched on recently: team chemistry.
We're getting very close to the Christmas "trade" freeze _Dec. 19-27. My feeling is, if the Flyers lose to New Jersey, Boston and Pittsburgh, they will pull the trigger on a major deal either before the deadline freeze or immediately afterward.
Who knows? When the Flyers show up in Boston on New Year's Day for the Winter Classic, you might see some new faces.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»