PREVIEW 5:15 AM EDT
In the penultimate game and final home match of their 2013 season, the Philadelphia Flyers (21-22-3) host the playoff-bound New York Islanders (24-16-6) at the Wells Fargo Center. The game starts at 7:00 p.m. and will broadcast locally on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the fourth and final meeting between the teams this season. On Presidents' Day, the Flyers laid a 7-0 road smackdown on the Islanders. New York has won each of the last two games. On March 28 at the WFC, the Flyers blew a 2-0 lead to fall behind 3-2 in the third period, rallied for a late Scott Hartnell goal to force overtime and then lost 4-3 via shootout. In a must-win road game for Philly on April 9, the Islanders prevailed 4-1.
Although it has come too late to have any playoff significance, the Flyers have won four of their last five games. Three of the wins have come against an opponent that has either clinched a playoff berth (Montreal, Boston) or on the brink of doing so (New York Rangers).
Five-on-five play has been a weakness for the Flyers most of the season. However, over the last two games, the team has scored 10 goals at even strength while allowing 5. They are still minus-14 (80 GF, 94 GA) for the year.
Special teams has generally been Philly's strength after a rough start in January. The Flyers' power play has not been clicking of late, but still enters tonight ranked first in the NHL at home (27.6 percent, 21-for-76) and third overall (21.7 percent, 36-for-166). The penalty kill enters tonight ranked fifth overall (85.4 percent, 152-for-178, 26 PPGA) and eighth at home (87.8 percent, 79-for-90, 11 PPGA). Philly has scored two shorthanded goals while allowing three.
The Islanders have not lost a game in regulation in their last 10 matches (7-0-3). They are, however, coming off a 4-3 shootout loss to Carolina on Tuesday. Hart Trophy candidate John Tavares forced overtime with 1:01 left in regulation.
On the injury front, Philadelphia is without defensemen Kimmo Timonen (foot fracture), Nicklas Grossmann (concussion), Braydon Coburn (separated shoulder), Andrej Meszaros (torn rotator cuff) and Bruno Gervais (abdominal muscle tear) the rest of the season. Up front, the Flyers are without Max Talbot (broken leg) and Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain) for the rest of the year.
Flyers' defenseman Kent Huskins (concussion) has been practicing this week and could be available to play tonight barring a setback. However, his status for tonight is questionable.
The Islanders, like every NHL team at this point, no doubt have numerous players who are dealing with various bumps, bruises and nagging ailments that need either rest or offseason surgery. However, the team is expected to have a fully intact starting lineup for tonight's game.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
12 Simon Gagne - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
19 Scott Hartnell - 14 Sean Couturier - 48 Danny Briere
24 Matt Read - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
26 Ruslan Fedotenko - 18 Adam Hall - 37 Jay Rosehill or 9 Mike Knuble
38 Oliver Lauridsen - 22 Luke Schenn
6 Andreas Lilja - 29 Erik Gustafsson
32 Brandon Manning - 3 Kurtis Foster or 23 Kent Huskins
35 Steve Mason
[30 Ilya Bryzgalov]
ISLANDERS
26 Matt Moulson - 91 John Tavares - 24 Brad Boyes
12 Josh Bailey - 51 Frans Nielsen - 21 Kyle Okposo
40 Michael Grabner - 10 Keith Aucoin - 13 Colin McDonald
6 Jesse Joensuu - 53 Casey Cizikas - 17 Matt Martin
47 Andrew MacDonald - 3 Travis Hamonic
2 Mark Streit - 7 Matt Carkner
14 Thomas Hickey - 11 Lubomir Visnovsky
20 Evgeni Nabokov
[60 Kevin Poulin]
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TEAM AWARDS NIGHT
The on-ice pregame presentation of the annual Flyers team awards is a final home game tradition that goes back to the 1980s. Following are my predictions for the winners:
Bobby Clarke Trophy (team MVP):
Jakub Voracek
Voracek set a career-high in goals this season while averaging a shade under a point per game. Although linemate Claude Giroux leads the team in overall scoring and is very much the team's most pivotal forward, Voracek's emergence as a top-line winger this season has been the brightest spot in an otherwise disappointing year.
Historical note: This award was created in 1984-85, following the retirement of Clarke as an active player at the end of the previous season. The first winner was the late Pelle Lindbergh, who also won the Vezina Trophy that year. Four-time winner Eric Lindros claimed the award the most times in franchise history.
Barry Ashbee Trophy (best defenseman):
Kimmo Timonen
This is sort of the reverse of the Clarke Trophy rationale. The emergence of Luke Schenn as a reliable defensive force on the blueline has been the most promising long-term development. However, the 38-year-old Timonen remains the club's top two-way blueliner despite playing through assorted injuries until a compression fracture in his foot knocked him out of the final week of the season. Timonen's 29 points rank fourth among defenseman in the NHL and his plus-three (on a poor five-on-five club) was best among the club's beleaguered blueliners. All totaled, Timonen is deserving of his fourth Ashbee Trophy.
Historical note: The Ashbee Trophy is actually the oldest of the Flyers' team awards. First awarded in 1974-75, the award was created after Ashbee suffered a career-ending eye injury in the Stanley Cup semifinals the previous season. The first winner was Joe Watson. Eric Desjardins won the award six times, while Hall of Famer Mark Howe won it in four (losing out to Miroslav "Cookie" Dvorak in 1983-84 primarily because Howe missed a significant number of games due to injury).
Yanick Dupre Memorial Award (Class Guy/ best media rapport):
Danny Briere
The Flyers have many deserving candidates for this award. Generally, it is given to a player who did not win another team award that season and who has not previously won the Dupre Award. Past winners Mike Knuble and Briere are always deserving of recognition for their friendly approachability and analytical honesty. Since neither player is likely to be with the team next season -- Knuble may retire and Briere is likely to be bought out -- I figure one of the two will win it in their final opportunity. There has never been a two-time winner of the Dupre, and giving it to Briere for a second time would be a fitting tribute to one of the nicest human beings one could ever hope to meet. Ditto Knuble, but his second stint as a Flyer was an abbreviated one.
Historical note: Originally called the Class Guy award, this honor dates back to 1976-77. Gary Dornhoefer was the inaugural winner and Joe Watson was the second winner, starting the unofficial tradition of giving the honor to a different player each year. The award was renamed in memory of Dupre after the well-liked young player lost his battle with leukemia in 1997. The American Hockey League also has an award named for Dupre, which goes to the most dedicated to community service.
Pelle Lindbergh Award (Most Improved Player):
Zac Rinaldo
Rinaldo has continued to be a hard-hitting presence in the Flyers' lineup and has done a much better job of walking the discipline line in his second NHL season. He does not get as many "reputation" minors as did last season and the start of the current campaign; a sign that referees have taken notice that most of his hits are clean despite his agitator tendencies in the trash-talking department. He drew a lot of power plays for the Flyers and other teams were always aware -- and sometimes a bit skittish because of his hit-anything-that-moves approach -- when he was on the ice.
A case could be made that Voracek deserves this award as well as the Clarke Trophy. However, there are three reasons why I would give the nod to Rinaldo: 1) the yearly awards are usually spread around to various honorees; 2) if you look at Voracek's stretch run and playoffs last year, he produced at a comparable level to last year; and 3) at least in my opinion, Voracek's defensive game took a half-step backward this season as his offensive game advanced. That was partially a reflection of a role change from the third to first lines and probably also due to Voracek wanting to push the offensive creativity envelope in conjunction with Giroux in a year where the team's offense as a whole was not as productive as last year.
Historical note: Named in honor of the late goaltender for his 1984-85 Vezina award and trip to the Stanley Cup finals following a down year the previous season, this team award was first presented at the end season. The inaugural winner was a fellow Swede, Mikael Renberg. A Calder Trophy finalist, the rookie actually displayed pretty consistent on-ice form from training camp through the end of the season, but his role on the team grew from starting out the year on the third line to ending it as a highly productive member of the top line along with Lindros and Mark Recchi. He also saw time on the second line with Rod Brind'Amour and Kevin Dineen. Renberg set a still-standing franchise record for rookie scoring.
Gene Hart Award (Work Ethic and Dedication):
Matt Read
After a strong start to the season. Read was set back by a rib injury that clearly slowed him for several weeks after his ahead-of-schedule return to the lineup. Nevertheless, he remained one of the team's most versatile players and most reliable two-way forwards. It has been nice to see him regain his scoring touch late in the year. Read is a tireless worker who keeps himself in tip-top shape.
Veterans Knuble and Ruslan Fedotenko are also candidates for the award. Despite being a frequent healthy scratch, the 40-year-old Knuble set an example of what professionalism is all about. He was also relatively productive when he did get a chance to play. Fedotenko was one of the team's two steadiest defensive forwards, and performed his tasks very well despite little public fanfare and apparent personal unhappiness with that role. Fedotenko's team-best plus-eight rating is an accurate indication of how much attention he paid to detail and how hard he worked on a below average defensive team.
Historical note: This is the newest of all the official awards. It was first presented in 2006-07 in honor of the late Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer, who will forever be known as the "Voice of the Flyers." Sami Kapanen was the first recipient.
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