UPDATE 1:30 PM EDT

The Flyers have called up Harry Zolnierczyk from the Phantoms for tonight's game. Andreas Nödl is nursing an undisclosed minor injury and Harry Z is along in case Nödl is unable to play tonight. Also, Matt Walker is expected to see his first action of the regular season tonight, playing in place of Andreas Lilja.


PREVIEW 6:00 AM EDT

Having gained 7 of a possible 8 points against some of the toughest competition the NHL has to offer, the Flyers (3-0-1) head to Ottawa tonight for a game against a struggling Senators (1-4-0). The game starts at 7:30 PM and will be broadcast in the Philadelphia area on Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia.

Tonight's game is a different sort of test for Philadelphia. In recent seasons, the Flyers have come up on the short end of their fair share of "trap" games, either by getting outworked by the other team, having inordinate trouble finishing off scoring chances, and/or shutting down the engines too early in the game. Last season, the Flyers and Senators split the four-game season series evenly, with Ottawa winning the last two games by a combined 9-3 score.

In the early going of the season, Claude Giroux and his line has done much of the offensive damage for the Flyers. The club has also gotten 3 goals from the defense so far, four goals from members of the Danny Briere line (although only one as an intact unit) and one from Matt Read. The team has generally played strong team defense and has received very good goaltending from Ilya Bryzgalov.

For Ottawa, just about the only thing that has gone right so far has been the power play. The Senators have connected on 6 of 20 chances (30 percent). With the Flyers having struggled to stay out of the penalty box so far this season, playing with greater discipline and bearing down on the PK will go a long way toward taking two points back to Philadelphia at the end of the night.

Daniel Alfredsson (13 goals, 41 points in 48 career games against the Flyers) and Jason Spezza (6 goals, 21 points in 23 games vs. Philly) have both enjoyed good success when they have played the Flyers over the years. Sergei Gonchar (15 G, 51 PTS in 66 GP against the Flyers) is off to a poor start this season and is likely to miss tonight's game with an ankle injury.

On the Philadelphia side, Briere scored his first goal of the season on Saturday, slam dunking a perfect feed from Jaromir Jagr for a power play goal. Briere has tallied 30 points (12G-18A) in 38 career games against the Sens. Jagr, who is looking for his first regular season goal as a Flyer after shooting the lights out in the preseason, has utterly torn apart Ottawa over the years. In 59 games against the Senators, he has racked up a staggering 36 goals (including 12 PPG) and 40 assists for 76 points.

The expected goaltending matchup tonight will pit the clubs' backup netminders against one another. Sergei Bobrovsky is likely to make his first start of the 2011-12 regular season after playing extremely well in the preseason. He appeared in three of the four games against Ottawa last season, winning twice and posting a 2.35 GAA and .935 save percentage.

For the Sens, Alex Auld will make his second start (and third appearance) in lieu of struggling No. 1 goalie Craig Anderson. Auld has often been the recipient of strong goal support when he's played against the Flyers during his career. His 2.78 GAA and .900 save percentage in 7 career appearances vs. Philly are nothing special, but he boasts a 4-1-0 record in those games.

Starting defenseman Braydon Coburn did not practice yesterday with the Flyers. His wife, Nadine, gave birth to the couple's first child yesterday, a girl named Rory. Both mother and baby are said to be doing fine.

PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)

FLYERS

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

Carle - Pronger
Timonen - Coburn
Meszaros - Lilja

Bobrovsky
[Bryzgalov]


SENATORS

Greening - Spezza - Zibanejad
Michalek - De Costa - Alfredsson
Foligno - Regin - Neil
Z Smith - Konopka - Condra

Karlsson - Kuba
Rundblad - Phillips
Lee - Cowen

Auld
[Anderson]

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