The Flyers head to Buffalo today for the the final game of the preseason. As is the case for every team, training camp and the exhibition schedule has been less notable for the game outcomes than for its injuries and illnesses (Michael Leighton, Ian Laperriere, Danny Briere), off-season surgery recovery stories (Chris Pronger, Ville Leino, Blair Betts, Dan Carcillo, Johan Backlund), incorporation of new players (Nikolay Zherdev, Andrej Meszaros, Sean O'Donnell, Matt Walker), roster decisions (signing Bill Guerin vs. promoting a rookie) and tracking the progress of rookies and young returning players (Sergei Bobrovsky, Ben Holmstrom, Mike Testwuide, Andreas Nodl, Erik Gustafsson, Marc-Andre Bourdon).
The Flyers have a 5-1-1 mark entering the final game. The biggest on-ice stories of the preseason have been the preponderance of games decided via shootout, the strong goaltending performance of Bobrovsky and, to a lesser degree, Zherdev's scoring prowess (5 goals in 6 games). The club has begun to pull together defensively over the last couple games. Tonight is the final dress rehearsal for the season opener in Pittsburgh on Thursday.
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There is an interesting
blog about Dan Carcillo on Bleacher Report that looks at the number of penalties Carcillo drew on the opposition last year versus his number of solo trips to the box last season.
Key numbers: Carcillo created 42 powerplay opportunities for the Flyers (2nd in the NHL, tops on the Flyers) while putting the club shorthanded on 17 occasions (7th most on the Flyers, behind Scott Hartnell (28), Daniel Briere (23), Braydon Coburn (20), Chris Pronger (19), Jeff Carter (19) and Kimmo Timonen (17)).
There are some flaws in the blog. The latter number does not reflect the timing or circumstance of a penalty. Was there a scoring chance involved? What was the score of the game? How much time was left on the clock and in what period did it occur?
In addition, the blog does not look at some of the non-penalty reasons why Carcillo is a polarizing player -- his tendency to embellish plays or dive in an attempt to draw penalties, some of the low-percentage gambles he took on the forecheck last season.
Nevertheless, the central point of the article is a legitimate one. Last season, on the balance, Dan Carcillo did more to help than hurt the club.
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Last night, the Phantoms lost a fight-filled preseason road tilt to the Albany Devils, 4-2. Peter MacDougal and Garrett Klotz scored the two Phantoms goals. The two clubs combined for 105 penalty minutes. Nic Ropel turned back 25 of 28 shots. Kevin Marshall (who is recovering from offseason surgery and was only recently cleared for full contact) played for the second straight night. Rookies Luke Pither, Eric Wellwood, Andrew Rowe and Tye McGinn were also in the AHL club's lineup for both losses over the weekend.
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For the Devils, David McIntyre had two goals, including the game winner, while Jeff Frazee stopped 24 of 26 shots. Stephen Gionta closed out the scoring with an empty net goal.
The Phantoms final preseason game is at Syracuse tonight at 7:00.
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Congratulations to Flyers goaltending prospect Joacim Eriksson for his first Elitserien victory. Making his second regular season start for Skellefteå AIK, Eriksson shook off a sluggish start (3 goals allowed in the first 9 shots he faced) and settled in to turn back 20 of 23 shot in defeating his former team, Brynäs IF, by a 6-3 score.
Defense prospect Simon Bertilsson, who missed the start of the regular season due to a sprained knee, made his first appearance of the season in the game. He played on the third pairing for Brynäs, and was on the ice for two SAIK goals as well as one for his own club. He took a minor penalty and did not record a shot on goal or point in the match.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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