UPDATE 12:15 PM EDT
Looks like Matt Walker is still out with whatever ailment kept him off the ice Sunday and Tuesday. Although Walker is officially a game-time decision, it seems more likely that Andreas Lilja will start in Walker's place, paired with Braydon Coburn.
PREVIEW 7:15 AM EDT
Five months after the Boston Bruins avenged their collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinal with a resounding sweep in last season's Conference Semis, the two clubs will renew hostilities tonight at TD Garden. Amidst the opening night pregame festivities, the Bruins will raise their sixth Stanley Cup banner (first since 1971-72).
The game starts at 7:00 p.m. EDT and airs nationally on Versus.
In the months that followed the playoff loss to Boston, the Flyers made massive roster changes despite having reached the Cup Final in 2010 and winning the Atlantic Division last season. The Flyers' opening night lineup features seven players who were not here at this time last year: new starting goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, forwards Jaromir Jagr, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Max Talbot, plus rookies Sean Couturier and Matt Read. In addition, the club has a new seventh defenseman in veteran Andreas Lilja, while Matt Walker (who spent most of last season injured or in the AHL) moves into the starting lineup.
Meanwhile, the Bruins' roster has largely held steady since winning the Cup. The team learned that Marc Savard's concussion issues will prevent him from playing at all this season. The club signed forward Benoit Pouliot and added Joe Corvo on defense to replace Tomas Kaberle. Otherwise, the crux of the championship lineup is still intact.
Heading into the opening night game, it will be interesting to see if the Flyers can re-establish the power play dominance that they showed in every preseason game in which the regular lineup was reasonably intact. It's no secret that power plays were an Achilles heel for Philadelphia last season but the personnel (including a seemingly healthier Chris Pronger) has been upgraded.
On the flip side, the Flyers' penalty killing units have been overhauled -- at least the forward personnel,. It remains to be seen how the team performs in this area of special teams relative to last year.
STARTING LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
JVR - Giroux - Jagr
Voracek - Briere - Simmonds
Hartnell - Couturier - Read
Nödl - Talbot - Rinaldo
Carle - Pronger
Timonen - Meszaros
Coburn - Walker
Bryzgalov
[Bobrovsky]
BRUINS
Lucic - Krecji - Horton
Marchand - Bergeron - Peverley
Pouliot - Kelly - Seguin
Paille - Campbell - Thornton
Chara - Boychuk
Seidenberg - Corvo
Ference - McQuaid
Thomas
[Rask]
****
My newest article for the Flyers official Web site is now online. It's a mini season-preview that looks at
four reasons why the revamped roster could prove to be better than last year's squad.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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