Game Preview: Flyers vs. Sabres

PHI: 15-7-3 (3rd in Atlantic); BUF: 14-11-1 (3rd in Northeast)

Where: First Niagara Center

When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. on CSN

Probable Goalies – Ilya Bryzgalov (10-5-2, 2.83 GAA) vs. Ryan Miller (6-6-0, 2.78 GAA)

van Riemsdyk returns to the lineup tonight in Buffalo. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

Last time met: November 2, 2011– In the first meeting of the season between the two teams, the Flyers were on the offensive attack early. The Flyers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first seven minutes with goals from Sean Couturier, James van Riemsdyk, and Scott Hartnell. The Sabres did chip away at the lead and had goals from Andrej Sekera and Luke Adam but fell short in a 3-2 loss. Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 29 of 31 shots.

Opposing player to watch – RW Jason Pominville: Pominville provides a significant amount of the Sabres offense along with Thomas Vanek. Pominville leads the team in assists (18) and also has nine goals on the season. He is a quick forward who is very dangerous when he gets the puck. He uses his speed to get behind the defense and score. He has a very nice wrist shot and doesn’t miss very often. Pominville also plays very well against the Flyers as he has 21 points (10 goals & 11 assists) in 23 career games.

One Thing To Look For – James van Riemsdyk is back in the lineup after missing the last four games with an upper-body injury. It will be interesting to see how he plays and how many minutes he logs tonight.

Prediction – The Flyers have played well against the Sabres recently. In the November 2nd contest, they were able to chase Ryan Miller in the first period. They also defeated the Sabres in a seven-game series in last year’s playoffs. I think this will be a low scoring game where the goaltenders play very well. I’m going to say the Flyers win this one 2-1.

Game Preview: Flyers vs. Lightning

PHI: 8-4 (2nd in Atlantic)
TB: 7-5 (3rd in Southeast)
Where: Wells Fargo Center
When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. on VS
Last time met: February 15, 2011 – The Flyers edged the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in a shootout. James van Riemsdyk led the Flyers with a goal and an assist. Defenseman Kimmo Timonen scored the winning goal in the shootout. Teddy Purcell, Vincent Lecavalier, and Dominic Moore scored second period goals for the Lightning. Brian Boucher stopped 24 of 27 shots for the Flyers.

Probable Goalies – Ilya Bryzgalov (6-4-1, 2.94 GAA) vs. Dwayne Roloson (4-3-1, 3.31 GAA)

Opposing player to watch – C Steven Stamkos: Stamkos is one of the top players in the league no question. He is an absolute sniper and can make any goaltender look average. He has pinpoint accuracy and is someone that has to be watched at all times for the dreaded one-timer. The Canadian center leads the Lightning in both goals and points. Simply put, Stamkos is one of the most exciting players in the NHL to watch. Good thing Chris Pronger is back tonight: visor and all.

Flyers killer Elias lifts Devils in shootout

Patrick Elias continued his life mission of slaughtering the Flyers.

Elias scored the game-winning goal in the third round of the shootout to give the Devils a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night.

The Flyers did have a 2-0 lead early in the second period. Zac Rinaldo and Claude Giroux scored goals. It was Rinaldo’s first career NHL tally.

The Devils climbed back into the game and tied it at 2 in the span of three minutes. Zach Parise and Adam Henrique both found the net.

Forward Max Talbot was hauled down on a breakaway early in the third period which resulted in the rare penalty shot. On arguably the most exciting play in hockey, Talbot swung wide and slowly skated in and buried the puck past Devils goaltender Johan Hedberg to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.

It was Talbot’s fourth goal of the season.

But the Devils refused to go away.

David Clarkson scored the game-tying goal with 6:35 remaining in the game off a horrendous turnover by Matt Carle in his own zone. It was one of many miscues by the Flyers defense on this night.

The game went to the dreaded shootout where Parise and Danny Briere scored goals to set the stage for Elias. He didn’t miss as he somehow slid the puck under Sergei Bobrovsky’s left pad to clinch the game.

This was a game that the Flyers should’ve had. Bad turnovers sealed their fate tonight.

The defensive effort has been less than stellar in the last two games. Splitting the last two games isn’t the worst thing in the world.

The Flyers are back on the ice on Saturday evening when they face the Jeff Carter-less Columbus Blue Jackets at home.

NOTE — James van Riemsdyk was a late scratch due to a lower-body injury. Jody Shelley replaced him in the lineup. van Riemsdyk apparently sustained the injury after a collison in last night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Game Preview: Flyers vs. Devils

 

PHI: 7-4 (2nd in Atlantic)
NJ: 4-5 (4th in Atlantic)
Where: Wells Fargo Center
When: Thursday, 7 p.m. on CSN
Last time met: April 1, 2011 – New Jersey Devils forward Patrick Elias recorded a hat trick in a 4-2 victory over the Flyers. Nick Palmieri added another goal for the Devils. Jeff Carter and James van Riemsdyk scored goals for the Flyers. Brian Boucher stopped 20 of 24 shots.

Probable Goalies – Sergei Bobrovsky (2-0-0, 3.74 GAA) vs. Johan Hedberg (4-3-1, 2.28 GAA)

Opposing player to watch – LW Patrick Elias: Simply put, Elias is a Flyers killer. In 71 career games, he has 32 goals and 38 assists. The small, shifty forward still has speed and can still score with the best of them. While he’s not the 40-goal scorer that he used to be, he’s someone who the Flyers definitely have to keep an eye on. The Devils have plenty of offensive talent with Elias and Ilya Kovalchuk.

Flyers escape late Sabres rally

It started off looking like a route.

But the Buffalo Sabres ended up giving the Flyers all they could handle tonight. The Flyers barely escaped with a 3-2 win on Wednesday evening.

Unfortunately, the Flyers’ lackluster play allowed the Buffalo Sabres to climb back into the game.

The Flyers received goals from Sean Couturier and James van Riemsdyk in the first two minutes and had an early 2-0 lead.

Scott Hartnell scored a few minutes later and Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller was pulled.

It was Miller’s shortest outing since last January at the hands of the New York Islanders.

But the Sabres didn’t surrender. They slowly chipped away at the Flyers 3-0 lead.

They scored in the second period when the puck took a lucky bounce off the boards behind the net and made its way in front of Ilya Bryzgalov. Thomas Vanek was able to jam the puck under Bryzgalov and into the back of the net.

They added another goal off an awkward bounce in the third period. A Luke Adam shot went off the skate of Kimmo Timonen and right through Bryzgalov’s five-hole to cut it to a 3-2 game.

Despite some very awful play on both ends of the ice, the Flyers were able to narrowly skate away. Bryzgalov robbed Vanek in the final seconds to secure the win.

Both goals weren’t Bryzgalov’s fault as they both came on weird puck bounces. He did make 28 saves and was strong late in the game when the Flyers needed him.

The Flyers played sloppy aside from the first period but it’s very important that they still held on to win. The Hartnell-Giroux-Jagr line remained hot as Hartnell scored the game-winning goal.

The Flyers are back on the ice when they face the New Jersey Devils at home tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

Game Preview: Flyers vs. Sabres

 

PHI: 6-4-1 (2nd in Atlantic)
BUF : 6-4-0 (3rd in Northeast)
Where: First Niagara Center
When: Wednesday, 7:30 on CSN
Last time met: April 26, 2011 – The last time the Flyers faced off with the Buffalo Sabres was in Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs last year. The Flyers won the game 5-2 to take the series. They got power-play goals from Danny Briere and James van Riemsdyk. Former Flyer and current Buffalo Sabre Ville Leino also scored.

Probable Goalies – Ilya Bryzgolav (4-4-1, 3.16 GAA) vs. Ryan Miller (4-4-0, 2.14 GAA)

Opposing player to watch – LW Thomas Vanek: Vanek is the Sabres leader in points with 15 including eight goals and seven assists. He also has registered four points in his last two games. Vanek is very good around the net as he likes to be in front to get his goals. He is capable of scoring 30-40 goals. Vanek is a dangerous forward that always needs to be accounted for. He’s fast and can score from anywhere.

Jets win a wild one

Eight goals should be enough to win any hockey game.

Unfortunately for the Flyers, it wasn’t against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night. The Flyers fell 9-8 at the hands of the team formerly known as the Atlanta Thrashers.

They fell behind 6-2 in the second period but managed to come back and tie the score in the third period. James van Riemsdyk scored the go-ahead goal just 3:02 into the final period.

van Riemsdyk and Danny Briere both played very well as they scored two goals apiece in the slugfest.

The Jets answered right back with goals from Alexander Burmistrov and Mark Stuart to take a 8-7 lead.

van Riemsdyk wasn’t done. He tied the game at 8 with less than four minutes remaining. The Flyers look destined to pull this one out.

But it was not to be. Andrew Ladd beat Ilya Bryzgalov with just 1:06 to go to  cap off a Winnipeg victory.

It was a poor night for defense and goaltending for both teams.

Bryzgalov allowed four goals after Sergei Bobrovsky let up five before exiting in the second period. Combined, they only made 16 saves on 25 shots.

Let’s just hope Chris Pronger can get back soon and provide some help for this defense.

The Flyers are back on home ice on Saturday when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes.

Read-ing it well

Many experts have thrown Flyers’ rookie winger Matt Read into the conversation for the Calder Trophy. So far he’s living up to the hype.

Read has been a pleasant surprise for the Orange & Black so far this season. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Read recorded his first career four-point night as he had a goal and three assists in the Flyers 7-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday evening.

Read scored on a beautifully placed wrist shot that he snuck between Senators goaltender Alex Auld and the post.

Philadelphia scored early and often as they netted four goals in the first period. Read and Wayne Simmonds scored just 1:40 apart on the Flyers’ first two goals.

Claude Giroux and Max Talbot also scored for the Orange & Black. It was Giroux’s fourth goal of the young season.

James van Riemsdyk, Sean Couturier, and Harry Zolniercyzk added late third period goals. Couturier and Zolniercyzk’s goals were their first career NHL tallies.

Sergei Bobrovsky was impressive in his first start of the season as he stopped 21 shots. Ilya Bryzgalov started the first four games of the season so it was a good spot to give him a night off and give Bobrovsky some work.

That will be key down the stretch this season. Bryzgalov was depended on very heavily in Phoenix and played 70-plus games. That is not necessary in Philly with the fellow-Russian Bobrovsky behind him.

This was simply a game where the Flyers imposed their will on the struggling Senators. They did what they were supposed to do: win. It was a good bounce back game after falling to the Los Angeles Kings in overtime on Saturday.

The Flyers are back on the ice when they face the Washington Capitals at home on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Flyers Fall In OT

JVR has been above and beyond the Flyers' best player this posteason. He's turning into an elite player. (Photo by: AP)

The Flyers got the scoring started off as Nikolay Zherdev played the puck ahead to Claude Giroux who fed van Riemsdyk for the easy goal to beat Tim Thomas.

I found it ironic that the first goal was from an American after the events that unfolded on Sunday evening.

About nine minutes later, van Riemsdyk struck again off traffic in front where he backhanded the puck past Thomas on a rebound to give the Flyers an early 2-0 lead.

The Flyers played very well in the first ten minutes of the contest and looked to be thriving in every facet of the game. But then the Bruins woke up.

Chris Kelly and Brad Marchand scored just 1:25 apart to tie up the game. The Kelly goal was made possible by tremendous traffic in front of Boucher.

Marchand’s goal came as a result of the Flyers being unable to clear the zone. Marchand stepped up in the slot and buried a wrister past Boucher to tie the game.

In the second half of the second period, Boucher hurt his hand and was taken out for the game. Sergei Bobrovsky came in and held the fort for the Flyers, making brilliant saves.

Miracliously Boucher was right back out there for the third period and looked very good. He made some tremendous saves down the stretch to keep the game tied.

The Flyers outshot the Bruins 32-12 during the third period and overtime. Tim Thomas stood on his head last night and made save after save.

Thomas stoned Danny Briere on a breakaway attempt about five minutes into the third period.

Boucher was equally good as he robbed Nathan Horton in front on a pass from Milan Lucic with five minutes to go in the third. It was perhaps his best save of the evening.

But with six minutes left in overtime, David Krejci buried a one-timer past Boucher to send the Bruins back to Boston with a 2-0 series lead.

It was a heartbreaking game for Flyers fans as they saw van Riemsdyk play his heart out. He led the Flyers attack as he netted both goals and logged 23:07 in total ice-time.

The Flyers played very well but just couldn’t get the puck past Thomas through three-and-a-half periods. The blueprint should remain the same going into Game 3.

They need to get more traffic in front of Thomas and make him uncomfortable. They had many opportunities last night to score, but Thomas just was outstanding.

There’s no reason to panic. The Flyers need to continue to take this one game at a time.

2010 taught us that a series is never over until you’ve lost four games.

Boucher To Start Game 2

Despite giving up five goals in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal against the Boston Bruins, Flyers’ goaltender Brian Boucher will start Game 2 tonight. Boucher played about two full periods before being pulled for Sergei Bobrovsky. This shows that Peter Laviolette is committed to Boucher and thinks he will bounce back.

I think it’s the right call to go with Boucher. Aside from two games, he has been spectacular. In the four games that the Flyers have won this postseason, he has given up a total of six goals. This shows that he just had a bad outing and will be looking for redemption. He has the veteran experience to get the job done and has proved it all season long. I think that Boucher has a great game tonight and gives the Flyers a very good chance to win.

Notes: Chris Pronger’s status is questionable for tonight’s contest but he is expected to play. Pronger didn’t take part in the morning skate and Laviolette wouldn’t comment on the status of the Flyers’ star defenseman.

While this doesn’t have anything to do with hockey, I found it very interesting. As everyone is well aware, Osama bin Laden was killed over the weekend.  This quote from James van Riemsdyk  is very strong and shows how people feel about bin Laden being brought to justice.

“One of my good friends’ dad passed away that day. It was a sad day and a lot of good people died that day,” said van Riemsdyk. “To see (Bin Laden) finally brought to justice makes you proud to be an American.”