Although the Flyers were idle last night, it was a favorable night in the standings for the Eastern Conference leaders. With the exception of the idle Bruins, all of the Flyers' closest pursuers in the Conference lost last night.
The Southeast Division leading Lightning remained four points behind the Flyers -- with two more games played -- after getting torn apart defensively, 7-4, by Buffalo. The same club that shut out the Flyers in the first game back after the All-Star break and blanked the Washington Capitals twice in quick succession in January has now given up more goals (169) than it has scored (168) this season. That's pretty rare for a team on pace to eclipse 100 points and win their division.
The injury-ravaged Penguins were victimized, 4-1, by the recently hot Columbus Blue Jackets. They remain three points behind the Flyers with two more games played to date. Meanwhile, the Capitals, who shut out Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon, got blanked by Antti Niemi (two straight shutouts) and San Jose last night. Washington is seven points behind the Flyers with two additional games played.
Of course, as long as the Flyers take care of their own business -- controlling your own destiny is what it's all about as the stretch drive approaches -- there is no need to worry about what the teams behind them are doing. Even so, it's always nice to get a little extra breathing room in the standings.
The Flyers return to action at the Wells Fargo Center tomorrow night against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes have taken over the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race, largely due to the Atlanta Thrashers' struggles in recent weeks. The Canes are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games.
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If you are interested in statistical oddities and trends, check out Anthony SanFilippo's
blog today at the Delaware County Times site.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the piece is the success that Ville Leino has had when he's had to step in the faceoff circle to replace Danny Briere. He's 40 for 69. Anecdotally, I had noticed that seemed to win a lot of draws cleanly, but hadn't really looked at his numbers since he's not the primary faceoff man on his line.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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