PREVIEW 7:15 AM EST
After taking 5 of 6 points on their three-game southern road trip, the Flyers (10-4-3) briefly return home tonight to take on the pesky Phoenix Coyotes (9-4-3, 5-1-1 on the road). The game starts at 7 PM EST and will be broadcast locally on CSN Philadelphia.
The game marks the first of two meetings between the clubs this season. The Flyers have lost their last two games against Phoenix. Last season, Phoenix took a 3-2 overtime decision in Philly behind 37 saves from Ilya Bryzgalov and an overtime power play goal by Shane Doan. Philadelphia's Claude Giroux tied the game with 1:13 left regulation to send it to overtime, while Ville Leino scored the game's first goal in the opening period.
Tonight's big pregame story, of course, is that the game marks Bryzgalov's first game after the Coyotes since coming to Philadelphia. He'll be opposed in net by Mike Smith (2.19 GAA, .933 save percentage).
Smith, who is one of the best puckhandling goalies in the NHL and has a huge frame, has had an uneven history against the Flyers. Overall, in 10 games played against Philly, Smith has a 4-4-1 record, but an unimpressive 3.66 GAA and .884 save percentage.
In Phoenix's last game, the club captured a 3-2 win via shootout in Toronto on Tuesday. The skills competition win erased any negative feelings about being unable to hold an early 2-0 lead. Typically, the defensive-minded Coyotes are a hard team to play catch-up against but is far from an offensive juggernaut.
On special teams, the Coyotes have a very solid penalty kill (87.3 percent) but little power play punch (15.1 percent). Veteran forward Ray Whitney (6 goals, 15 points), Radim Vrbata (6 goals, 13 points), Doan (5 goals, 11 points) and defenseman Keith Yandle (1 goal, 9 points) trigger the Phoenix offense.
Although it has been many years since Danny Briere wore a Coyotes uniform, he usually gets up for games against the team that drafted him and with whom he broke into the NHL. This will be just the fifth time in his career that he's played against Phoenix, because he's played in the Eastern Conference ever since. Briere managed only one assist in last year's game against Phoenix in Philly but his line had a dominant game, and he snapped four shots on goal in addition to hitting the crossbar on a play where he had Bryz beaten.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
Hartnell - Giroux - Jagr
JVR - Briere - Simmonds
Read - Talbot - Voracek
Zolnierczyk - Couturier - Rinaldo
Carle - Pronger
Coburn - Timonen
Lilja - Meszaros
Bryzgalov
[Bobrovsky]
COYOTES
Korpikoski - O'Reilly - Doan
Whitney - Hanzal - Vrbata
Pyatt - Gordon - Boedker
Torres - Chipchura - O'Sullivan
Yandle - Morris
Ekman-Larsson - Aucoin
Klesla - Schlemko
Smith
[LaBarbera]
*******
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