FLYERS VS. SHARKS GAME PREVIEW (6:05 A.M. EST)
In their first game after the Olympic break, the Philadelphia Flyers (30-23-6) will take on the San Jose Sharks (37-16-6). Game time is 7:00 PM EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs, and the lone game at the Wells Fargo Center.
On Feb. 3, the Flyers downed the host Sharks by a 5-2 score to set a new franchise record with their 10th victory when trailing at some point in the third period. Philly trailed 2-1 after two periods despite playing well, and then exploded in the final stanza. Claude Giroux (goal, two assists) had a three-point night. Mark Streit, Matt Read, Michael Raffl and Jakub Voracek also scored for the Flyers. Matt Nieto scored both San Jose goals in the first period; one at even strength and one on the power play.
After tonight's game, the New York Rangers will come to town for a Saturday matinee at the Wells Fargo Center.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
Heading into the Olympic break, the Flyers won four games in a row and five of their last six. Steve Mason recorded a pair of shutouts in that span, while Ray Emery played very well in a 2-1 win over Calgary in the final game before the break.
With the lengthy schedule break, everything gets reset in terms of momentum. Of course, all teams are in the same boat. The challenge for the Flyers will be to get back to playing the brand of strong two-way play that marked their California road trip before the break.
Like all teams, it may take a period for the Flyers and Sharks recover their skating legs and passing touch in tonight's game. Teams leaguewide may need a game or two to get one or both sides of special teams in synch.
Top-pairing Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen will not play tonight. He is fatigued after the Olympics. Timonen will return to the lineup on Saturday afternoon. Philly's other four Olympians -- Voracek, Raffl, Streit and Andrej Meszaros -- will be in the lineup.
SHARKS OUTLOOK
While the Flyers are facing a tough fight to grab a top-three spot in the Metropolitan Division and ensure themselves a playoff spot, the Sharks are pretty much locked into second place in the Pacific Division barring a major stretch drive collapse by San Jose or a Sharks surge coupled with an Anaheim Ducks collapse.
The Sharks sent four players to the Olympics. Veteran forward Patrick Marleau and defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic was part of Team Canada's gold-medal winning squad. Antti Niemi, the third-string goaltender for bronze-medal winning Finland, did not appear in any games. Joe Pavelski was a key forward on fourth-place Team USA.
Even with the Flyers' win in San Jose earlier this month, matches against the Sharks have not ended well very often for Philadelphia in recent years. In the Flyers' last 14 games against the Sharks, Philadelphia has just the one win (1-8-2-3 record).
The Olympic break gave Logan Couture (hand surgery), Raffi Torres (knee surgery) and Tyler Kennedy (groin pull) time to heal. All three are expected to be available to play tonight. However, rookie Tomas Hertl (knee surgery) remains on injured reserve, Brad Stuart (upper body) is unavailable and Nieto (bruised foot) is questionable.
KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.70 (16th), Sharks 2.81 (9th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.75 (17th), Sharks 2.32 (4th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.94 (20th), Sharks 1.13 (7th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 19.6% (11th), Sharks 17.2% (18th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 84.1% (7th), Sharks 83.7% (8th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.0% (21nd), Sharks 53.2% (1st)
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Vincent Lecavalier - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
9 Steve Downie - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read
12 Michael Raffl - 18 Adam Hall - 36 Zac Rinaldo
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 5 Braydon Coburn
41 Andrej Meszaros - 32 Mark Streit
26 Erik Gustafsson - 22 Luke Schenn
35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]
Potential Scratches: Kimmo Timonen (post-Olympic fatigue), Jay Rosehill (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
SHARKS
83 Matt Nieto(?) - 19 Joe Thornton - 88 Brent Burns
12 Patrick Marleau - 39 Logan Couture - 57 Tommy Wingels
13 Raffi Torres - 8 Joe Pavelski - 9 Martin Havlat
10 Andrew Desjardins - 37 Adam Burish - 18 Mike Brown
44 Marc-Edouard Vlasic - 22 Dan Boyle
52 Matt Irwin - 61 Justin Braun
5 Jason Demers - 27 Scott Hannan
32 Alex Stalock
[31 Antti Niemi]
Potential Scratches: Brad Stuart (upper body), Tyler Kennedy (possible scratch), Matt Nieto (bruised foot, questionable), James Sheppard (healthy), Matt Tennyson (healthy), Tomas Hertl (IR, knee surgery).
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CASINO ROYALE FUNDRAISER WITH FLYERS ALUMNI
On Sun. March 9, starting at 5 p.m., Abrams Hebrew Academy will hold its annual Fund Raising Dinner and Casino Royale Night at Congregation Beth El in Yardley, PA. Special guests for the night will include Bernie Parent, Brian Propp, Bill Clement, Joe Watson and Bob "the Hound" Kelly.
Apart from the dinner and casino event, there will also be a host of items available via auction, including a signed stick by all three members of the Flyers' legendary LCB line (Reggie Leach and Hall of Famers Bob Clarke and Bill Barber), boxes of Bernie Parent's signature cigar line, a handsome Clarke lithograph and many more goodies.
All proceeds go to benefit the school. My nephew, Sammy Sherman, attends Abrams and my sister, Liza, helped to organize the event and line up the Flyers alumni guests. The slogan for the event is "Help Abrams Make Its Goal."
For more information,
click here.
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