PREVIEW 6:45 AM EDT

Coming off a pair of impressive road victories to open the 2011-12 regular season, the Flyers (2-0-0) will take on the defending Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks (1-0-1) tonight in the home opener at the Wells Fargo Center. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast on CSN Philly and TSN in Canada.

The Flyers have not played since their 3-0 shutout win in New Jersey on Saturday. The Canucks played on Monday in Columbus, rallying in the third period to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory. Goalie Cory Schneider had a major hand in the outcome, stoning Maksim Mayorov on a penalty shot while the Canucks were still trailing by a goal.

Last season, the Flyers were coming off their longest break in the regular season when they visited the Canucks in Vancouver. The results were ugly for the Orange and Black, as the Canucks laid a 6-2 pounding on them. Brian Boucher singlehandedly held the Flyers in the game for one period before a three-goal outburst by the Canucks in the middle stanza made the outcome a foregone conclusion. Ryan Kesler scored a pair of goals in that game, while Daniel Sedin, Jannik Hansen, Manny Malhotra and Jeff Tambellini tallied once apiece.

This time around, Kesler (hip injury) is on injured reserve, while Boucher has been replaced by Ilya Bryzgalov.

Through the first two games of the season, the Flyers have played strong hockey in all three zones. If there is critical one area to watch out for tonight, it's special teams.

The Flyers have moved the puck well on the power play but have only connected once in 12 tries (although they scored a goal last game moments after the expiration of a third period power play). The team has killed off all but one of its own penalties. While the Canucks may not have as much power play firepower as the squad that led the NHL a year ago, taking excessive penalties against this club is still a losing proposition.

PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)

FLYERS

JVR - Giroux - Jagr
Voracek - Briere -Simmonds
Hartnell - Couturier - Read
Rinaldo - Talbot - Nödl

Carle - Pronger
Timonen - Meszaros
Coburn - Lilja

Bryzgalov
[Bobrovsky]


CANUCKS

D. Sedin - H. Sedin - Burrows
Sturm - Hodgson - Samuelsson
Higgins - Malhotra - Hansen
Volpatti - Lapierre - Weise

Hamhuis - Bieksa
Edler - Salo
Ballard - Alberts

Luongo
[Schneider]

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