PREVIEW 12:10 AM EST
The Philadelphia Flyers face their first gut-check game of the lockout shortened 2013 season as they head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres in a 12:30 matinee. The game has all the earmarks of a tough contest for the Flyers.
Most of the Flyers' emotion over the past week was poured into preparing for Saturday's regular season opener in Philly against the Penguins. Conversely, this game is Buffalo's first match of the season, and has been the Sabres' sole focus. The crowd in Buffalo will be pumped, and the Sabres' adrenaline will be running high. The Flyers are going to have to dig down to match that intensity.
Playing the second half of back-to-back games against a fresh opponent is always a tough proposition. Doing so with considerably less than 24 hours between the first and second games is doubly tough. Add in the fact that every NHL team is trying to recover its game conditioning and timing without the benefit a pre-season after the lockout, and the Flyers really have their work cut out for them.
Of course, it's possible that things could cut the other way. Perhaps it is the Flyers, with a game under their belt and playing on the road with no need to "put on a show," will be the sharper and more opportunistic team in the early going of the game.
In Saturday's game against the Penguins, Peter Laviolette spread around the ice time. Every player except Zac Rinaldo logged double-digit ice time in the tilt. That could help the team hold up a little better in Buffalo. However, even if it does work out that way, there is a good chance Philly will be fighting fatigue by the third period. As such, it is imperative that they play from ahead.
Despite Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Penguins, the Flyers did not play a bad game. They got severely outplayed for the first 13 minutes of the opening period, struggling to even get over the red line. But once they finally settled in, Philly looked fairly solid. The Flyers controlled the majority of the second period and had several chances to tie the game in the third period. They just couldn't find the equalizer.
For the third straight season, Claude Giroux scored an opening-game goal. His line-rush tally off a perfect feed from Scott Hartnell in the first shift of the second period was highlight reel stuff.
Special teams played a major role in the outcome of the opener. The Penguins capitalized on their first power play of the game, as a lost faceoff proved costly for Philly moments later on a Paul Martin point shot that was deflected by Tyler Kennedy then ticked off Luke Schenn and went past a helpless Ilya Bryzgalov.
Philly, meanwhile, struggled to generate chances on either of their first two power play chances. On subsequent power plays, the Flyers' top power play unit (Giroux, Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds up front, Kimmo Timonen and Jakub Voracek on the points) generated strong puck movement and multiple scoring chances but just couldn't quite finish them off. The second power play unit (Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier and Matt Read up front, Andrej Meszaros and Kurtis Foster on the points) struggled throughout.
Both Bryzgalov and Marc-Andre Fleury had strong games in net for their respective clubs. The second Pittsburgh goal was a bang-bang chance off the faceoff by James Neal. It was a stop Bryzgalov could have made had he reacted sooner, but it should also be said that, according to Scott Hartnell the Flyers had done video work all week for deal with exactly that play -- and still weren't lined up properly.
Apart from the somewhat questionable second goal, Bryzgalov was very solid in the opener. He made his share of momentum saves and kept the game close. Fleury also made a few clutch stops in scrambles around the net after not being tested early in the game.
Both the Flyers and Penguins had their energy levels drop for most of the third period. The two best scoring chances of the final stanza belonged to Philly. Craig Adams prevented what looked to be a sure game-tying power play goal. Shortly thereafter, Simmonds had plenty of net to shoot at on a pass by Giroux, but tucked the puck just wide.
While the Flyers were battling the Penguins, the Sabres were making final preparations for their home opener. Former Flyers forward Ville Leino is questionable for the game with a lower body injury. He missed Saturday's practice. If Leino is unable to play, Matt Ellis will take his place in the lineup.
Projected Starting Lineups (subject to change)
FLYERS
Scott Hartnell - Claude Giroux - Brayden Schenn
Max Talbot - Sean Couturier - Jakub Voracek
Matt Read - Scott Laughton - Wayne Simmonds
Ruslan Fedotenko - Eric Wellwood - Zac Rinaldo
Kimmo Timonen - Luke Schenn
Nicklas Grossmann - Braydon Coburn
Andrej Meszaros - Kurtis Foster
Ilya Bryzgalov
[Michael Leighton]
SABRES
Thomas Vanek - Cody Hodgson - Jason Pominville
Marcus Foligno - Tyler Ennis - Drew Stafford
Ville Leino/ Matt Ellis - Mikhail Grigorenko - Steve Ott
John Scott - Jochen Hecht - Patrick Kaleta
Robyn Regehr - Tyler Myers
Christian Ehrhoff - Alexander Sulzer
Jordan Leopold - Andrej Sekera
Ryan Miller
[Jhonas Enroth]
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