Battle
for Keystone State Supremacy
There is not much debate around the NHL right now that
the best current rivalry is the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh
Penguins. The real question is what will cause another brawl? Or will the total
penalty minutes be over or under 150?
Tonight will be the third of four meetings between these
two clubs this year, with the teams both winning on the road in the prior two
contests. Pittsburgh comes into this
game red hot winning seven of their last 10 games.
For the Flyers, they are the first team to reach the
halfway point this season, and the results thus far are not nearly what they
hoped. That being said, the Flyers sit just one point out of a playoff spot,
and will have the luxury of not having a packed a schedule to close out the
season.
The Flyers need to show some desperation tonight, much
like they did the last time they played Pittsburgh. Guys like Danny Briere and
Luke Schenn are going to have to play a lot better for things to turn around.
L. Schenn had two sloppy changes in Tuesday night’s game
against the Rangers that both led too soft goals. For Briere, he has just
simply not been himself this year, scoring just five goals with a -5 rating.
What is also surprising is given how well Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and
Wayne Simmonds have played recently, all three still have a negative plus/minus
rating.
You can bet that Pittsburgh is going to try to defend
heavily against Simmonds and Voracek, after the two combined for five of the
Flyers six goals in a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh a little more than two weeks ago.
This should leave the door open for guys like Scott Hartnell and Brayden Schenn
too get their offensive games going.
Defensively, if Nicklas Grossman cannot go (he is
questionable after suffering a lower body injury during the first period of
Tuesday night’s loss in New York) then the Flyers are going to have a real hard
time containing Pittsburgh’s offensive attack. Grossman leads the NHL in
blocked shots, he had 61 going into the game against the Rangers. He has also
been arguably the Flyers best penalty killer, and it is no secret that the
Flyers spend a lot of time in the sin bin.
For Pittsburgh, head coach Dan Bylsma has decided to give
rookie Beau Bennett a chance to play right wing on a line that features two of
the league’s most feared goal scorers, center Evgeni Malkin and left wing James
Neal. Bennett, who was the 20th pick in the 2010 NHL draft, has
scored three points in his last four games.
Key’s to the Game for
the Flyers
·
Stay out of the box
The Flyers are the most
penalized team in the NHL, and if Grossman cannot play the Flyers penalty kill
will be a little weaker. The Penguins power play is operating at a deadly
25.6%, which is good enough for third in the league. Discipline will be
essential, especially with how chippy things can get when these two clubs meet.
·
Shoot the puck
Seems simple, right?
The Flyers have had a tendency this year to try to make that extra pass, or
wait for a lane to open up and it never does. While this can work sometimes, I
think the Flyers just need to get shots on goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. We all
remember what happened in the playoffs last year, and you know the crowd will
be all over him again tonight.
·
Score first
Now hold on before you
all tell me how the Flyers always come back against the Penguins and scoring
first does not matter, it does. Not only because teams winning percentages go
way up when they score the first goal, but because dating back to January of
2009, the road team is an amazing 17-5-1 in this series. Keep the fans at Wells
Fargo into the game by scoring first and playing with the lead, and the chances
of the home team winning become so much higher.
Tidbits
·
Under Dan Bylsma, the Penguins are 8-2-1
in Philadelphia, and have not had a losing record playing in Philadelphia since
the 2007-08 season when they were 0-4.
·
In the Flyers last 22 meetings with the
Penguins, there has been at least one power play goal scored in each game.
·
Fleury has a 52-18-10 career record in
the month of March.
Injury Report
Out for the Flyers is
forwards Matt Read(ribs), Tye McGinn(orbital) and Jody Shelley(hip) and
defensemen Andrej Meszaros(shoulder). Defensemen Nicklas Grossman is
questionable with a lower body injury. Harry Zolnierczyk is serving game two of
a four game suspension.
For the Penguins,
defensemen Paul Martin is questionable with a lower body injury.
Let’s hope the Flyers
play with some “JAM” tonight.
Enjoy the game, and GO
FLYERS!
