GAME PREVIEW (7:45 AM, EDT)
Coming off a 2-1 win in Craig Berube's NHL head coaching debut, the Philadelphia Flyers (1-3-0) return to action at the Wells Fargo Center tonight taking on Dave Tippett's Phoenix Coyotes (2-2-0). Game time is at 7 p.m. eastern. The game will be televised locally on CSN Philly.
This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season. The next will take place in Arizona on January 4.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers' win on Tuesday was less-than-artistic but was much needed. Two early goals, a five-for-five performance on the penalty kill and outstanding goaltending by Steve Mason were just enough to win.
In the early days of his head coaching tenure, Berube has emphasized the need for the team to improve its skating. Yesterday, he said that the team needs to "skate quicker and think quicker," noting that the two are intertwined.
Overall, the team still needs to improve its breakouts, puck management and overall consistency in all three zones. In recent years, the Flyers have often struggled playing against teams similar to Phoenix. The Coyotes generally play a very defensively disciplined style and are a tough team against whom to carry the puck into the offensive zone.
In the Coyotes' case, it is also tough to wrap the puck around deep, because goaltender Mike Smith is arguably the top puckhandling goalie in the NHL today (Mason is up near the top as well). Smith started in goal last night in the Coyotes' 4-2 win in Detroit. That means there is a chance that backup Thomas Greiss could get his first start of the 2013-14 season.
Assuming Smith starts, and if the carry-in is not there for the Flyers on the attack, the forwards may need to execute soft flips into the corners to force the Phoenix defensemen to retrieve the puck. To win the puck on the forecheck, that means Philly's players had better keep their feet moving.
The same thing goes for defensive play: the Flyers need to skate and support one another better than they have for much of the early season.
The Flyers have gotten solid goaltending for the most part in the first four games of the season. Mason has been especially good. That has enabled the team to stay close in games, and have a chance to win if other things fall in place.
Berube indicated yesterday that he is not planning any immediate line changes from the combinations he used in the Florida game. In the meantime, top line center Claude Giroux will look tonight for his first point of the young season. The team as a whole will look to get going offensively, after scoring a total of five goals in the first four games.
Defenseman Braydon Coburn said after Tuesday's game that there's "no time for negativity" right now. With a win tonight and a solid performance tomorrow night in Detroit, the Flyers will have a chance to gain some equilibrium.
Coyotes Outlook
The Coyotes bounced back from two consecutive losses with a strong road performance in last night's 4-2 win against Detroit. Smith made 28 saves, while Derek Morris, Mikkel Boedker, Michael Stone and Antoine Vermette (empty net) provided the goal support.
Last night, the Coyotes grabbed an early lead on Morris' goal directly off a faceoff win by Vermette. They took a 1-0 lead to the locker room at the first intermission. In the middle stanza, Detroit scored closely spaced back-to-back goals to briefly take a 2-1 lead but the Coyotes struck right back. Boedker claimed a deflected puck and scored by moving to his left and elevating a shot under the crossbar.
The game remained tied at 2-2 until there was just 4:47 remaining in regulation. Stone broke the tie moments after the expiration of a Coyotes power play, taking a pass from Mike Ribeiro and firing a shot home through a screen in front. Vermette sealed the 4-2 win with an empty net goal in the final minute.
Moving forward, special teams are arguably the primary area that Tippett's team will need to improve upon to better their 2-2-0 start. The Coyotes are just 11.1 percent on the power play and 68.8 percent on the power play. Also, while the team is generating a healthy average of 31.8 shots per game in the early going, the Coyotes have uncharacteristically given up 33.2 shots per game thus far. The latter stat ranks in the NHL's bottom six to date.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
10 Brayden Schenn - 40 Vincent Lecavalier - 93 Jakub Voracek
25 Max Talbot - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read
37 Jay Rosehill - 18 Adam Hall - 36 Zac Rinaldo
44 Kimmo Timonen - 22 Luke Schenn
32 Mark Streit - 41 Andrej Meszaros
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 5 Braydon Coburn
35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]
Scratches: Kris Newbury (healthy), Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
COYOTES
89 Mikkel Boedker - 50 Antoine Vermette - 19 Shane Doan
63 Mike Ribeiro - 11 Martin Hanzal - 17 Radim Vrbata
28 Lauri Korpikoski - 24 Kyle Chipchura - 18 David Moss
36 Rob Klinkhammer - 34 Tim Kennedy - 12 Paul Bissonnette
23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson - 4 Zbynek Michalek
3 Keith Yandle - 53 Derek Morris
16 Rostislav Klesla - 26 Michael Stone
41 Mike Smith/ 1 Thomas Greiss
Scratches: David Rundblad (healthy), David Schlemko (healthy), Brandon Yip (healthy).
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