|
Flyers Gameday w/ Updates: 12/15/10 @ Canadiens |
|
|
|
|
|
UPDATE 6:30 PM EST
Sergei Bobrovsky will start in goal tonight.
*****
PREVIEW 9:30 AM EST
Coming off their most important test of the regular season to date, the Flyers (20-7-5) have no time to bask in last night's 3-2 win over the Penguins. Philly is right back in action tonight, taking on a rested Montreal Canadiens (18-10-2) team. This is the third of four meetings this season between the clubs.
On Nov. 16 in Montreal, Carey Price made 41 saves to blank the previously red-hot Flyers, 3-0. Montreal kept the Flyers to the perimeter for most of the game. Six nights later at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers fell behind 0-2 before storming back. James van Riemsdyk finally broke out of a season-long goal drought to score the game-winner.
The Flyers played nearly a perfect game at five-on-five against Pittsburgh last night, but nearly lost the game on special teams. Ultimately, Scott Hartnell's power play tip-in in the third period provided the game-winning goal but the Flyers' previous power plays went nowhere against an aggressive Pittsburgh kill. The Flyers were stationary and were outnumbered around the puck. Meanwhile, a pair of Philadelphia penalties were promptly turned into Evgeni Malkin power play goals.
Flyers players --- namely Danny Briere, Hartnell and Daroll Powe -- are going to have start being held more accountable for bad penalties in the offensive and neutral zones. The aforementioned players seem almost incapable of avoiding such penalties.
One unmentioned key to last night's victory: smart shot selection. The Flyers were credited with 37 shots on net against Pittsburgh and only had five shot attempts blocked. That’s a season best: the previous low this season was nine blocked attempts, accomplished three times. When you get your shots through, there are fewer transition possibilities for the opposition.
Peter Laviolette has generally ridden the hot hand in goal all season, which would mean that Brian Boucher will be rewarded with another start tonight. Boucher is now 5-0-1 in his last six starts with a 1.76 GAA and a .940 save percentage. But with back-to-back games, perhaps Laviolette will go back to Sergei Bobrovsky. Who even knows when Michael Leighton is slated for a start? With just 2 games in the next 12 days after the Montreal game, the challenge for the entire team will soon switch from fighting fatigue to trying to stay sharp with so few games. Much of that time will be used to assess the goalie rotation.
With his goal last night, Claude Giroux now has at least one point in five of his last six games (3-3-6). It’s taken him 32 games to score 15 goals. Last season, he tallied 16 goals in 82 games. Defense partners Andrej Meszaros and Sean O’Donnell and Andrej Meszaros were each +1 on last night's game against the Penguins. As a result, Meszaros took over sole possession of the league plus-minus lead at +19, while O’Donnell moved into a tie for second at +18.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
Nodl - Richards - Giroux
Hartnell - Briere - Leino
JVR - Carter - Zherdev
Carcillo - Betts - Powe
Pronger - Carle
Timonen - Coburn
Meszaros - O'Donnell
Bobrovsky/Boucher
CANADIENS
Cammelleri - Plekanec - Moen
Pacioretty - Gomez - Gionta
Kostitsyn - Halpern - Lapierre
Pouliot - Eller - Darche
Hamrlik - Subban
Gill - Gorges
Picard - Weber
Price
[Auld]
*****
With last night's victory, the Flyers reached the 20-win mark. The club has now achieved 20 wins before Christmas 14 times in team history. However, it marks the first time the team has done it since 2005-06 and just the second time in the last 13 years. In addition, the December 14 date of the 20th win is the earliest the team has reached 20 wins since 1986-87. They did so in their 32nd game, equaling the pace set in 2005-06 and 1995-96. The 1986-87 squad was the last to do it quicker (28 games).
*****
Today's Daily Drop at Versus.com talks about the bigger-picture implications of the Flyers-Penguins game last night.
This week's Across the Pond at NHL.com looks at the Slovak Extraliga season. Stories covered include Miroslav Satan starring as a part-time player for Slovan Bratislava, the dominance of HC Kosice this season, the struggles of the national under-20 team in its 20 games against Extraliga clubs and the league scoring race to date.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»