MINI-PREVIEW 8:45 AM EST
With the Washington Capitals losing 3-2 to Detroit last night, the Flyers (43-19-7) can re-establish a three-point lead for the top spot in the Eastern Conference if they defeat the Atlanta Thrashers (29-29-12) on the road tonight. This is the third of four meetings with Craig Ramsay's club this season.
This past Saturday, of course, the Flyers blew a huge lead in the third period and wasted a hat trick by Ville Leino to lose in overtime, 5-4. But if the Flyers win tonight, it will be easier to put that one disastrous period in the rearview mirror. Philly enters this game having won three of their last four games. A record of 4-0-1 on the heels of the Flyers' four-game losing streak would be just fine.
On Tuesday night in Florida, the Flyers shuffled their top three forward lines around entirely. I presume they will go with the same look they featured against the Panthers. In addition, defenseman Erik Gustafsson will make his second NHL appearance tonight, likely starting in place of Nick Boynton.
Jeff Carter enters the game with 4 goals in his last four games. Over the last nine games, he has tallied 6 goals and 4 assists. Meanwhile, the hottest Thrashers player of late has been team captain Andrew Ladd, who has 6 points (3 G, 3 A) in his last five games, and 14 points (10 G, 4 A) over the last 15 games.
It is rare for two non-divisional opponents to play each other three times in the same month. After tonight, the Flyers will meet Atlanta in Philly once again on March 31.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
Hartnell - Richards - Leino
Briere - Giroux - Carter
JVR - Versteeg - Carcilllo
Shelley - Betts - Powe
Coburn - Timonen
Meszaros - O'Donnell
Carle - Gustafsson
Bobrovsky/Boucher
THRASHERS
Ladd - Little - Wheeler
Kane - Stapleton - Dvorak
Thornburn - Antropov - Stewart
Boulton - Burmistrov - Schremp
Bogosian - Enstrom
Byfuglien - Hainsey
Stuart - Oduya
Mason/Pavelec
*****
Today's
Daily Drop at Versus.com looks at the clutch performance by Henrik Zetterberg in last night's Red Wings - Capitals game. It was only a matter of time before Zetterberg (who is usually pretty slump proof) broke free from the six game point drought he dragged into the game, and he busted loose in a big way.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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