Third Straight Scorefest?

 The Philadelphia Flyers (29-14-5) host the Winnipeg Jets (22-22-6) tonight at 7:00 PM.

The Philadelphia Flyers have faced the Winnipeg Jets twice this season, and twice they lost. In 2 games the Flyers have allowed 15 goals against, while scoring 12 goals. Winnipeg won the 1st contest 9-8, and the 2nd 6-4.

The Winnipeg Jets have struggled mightily in the month of January. They've lost 9 of 12 including 4 of their last 5. Despite scoring 15 times the Flyers, goals have not been easy to come by lately for them. The Jets have scored only 20 goals in the 12 games played in January (1.67 goals per game). To put that in perspective, the Flyers have scored 20 goals in their last 6 games.

The Flyers have played fairly well of late. Their record over the last 7 games is 5-2-1. One player who is struggling to put the puck in the net is All Star Claude Giroux. Claude's last goal came during the Winter Classic, which was 12 games ago. He does, however, have 9 assists in those 11 goalless games since. Another Flyers All Star, Scott Hartnell on the other hand has 8 goals in the 11 games since the Classic.

Injury Updates:
Danny Briere (concussion), Jaromir Jagr (groin), and James VanRiemsdyk (concussion) all skated with the team, participating in a full practice (without the 'no contact' jersey) yesterday. Jagr said he was pain free after practice and continues to he feels the same today, so he will be in the lineup tonight. Danny Briere and James VanRiemsdyk remain out; nevertheless, it is a great sign for Philadelphia.

Briere spoke about his injury today saying, "He (Anton Volchenkov) hit me with an elbow to my cheek, just under my shield. I’ve always been pretty good at avoiding those kind of hits, being aware out there, but I never saw this coming. So he catches me high, then I took another hit and started to feel that something’s not right. Then late in the game I absolutely got crushed and I knew something was wrong. I just didn’t feel right."

Briere and JVR will likely remain out until at least the weekend.

Who to look out for:
Blake Wheeler had 5 points in the previous 2 games versus the Flyers, and leads his team in points with 33.

Scott Hartnell, who leads Philadelphia in goals with 25, has scored 3 goals and 2 assist for 5 points in the 2 games against Winnipeg this season.

Who's in goal:
The Flyers will start Ilya Bryzgalov (18-10-4, 2.99 GAA) in net against Ondrej Pavelec (16-17-6, 2.84 GAA) tonight.

Drop the Puck:
The Philadelphia Flyers face off against the Winnipeg Jets tonight at 7:00 PM.

(Thanks to ComcastSportsNet, Danny Briere, and the Flyers)

Injuries Improving

Today all injured Flyers skated with regular 'contact' jerseys. Danny Briere (concussion), Jaromir Jagr (groin), James VanRiemsdyk (concussion) and Zac Rinaldo (upper body injury) all participated in a full length practice. Jagr said after the practice that he is pain free, and if he feels the same tomorrow, he'll suit up against the Winnipeg Jets.

Briere and Jagr skating hard at practice

Danny Briere

James VanRiemsdyk

Jaromir Jagr

2012 NHL ALL STAR GAME

Team Chara defeated Team Alfredsson 12-9.
Marion Gaborik won the MVP scoring 3 goals and an assist.
Philadelphia Flyers Scott Hartnell and Claude Giroux had a pretty good game as well. Claude scored a goal, and Scotty registered 2 assists, including a beauty to Sedin and another to Claude.

Scott Hartnell, Kimmo Timonen & Claude Giroux

Here are some Flyer highlights in today's All Star Game:

Scott Hartnell Mic'd up during his assist on Sedin's goal

Claude Giroux scores on Tim Thomas, Hartnell with assist

Giroux tries to add to the #hartnelldown total

Hartnell stealing Jim Hughson's job (play by play)

(Thanks to CBC, NBC, the NHL, & the Philadelphia Flyers)

2012 NHL Skills Competition Highlights

Here are some of the highlights from last night's NHL Skills Competition.

Sean Couturier with a dazzling breakaway move...

Patrick 'Superman' Kane and Exploding Puck

Steven Stamkos Spin Move

Zdeno Chara breaks his own record (105.9) by shooting 108.8 MPH

Philly's own Scottie Hartnell goes 3 for 3 on his one-timer shots

Corey Perry scores with mini stick

Carl Hagelin won the fastest skater, 12.99 seconds.
Patrick Kane won the breakaway Challenge with 47% of the votes.
Jamie Benn won the accuracy shooting, hitting 4 targets in 10.2 seconds.
Team Alfredsson won the right, and left side team rally, 2:28, and 208 respectively.
Zdeno Chara won the hardest shot topping out at 108.8 MPH, a new record.
Steven Stamkos won the elimination shootout, going 3 for 3.
Team Alfredsson ultimately won the Skills Competition 21-12.

Drop the Puck:
The 2012 NHL All Star game is on tomorrow at 4:00 PM at Ottawa.

2012 NHL All Star Fantasy Draft

Sam Carchidi of the Philly.com Sports writes,

Center Claude Giroux and left winger Scott Hartnell will be together on an all-star team that will oppose their Flyers teammate, Kimmo Timonen. 

Giroux, who is second in the NHL with 55 points, was selected in the fourth round (eighth overall) by Team Alfredsson, a.k.a the Ottawa Senators. He went in the 13th round (25th overall) in last year’s all-star draft.

Timonen, whose parents traveled from Finland to be here for the all-star festivities, was chosen with the next pick, going in the fifth round (ninth overall) to Team Chara.Giroux tweeted shortly after he was selected: “Glad I got picked before @Hartsy19. Hopefully he gets the car. #19lastpick.”He was referring to Hartnell, who eventually was selected by Team Alfredsson in the 17th round (34th overall) — four shy of being the final selection.

“I’m not really happy with Giroux right now,” he kidded. “…I was hoping I was on the blue team so I get to play against him. Maybe [throw] my gloves at him a little bit.”

Continue Reading

Click Here For Team Alfredsson and Team Chara Full Rosters

All Star Festivities Are Upon Us

Adam Kimelman of NHL.com writes,

A four-day hockey extravaganza starts Thursday at 5 p.m. ET on the NHL Network with NHL Live: At the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend. The hour show will feature a number of this year's All-Stars as well as other key personalities from around the hockey world.

At 8 p.m., the players will be front and center for the 2012 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft. Daniel Alfredsson and his assistant, Henrik Lundqvist, will put their selection skills to the test against Zdeno Chara and his assistant, Joffrey Lupul. Who will be the first player picked? Who will be the last? Will teammates be separated? Will brothers? Watch the drama unfold on the NBC Sports Network in the United States and TSN in Canada.

Continue Reading

Flyers Finally Win A Shootout, Beat Florida

Bob dancing after the win

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Florida Panthers tonight 3-2 in the shootout. It was their first shootout victory of the season. Sergei Bobrovsky, who was easily the player of the game, stopped all 3 shootout attempts while Claude Giroux scored the winning shootout goal.

The Flyers had lost 6 straight shootouts prior to tonight's victory. They've also allowed 5 straight shootout goals, and surrendered 7 out of 8 goals in the shootouts this year. But tonight would be different. Bobrovsky stood strong and even danced in jubilation as he helped win it for the Flyers.

When asked about the shootout win, coach Peter Laviolette said with a smile, "Yea, we threw some chairs together at the mail room today and got some stick balls and hockey and we practiced our moves. It really payed off today." 

Florida got off to a quick start in the game, scoring on their 2nd shot, taking a 1-0 lead on the PowerPlay.

The Flyers would, however, respond on their own PowerPlay. Brayden Schenn took a wrist shot that Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen fought off, but the puck went straight up into the air over the goalie's head and bounced off his back and into the net. The lucky break would tie the game for the Flyers at 1.

Voracek completes the give-and-go

Philadelphia continued to play well in the 1st and get shots in on goal. The Flyers outshot the Panthers 13-9 in the period. One of those shots came from Jake Voracek on a great give-and-go play with Tom Sestito which beat Clemmensen giving the Flyers their 1st lead of the game, 2-1.

The only other goal in this game came late in the 2nd period on a complete defensive breakdown for the Flyers. Ex-Flyer Kris Versteeg came in on the breakaway, after getting past a diving Max Talbot, right in front of Bobrovsky and instead of shooting he dropped it back to Tomas Fleischmann who deposited the puck into the empty net. Bobrovsky followed Versteeg all the way (which is the goalie's job), and one of the defensemen is supposed to pick up the next forward driving to the net (Fleischmann); however, neither Flyers defender (Meszaros nor Gustafsson) was any where to be found, leaving Fleischmann wide open.

Bobrovsky stones Santorelli to win the game

The 3rd period was all about the goalies. Bobrovsky stopped all 9 shots he faced while Clemmensen stopped all 10.

The Flyers would enter their 2nd straight overtime game, then ultimately their 2nd shootout in as many days.

After the first 2 shooters failed to score, it was Claude Giroux's turn. Last night he scored in the shootout on a beautiful forehand to backhand move. Today it was backhand to forehand with the same result. Voracek would hit the post on his attempt forcing Bobrovsky, who already made 2 stops, to make another to save the game. Mike Santorelli lined up for the Panthers, went backhand forehand and Bobrovsky stayed with him all the way making the save, sending the Flyers to the All Star break on a winning note, 3-2.

Game Notes:

• Sergei Bobrovsky was the number 1 star of the game, making 23 saves on 25 shots, and didn't allow any goals in the shootout. 
• The Flyers outshot Florida 37-25. Giroux, Schenn, Voracek, and Zolnierczyk all had 4. 
• It was the 1st shootout all year that the Flyers didn't give up a goal.
• The Flyers went 1 for 3 on the PowerPlay tonight. This is the 3rd straight game with at least 1 PowerPlay goal. During that span they are 6 for 16 (38%).
• Tom Sestito scored his first point as a Flyer today when he assisted Jake Voracek's goal.

Drop the Puck:
The Flyers have off until next Tuesday, due to the All Star Break. Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, and Kimmo Timonen will represent the Flyers in the All Star game while Matt Read and Sean Couturier will be in the rookie's games.

(Thanks to ESPN, Comcast SportsNet, Bekishlyn, the NHL, and the Philadelphia Flyers)

Scottie is In

This morning the NHL announced that Scott Hartnell has been invited to the 2012 NHL All Star game in Ottawa. Jonathon Toews was injured in last night's game and was forced to pull out of the All Star weekend. Hartnell was then called by the NHL to replace him.

On January 12th the All Stars were selected and Hartnell was noticeably missing. He admitted to being disappointed and added the he is just going to continue to play hard. And play hard he did.

Hartnell has scored 7 goals in his last 6 games since not being selected. That includes 5 goals in the last 2 games, including a hat trick in Sunday. Hartnell was also named the NHL's second star of the week.

Scott has 25 goals on the season, which is 6th in the league, and his 44 points is good enough for 19th in the NHL.

Hartnell is only 5 goals away from his career high (30) already.

Hartnell on being selected, "It was right before bed time and my heart was racing. I was kind of nervous. It was from Shanahan and I thought I might have a disciplinary hearing... but it was good news."

He will join Claude Giroux and Kimmo Timonen on the All Star team, along with Matt Read and Sean Couturier for the rookie team.

Festivities begin Thursday, January 26th in Ottawa, when the captains (Daniel Alfredsson and Zdeno Chara) will draft their teams. Then on Saturday January 28th, the NHL Skills Competition will take place. Finally on Sunday January 29th, the 2012 NHL All Star game will be held.

Can Flyers Tame Panthers, Again

The Philadelphia Flyers (28-14-5) face off against the Florida Panthers (22-15-10) today at 7:30 PM.

The Philadelphia Flyers are coming off a tough loss to Boston in which Scott Hartnell scored a hat trick. They came from behind 3 times in the game but ultimately lost in a shootout after Bryzgalov surrendered 2 goals on 2 attempts. The Flyers are 0-3 in shootouts this season, but its not for the lack of scoring; they have a 44 shooting %, which is 5th best in the league; however, they have a .125 save %: last in the NHL (Bryzgalov has allowed 5 goals on 5 shots).

The Florida Panthers come into tonight's game struggling of late . They have lost 4 of their last 5, and 6 of their last 8 games. However, they are still currently 1st in the Southeast, and 3rd in the East.

The last time these two teams faced off was in early November and the Flyers emerged victorious 3-2, when Matt Read scored the game winner on a Penalty Shot.

Injuries:
The Flyers will continue to be without Danny Briere (concussion), Jaromir Jagr (groin), and James vanRiemsdyk (concussion). Both Briere and Jagr were injured in Saturday's Devils game. Jagr is listed as day-to-day and should be back after the All Star break, while Briere is out indefinitely. JVR has skated and is making progress. He is also hopeful for a return after the break.

Who to look out for:
Ex-Flyer Kris Versteeg has been Florida's best forward all season long. He leads the Panthers in goals (19) and points (42) and is coming off a 3 point night against Winnipeg.

Scott Hartnell has been one of the hottest players in the NHL over the last week. Scottie has scored 5 goals in his last 2 games and is 6th in the NHL with 25 goals.

All Star After all:
When the All Stars were chosen a few weeks back, Hartnell was noticeably missing from the list. However, Jonathon Toews pulled out due to injury last night, Jamie Benn is currently out after having an appendectomy and rumors are that Alex Ovechkin will pull out tomorrow. If all this is the case, then 3 replacements will be named tomorrow. Hartnell will most likely be considered along with Pittsburgh's James Neal, and Dallas' Loui Eriksson.

Update (1 PM):
Scott Hartnell has been named to the 2012 NHL All Star team in replacement of Jonathon Toews.
Read More

Who's in goal:
Ilya Bryzgalov (18-10-4, 2.99 GAA) will most likely get the start in net against Jose Theodore (14-9-5, 2.50 GAA) tonight.

Drop the Puck:
The Florida Panthers host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at 7:30 PM.

Flyers lose to Boston in a Wild One

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Boston Bruins 6-5 today in a shootout. It was a game that saw 10 goals, 75 shots, 68 penalty minutes, 63 hits, 3 fights, a hat trick, and a shootout.

Hartnell Celebrates His Hat Trick

Scott Hartnell was the story of the game for the Flyers as he helped them erase a 2 goal deficit in the second period to take the lead after scoring a natural hat trick.

The Flyers went into the 2nd period down 3-1 after allowing goals from Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin and Milan Lucic. Max Talbot was the lone Flyers goal scorer after he deflected Kimmo Timonen's shot from the point.
The period was a rough one which included 2 fights (Lucic vs Sestito, and Schenn vs Kelly) and 36 penalty minutes.

Schenn Fights Kelly

The Flyers refused to let Boston run away with it. They came out flying in the 2nd period and were rewarded with an early PowerPlay. And as if we were watching a replay from yesterday's Devils game it was Giroux to Hartnell in the high slot for the PowerPlay goal to get the Flyers within 1.

Then 4 minutes later Hartnell was at it again. And again it was Giroux assisting on Hartnell's second goal of the game. It was just 7 minutes into the 2nd period and Hartnell had single handily tied the game at 4 apiece. But Hartnell and Giroux weren't finished. Claude drew a penalty on Lucic with less than 2 minutes left in the period sending the Flyers back to their red hot PowerPlay.

Hartnell Scores His Second Goal

Philadelphia would then use the strategy, 'if it works, keep using it.' And it continued to work. Scott Hartnell lined up in the high slot and Claude Giroux found him once again; and once again, he beat All Star goalie Tim Thomas, for the third time, completing his 6th career hat-trick.

So many hats rained down on the ice that the referees actually decided to end the period early (46 seconds) and play the carry over time after the intermission. The Flyers had outshot the Bruins 15-6 and outscored them 3-0 and Hartnell had 3 goals and 6 shots in the 2nd period alone.

Hats Rain Down for Scottie's 6th Career Hat Trick

The 3rd period began and Boston stole the Flyers momentum almost instantly as they were able to tie the game just over a minute in as David Krejci deflected Rich Peverley's shot past Ilya Bryzgalov.

Bryzgalov had a rough night as he allowed 5 goals on 37 shots and 2 shootout goals on 2 attempts.

The game was knotted at 4, when Bruins Greg Campbell put Boston on top once again. Gustafsson tried to clear him from the crease and as Campbell was falling down he got his stick on the puck and was able to put it through the legs of Bryzgalov.

Talbot Ties It at 5

The Flyers found themselves down again. But once again, the PowerPlay would get them back into the game. Philadelphia would score their 3rd PowerPlay goal of the game. Max Talbot got his 2nd goal of the game in similar fashion to his 1st. He scored on the deflection, this time from Matt Carle to tie the game for the 3rd time at 5.

Overtime came and went, and a shootout was needed to end this one.

Matt Read went first and lost control. Then Krejci scored for the Bruins. Next it was Giroux for the Flyers. He scored on a beautiful backhand. Tyler Seguin followed and also scored. It all came down to Wayne Simmonds, who needed to score. But unfortunately it was Tim Thomas who was stronger, stopping Simmonds' attempt. Boston won it 6-5 in the shootout.

Scott and Bill Hartnell

Game Notes:

• The Flyers are 19 for 56 (34%) all time in the shootouts. They have the worst winning % in the entire NHL since its inception.
• Bryzgalov has faced 5 shootout attempts and has allowed 5 shootout goals.
• Max Talbot had his 1st, 2 goal game of the season and as a Flyer.
• Scott Hartnell had a game and season high 9 shots on goal.
• The Flyers have 39 total hits lead by Schenn and Sestito who both had 6. 
• Schenn's fight was the 1st of his NHL career.
• Giroux's line had 18 of the Flyers 38 shots.
• Flyers went 3-8 on the PowerPlay. They are 5-13 in their last 2 games.

Claude & Raymond Giroux with Sergei and Andrei Bobrovski

• Today's game was 'Father and Son day' at the Wells Fargo Center. All of the Flyers' Fathers came to Philadelphia to watch their sons play this afternoon.

Flyers & their Fathers Pose at Center Ice

Drop the Puck:
The Flyers get back into action on Tuesday when they face the Florida Panthers.

(Thanks to ESPN, Y! Sports, the NHL, and the Philadelphia Flyers)
 

Back To Back

 The Philadelphia Flyers (28-14-4) face off against the Boston Bruins (30-13-2) this afternoon at 3PM.

The Flyers are coming off a very solid victory against the Devils, in which their special teams work controlled the game. They were 2-5 on the PowerPlay and 6-6 on the penalty kill helping lead them to a 4-1 win over their divison rival. Now onto their conference rival. Boston is coming off a tough loss to the Rangers yesterday. An undisciplined penalty (that will most likely see further supplemental disciple) in overtime cost them, when the Rangers scored with 3 seconds left in OT.

The Flyers have won 4 of their last 6 games, including solid victories against Minnesota and New Jersey. They are currently 4th in the East with 60 points. Boston on the other hand has lost 3 of their last 5 games and has 62 points, good enough for 2nd place.

Today will be the 3rd meeting between the 2 teams. The Flyers won the 1st contest while the Bruins won the 2nd convincingly. They embarrassed the Flyers 6-0 in their own building. The Flyers will seek revenge this afternoon. 

Injuries:

Jaromir Jagr, Danny Briere, and Zac Rinaldo all got injured in yesterday's game. Jagr is out at least a week with a groin strain, while Briere is out indefinitely with a concussion. Zac Rinaldo is out with an upper body injury. The three replacements will be Harry Zolnierczyk, Ben Holmstrom and Tom Sestito.

Who to look out for:

Boston's David Krejci has been very hot of late. He has points in 14 of his last 15 games accumulating 19 points during that span.

Claude Giroux had his first multipoint game since January 5th (7 games) yesterday. And since Danny Briere is out, Claude will be forced to pick up his game.

Who's in net:

Ilya Bryzgalov (18-10-3, 2.94 GAA) will start in goal against Tim Thomas (19-9-0, 2.02 GAA) today.

Drop the Puck:
The Philadelphia Flyers host the Boston Bruins today at 3:00 PM.

Hartnell Nets 2 as Flyers Beat Devils

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New Jersey Devils today 4-1.

Volchenkov hits Briere

Unfortunately the game came with a high cost for the Flyers. Center Danny Briere was diagnosed with a concussion following the game. He took a few rough hits throughout the game but finished it off. Then after the game, he said, "I'm not too good right now. I don't even know what happened." Briere is listed as 'out indefinitely' right now.

The Flyers also lost Jaromir Jagr to the groin injury that has kept him out twice previously. Jagr will most likely miss the next 2 games and be out 7-10 days.

Both teams got off to a slow start in the game as there were only 13 shots in the entire first period, and only 4 by the Flyers.

The second period was more of the same for the Flyers as they were just having trouble putting shots on net. After 23 minutes the Flyers still only had 4 shots, so coach Peter Laviolette called timeout to regroup his troops.

In the following 4 minutes the Flyers took 6 shots on goal and that last shot by Matt Read put the Flyers on the board as he beat Devil's goalie Martin Brodeur. Couturier forced a giveaway in the Devils end and Wayne Simmonds made a great play from behind the net to find Read, who gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead.

The special teams battle was the difference maker in this game. The Flyers went 2-5 on the PowerPlay and 6-6 on the penalty kill.

Hartnell gets his 1st goal of the night on the PP

Scott Hartnell scored the team's first PowerPlay goal shortly after Read opened the scoring. Kimmo Timonen took a shot from the point and Hartnell deflected it up high giving the Flyers a 2-0 lead.

The 2 goal lead wouldn't last long, however, as the Devils newcomer, Alexei Ponikarovsky, redirected the puck past Ilya Bryzgalov just 28 seconds after Hartnell's tally, cutting the lead in half. Bryzgalov would prove to be perfect stopping all 12 shots faced following the goal.

The Flyers special teams took over in the 3rd period. Scott Hartnell took a penalty early in the period. The Flyers impressively killed it off not allowing any shots on goal in the process. Then they proceeded to go to the PowerPlay and were able to convert when Giroux set up Hartnell in the high slot for his second goal of the game (both coming on the PowerPlay).

After their PowerPlay goal the Flyers took another penalty, but were able to kill it once again; this time only allowing 1 shot.

Philadelphia would only allow 1 more shot in the final 6 minutes of play holding the Devils to just one goal.

Wayne Simmonds would complete the victory with an empty netter, finalizing the 4-1 score.

Game Notes:

• Ilya Bryzgalov was the 3rd star of the game making 30 saves on 31 shots.
• Wayne Simmonds had his first 3 point night of the season and as a Flyer. He had a goal and 2 assists.
• Hartnell had his 3rd, 2 goal game of the season and first since November 19th.
• Giroux had his 14th multipoint game tonight with 2 assists. It's been 7 games since his last multipoint game. His longest streak of the season (7 games) without 2 or more points was snapped tonight.
• Giroux won 60% of his face offs.
• Jagr played just over 3 minutes before leaving tonight's game with a groin injury.
• Danny Briere took three solid hits (2 from Volchenkov) in the 3rd period. Here is the last one and possibly the one that concussed him...

Drop the Puck:
The Philadelphia Flyers host the Boston Bruins tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM.

(Thanks to ESPN, Y! Sports, Comcast SportsNet, the NHL, the Flyers and the Devils)

Flyers Devils Preview

The Philadelphia Flyers (27-14-4, 58 pts) face off against the New Jersey Devils (26-18-2, 52 points) today at The Prudential Center.

The Philadelphia Flyers will face the New Jersey Devils for the third time this season. The two teams split the first two meetings, the Flyers winning the first 3-0 and the Devils taking the second 4-3 in a SO. New Jersey has however, won the last 3 out of 4 meetings against Philadelphia dating back to last season.

The Devils have played well of late winning their last 3 of 4 games. In fact they have only lost twice in their last 7 contests.  The Flyers have been very inconsistent in the month of January. They are 5-4 so far this month and are coming off a very sloppy loss against the Islanders in which they gave up 5 breakaways. However, the game prior to that was possibly the best game of the season as they dominated all 60 minutes beating the Wild 5-1. 

Who to look out for:

The always dangerous Ilya Kovalchuk has caught fire over the last 7 games. He has accumulated 10 points during that span and leads his team in goals with 19. Also Patrick Elias will bring his 7 game point streak with him as he has 11 points during his streak. Elias knows how to beat the Flyers as he has 71 points in 72 games played against them. 

Claude Giroux, Jaromir Jagr and Scott Hartnell have combined for 4 goals in the month of January. Peter Laviolette had a talk with the line yesterday and instead of splitting them up he showed his confidence in them and chose to keep the unit together this weekend. The line combined for 18 goals in December. 

Update:

The NJ Devils made a trade last night which resulted in them acquiring F Alexei Ponikarovsky for draft picks. The big forward had 7 goals and 15 points in 49 games with Carolina this season. 

Who's in net:

Ilya Bryzgalov (17-10-3, 3.00 GAA) will get the start for Philadelphia against Martin Brodeur (14-11-1, 2.83 GAA) in goal tonight. 

Drop the Puck:

The New Jersey Devils host the Philadelphia Flyers today at 1:00 PM.

Nabokov, Islanders Take Down Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the New York Islanders at home for the first time in 5 years, 4-1 tonight.

Apparently Evgeni Nabokov was the answer to 5 years of frustration. He and John Tavares dominated the Flyers all game long. Nabokov made 40 saves on 41 shots including 17 in the 2nd period and 15 in the 3rd.

Philadelphia got off to a slow start and even though the two teams were scoreless after 1, the Islanders had the edge. Sergei Bobrovsky kept the Flyers in the game as long as he could including stopping all 12 shots in the 1st.

But the Islanders kept pushing and were able to find the back of the net only 28 seconds into the 2nd when Matt Moulson received a pass from John Tavares behind the net and put it past Bobrovsky. Both Moulson and Tavares added to their point streaks. Tavares is now up to 11 games while Moulson is up to 6.

Bobrovsky was almost the story of the game as he was forced to stop numerous breakaways and 2 on 1's. But unfortunately for the Flyers the Islanders would take advantage of one of those chances. The Flyers were on the PowerPlay with about 7 minutes left in the 2nd, and instead of tying the game at 1, they surrendered a 4th breakaway. It was Josh Bailey who was finally able to beat Bobrovsky on the 1 on 1, scoring in shorthanded fashion to give NY a 2-0 lead.

At this point the Flyers decided to wake up and play some hockey. They took 20 of their 41 shots following the Islanders goal. But then it became the Nabokov show as he stopped 19 of those shots.

The Flyers got so frustrated that Claude Giroux ended up dropping the mitts in order to try to pump his team up. But it was all for naught as the Islanders increased their lead in the 3rd period on a PowerPlay goal.

The Flyers would get one back halfway through the 3rd when Sean Couturier put the puck on goal and Matt Read tipped it past Nabokov breaking the shutout. Couturier's 5 game goal scoring steak was snapped, but he still has an active 6 game point streak.

When it was all said and done the Flyers had too many giveaways (11) which led to too many chances for the Islanders. Philadelphia gave up 5 breakaways today and numerous odd-man rushes. And they just couldn't recover.

New York would add an empty netter for good measure finalizing the score at 4-1.

It was the Islanders first 3 goal (or more) victory over the Flyers in 14 years (Jan of 1998, 6-1).

Game Notes:

• Claude Giroux was credited with his 3rd NHL fighting major tonight against Dylan Reese. It was his first fight since a year ago today (Jan 20th). His previous 2 fights were against Marek Svatos and Nick Foligno. Claude also fought against Pittsburgh's Tyler Kennedy, however they were just given 2 minute minors for roughing, regardless of the fact that they dropped the gloves.
• Giroux, Hartnell and Jagr were a combined -7 tonight.
• Jody Shelley was the only Flyers tonight without a shot.
• Bobrovsky made 23 saves on 26 shots.
• Sean Couturier won 86% of his face offs.
• Jagr and Giroux were scoreless again. They have combined for 2 goals in the last 10 games.

Other News Around the NHL:
There were 10 games on the schedule tonight and oddly enough, 6 of them resulted in the same 4-1 score.

Drop the Puck:
The Flyers get back into action on Saturday when they face the New Jersey Devils.

Flyers Try to Continue Dominance of Isles

The Philadelphia Flyers (27-13-4) face off against the New York Islanders (17-21-6) tonight at the Wells Fargo Center.

Since the start of the 2007-08 season, the Flyers have dominated the Islanders. The two teams have played a total of 28 games and the Flyers have won 26 out of those 28 games played. They have won 23 of their last 24 and have won their last 8 contests against the Islanders. Philadelphia has outscored them 33-17 during their 8 game winning streak against NY. However, 5 of their last 8 games have been decided by only 1 goal, including the last 2 matches.

The Flyers are coming off one of their better performances all year as they dominated the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday winning 5-1. It was their 3rd victory in the last 4 games. The Islanders are also coming off a very solid win as they shutout the 3rd seed Washington Capitals 3-0. New York has won 3 of their last 5, including a decisive victory against the Detroit Redwings, 5-1.

Who to look out for:
John Tavares is currently one of the hottest players in the league. He is on a 10 game point streak in which he has accumulated 17 points. Matt Moulson is also playing very well. He has a 5 game point streak and 9 points during that span.

Sean Couturier is playing the best hockey he's ever played. He is currently on a 5 game goal scoring streak, which is tied with Matt Read for the longest streak by a rookie this year. Scott Hartnell aslo continues to tear it up for the Flyers; Hartnell leads the Flyers in goals with 20.

Who's in goal:
Sergei Bobrovsky (10-3-1, 2.42 GAA) will get the start against Evgeni Nabokov (8-11-0, 2.50 GAA) in goal tonight.

Drop the Puck:
The Philadelphia Flyers host the New York Islanders tonight at 7:00 PM.

Other News Around the NHL

NHL All Star Captains Announced: 
Today the NHL announced who the captains of the 2 All Star teams are. All of the players who were selected last week to participate in the All Star game in Ottawa voted for who they thought should be the captains. And the 2 highest voted getters were: Ottawa's own, Daniel Alfredsson and Boston's Zdeno Chara.

On Friday January 27th, Alfredsson and Chara will pick their teams in a draft like fashion. Then on Saturday January 28th, Team Alfredsson will compete against Team Chara in the NHL Skills Competition. Finally on Sunday January 29th, Team Chara will face Team Alfredsson for the 2012 NHL All Star Game.

Adam Kimelman of NHL.com writes,

Team Alfredsson will face Team Chara when the NHL's best meet in Ottawa for All-Star Weekend, as the NHL on Wednesday announced Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson and Boston's Zdeno Chara were chosen as team captains by their All-Star peers.

They will take turns picking their All-Star teams at the 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft on Jan. 26. And it will be Alfredsson and Chara wearing C's on their jerseys at the 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition on Jan. 28 and the All-Star Game on Jan. 29.

Team Alfredsson will wear the white Reebok NHL All-Star jerseys, helmets and socks, with red trim throughout and red gloves and pants. Team Chara will wear the dark blue jerseys with royal blue trim, navy blue helmets, gloves and pants and navy blue socks.

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Should Helmets be worn in Practice:

Yesterday during a pregame skate, Edmonton Oilers forward Taylor Hall, who wasn't wearing a helmet, stumbled and fell to the ice. His teammate tripped over him and while trying to regain his own balanced ended up stepping on Hall's face. Taylor was cut above the eye and required 30 stitches to patch it up. He remains day to day. But, and TSN analyst Darren Dreger pointed out, in the CBA it states that, team management is allowed to make it a requirement to wear a helmet during the pregame skate. 

Should it be mandatory to wear helmets even during pregame warmups?
(Warning, the video is a little graphic)

Update:
Image of Taylor Hall after receiving 30 stitches above his eye:

Do you want to go on a date with Claude Giroux:

All you have to do is ask. Claude Giroux entertained a young girl during the pregame skate at yesterdays game. A female fan held up a sign saying "How about a date, 28?" so Claude skated close to the boards and tapped his stick at her sign, making one really happy fan.

(Thanks to www.buzzonbroad.com, SportsNet West, Adam Kimelman, the NHL, and the Flyers)

Flyers Dominate Wild

The Philadelphia Flyers dominated a full 60 minutes tonight as they defeated the struggling Minnesota Wild, 5-1.

Philadelphia was firing on all cylinders for the first time since perhaps the Pittsburgh game on December 29th.

All Star Connection

The Flyers outplayed the Wild in every facet of the game.
The offense was more prolific: Flyers outshot them 34-26 scoring 4 more goals.
The defense was stingier: they only allowed 16 shots against in the first 2 periods.
The goaltending was sturdier: Ilya Bryzgalov, who was near perfect, outplayed Josh Harding making 25 saves on 26 shots.
The special teams dominated: the Flyers went 2 for 6 on the PowerPlay and we're more disciplined as they were only called for 1 infraction all game.

The Flyers put their stamp on the game early; less than 3 minutes into the game Kimmo Timonen put the Flyers on top on the PowerPlay off a huge blast from the point. It was the All Star connection as Claude Giroux set up Timonen for the score. The Flyers would outshoot the Wild 12-8 leading 1-0 after 1.

Rookie Connection

In the second period Philadelphia would be called for their only penalty, Meszaros for boarding. But instead of letting the Wild take advantage and tie the game, it was the Flyers creating more offense. Sean Couturier led on a 2 on 1 with Matt Read, and on a beautiful (albeit terrible defensive play on the Wild) give-go play, Couturier scored a shorthanded goal, extending his goal scoring streak to 5 games. His streak matches Read's for the longest by a rookie this year. If the first goal was the All Star connection, then second goal was the rookie connection as Matt Read set up Sean Couturier.

The Wild would, however, get one back, quickly. Just over a minute later, ex-Flyer Darroll Powe beat Bryzgalov on a slap shot from a distance; one Ilya would like to have back. This would be Bryzgalov and the defense's only mistake of the night. The Flyers would only give up 12 more shots after surrendering the goal, and Bryzgalov stopped them all. 

As the game progressed, it was evident that the league's 2nd best offense would start to dominate the league's 2nd worst offense.

That's exactly what came to fruition when Braydon Coburn got the 2 goal lead right back less than a minute after Powe's tally. Coburn took a shot from the point that appeared to deflect off someone (possibly Brayden Schenn) and past Harding. Coburn was given the goal as the scoring judges deemed it went off a Wild player. (Can anyone say the Braydon/Brayden connection?)

Hartnell scoring his 20th

The Flyers would continue their domination on the PowerPlay again. This time it was Scott Hartnell, scoring his team leading 20th goal of the season off a deflection. Hartnell continues to play well as his bid for a replacement All Star continues to become stronger (2 players, Koivu and Benn, have already dropped out with their replacements yet to be determined). 

After 2 periods, the Flyers outshot Minnesota 26-16 and enjoyed a 4-1 lead.

It's no secret that the Flyers have had trouble holding onto leads in the 3rd period. They have allowed 13, 3rd period goals in their last 7 games.

But instead of continuing the trend, the Flyers continued to play flawlessly. And in doing so, they kept their foot on the gas and didn't sit back and wait for the opponent to catchup; they kept pushing. And as a result their lead was increased to 5-1 when Max Talbot set up Jake Voracek nicely in front for the one-timer that Jake didn't miss.

The Flyers kept their opponent off the board in the 3rd for only the 2nd time in their last 11 games.

Down a man, up a man, even strength, the Flyers did it all tonight.

Game Notes:

• Claude Giroux was held without a goal again. He only has 2 goals in his last 14 games. However, he has 14 points in those 14 games.
• Jaromir Jagr had 2 assists. It was his first multipoint game in the last 9.
• Danny Briere was held without a goal for the 5th straight game. Briere only has 3 goals in his last 11 games (they all came in the same game; hattrick against Ottawa). But it's not for his lack of shooting. Danny has taken 41 shots in his last 11 games (3.7 shots per game).
• 12 Flyers registered at least 1 point tonight.

Drop The Puck:
The Flyers get back into action on Thursday when the face the NY Islanders.

(Thanks to ESPN, the Flyers, and the NHL for the pictures)

Flyers Prepared To Get Wild

The Philadelphia Flyers (26-13-4) face off against the Minnesota Wild (22-16-7) tonight at the Wells Fargo Center.

Past History:
The Flyers are set to play the Wild for only the 13th time. Philadelphia leads the series with 7 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie, although Minnesota has won the last 2 out of 3. Last time they faced was on November of 2010 which resulted in a huge win for the Flyers, 6-1.

Season Struggles:
Lately, the Flyers have struggled to play a full 60 minutes. This is especially apparent in the 3rd period. In the last 7 games, the Flyers have been outscored 13 to 5 in the final 20 minutes. They need to be able to close games out, if they are going to remain a top tier team in the East.

Minnesota is dealing with much bigger problems than Philadelphia. The Wild have lost 13 of their last 15 games falling from the number 1 seed in the West all the way down to 8th.

Who to look out for:
Now that Mikko Koivu is out (shoulder) Dany Heatley has to be the one to step up for the Wild. Heatley has 30 points on the season and 8 in his last 10 games.

Sean Couturier has the longest goal scoring streak of his young career. He currently has a 4 game goal scoring streak that he hopes to extend tonight. Matt Read had a 5 game streak earlier in the season.

Who's in net:
Ilya Bryzgalov (16-10-3, 3.07 GAA) will get the start against Josh Harding (8-5-3, 2.29 GAA) tonight.

 

Predators Defeat Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Nashville Predators tonight 4-2 regardless of the fact that they outshot them 38-24 and outplayed them throughout most of the game.

Pekka Rinne was easily the star of the game stopping 36 of those 38 shots especially in key moments of the game.

Ilya Bryzgalov wasn't bad, but he wasn't great either. He allowed 3 goals on 24 shots.

Peter Laviolette said after the game that he thought his team played better in today's loss than they did against Carolina and New York; both were wins.

The Flyers took 15 shots in the first period and 13 in the second but unfortunately found themselves down a goal heading into the third.

Nashville's Martin Erat was able to put the Predators on the board in the first when he deflected Shea Weber's shot on the PowerPlay. Sergei Kostitsyn was able to increase their lead when he beat Bryzgalov midway through the second.

Sean Couturier was able to give the Flyers some life when he scored, increasing his goal scoring streak to 4 games. Couturier came down the right side and just beat Rinne on a clean shot over his glove side. The goal mirrored a couple of his other goals during the streak, proving how quick and accurate his shot can be. Pekka Rinne, Cam Ward, and Evgeni Nabokov all fell victim to Couturier's lethal wrist shot.

The lead was 2-1 heading into the 3rd period. A period that has given the Flyers fits this month. Again, today was no different. The Flyers would surrender 2 more, albeit the second was an empty net. The Flyers have now allowed 13, 3rd period goals in their last 7 games.

The first one came 4 minutes in from Nick Spaling on a fluke goal that bounced off a few different players on its way past Bryzgalov, and just like that the Flyers were down 2 again.

But again it was Couturier's line (Couturier centering Simmonds and Read), which was outstanding throughout the entire game, who put the Flyers within 1 again. This time it was Wayne Simmonds burying Matt Read's rebound in front.
The line combined for 5 points (2 goals 3 assists), a +5 rating, and 8 total shots.

Unfortunately that would be as close as the Flyers would get.

With 40 seconds remaining Mike Fisher iced the game with an empty netter, ending the game at 4-2.

Game Notes:

• It was pointed out in the pre-game that Claude Giroux's shots per game has decreased over the last 12 which resulted in his goal production going down as well (2 goals during that 12 game span). Claude apparently got the message. He took 5 shots, the most he's had in 16 games. Unfortunately for Claude, he wasn't able to find the back of the net. Giroux now only has 2 goals in his last 13 games (1 in his last 10).
• Jaromir Jagr, since returning from his groin strain (during the Winter Classic), has taken only 5 shots in his last 4 games and is a -2 rating.
• Danny Briere won 75% of his face offs tonight (12 for 16).
• Both Hartnell and Timonen were scoreless in their return to their former city.

Drop The Puck:
The Flyers get back into action Tuesday night at home when they face the Minnesota Wild.

Timonen and Hartnell Are Back in Town

The Philadelphia Flyers (26-12-4) will be on the road to face-off against the Nashville Predators (24-15-5) tonight.

Breaking News:

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren announced today that James vanRiemsdyk is out indefinitely with a concussion. Holmgren says: "James was hit in the head in each of our last two games. He reported yesterday, not feeling like himself. He will be out indefinitely with a concussion."

They Return:
Both Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen are coming back to the city where they started their careers. Timonen was drafted in 1993 (by Los Angeles but was traded to Nashville before playing any games), but didn't make his NHL debut until 1998. Hartnell was drafted in 2000 and made his debut in the same year. Kimmo and Scotty remained teammates in Nashville until the summer of 2007 when their rights were packaged together in exchange for a 1st round pick to Philadelphia, where they continue to remain teammates, 5 years later. The 2 players have been teammates for 776 regular season games, with 2 combined teams.

ESPN writes,

Scott Hartnell

Kimmo Timonen

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Flyers acquired defensemanKimmo Timonen and forward Scott Hartnell from the NashvillePredators on Monday, improving a team that finished last in theNHL.

The Predators get a first-round pick -- the same one they sent tothe Flyers to acquire Peter Forsberg -- for Timonen and Hartnell,who were to become unrestricted free agents July 1 but are close tosigning with Philadelphia.

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The two have been friends and teammates for 12 years now. They even co-own a Finnish ice hockey team, The Kuopio KalPas. Timonen owns 8% while Hartnell owns 5%. The majority owner is fellow Swede and former Flyer Sami Kapanen. 

Philadelphiaflyers.com writes, 

"It's the second time in five years (that we've come to Nashville) and like you said, it always brings back memories," said Timonen. "Tonight I'm going to see my non-hockey friends. I was here nine years, which is a long time, so it's nice to get back here." 

"I actually asked Scott 3-4 weeks ago, 'Are there any other two guys who played almost 800 hundred games with two teams?' And I don't think there is, so we're really close friends. He's having a great year. It's nice to share these kind of feelings with him and he was a big part of this team too." 

Making the team right out of his first ever training camp, Hartnell spent his first six seasons with Timonen and the Predators, and combined with their first season with the Flyers, were roommates for a total of seven years.

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Back to the game:

The Flyers and Predators have only faced each other 14 times since Nashville's inception in 1999. The two teams have played pretty close as the Flyers have won 6, lost 5, and tied 3. Also 9 of the 14 games were decided by 1 goal or less (tie). The Flyers have won the last 2 out of 3 contests against the Predators (their 1 loss coming in overtime). 

Despite the Flyers 3rd period struggles (they've allowed 11 3rd period goals in the last 6 games), they have still managed to win 4 of their last 5 games. Sergei Bobrovsky has played very well, winning his last 2 starts. Bobrovsky has allowed only 3 goals on 71 shots faced during that 2 game span. 

The Predators have also been hot of late. They too have won 4 of their last 5, and 6 of their last 7 games. In fact, Nashville has only lost 4 of their last 16 games. 

Who to look out for:

Defenseman Shea Weber doesn't make too many mistakes at his own blue-line nor in front of his own net as he is +12. But Weber isn't only a shutdown defenseman who averages over 26 minutes per game, he is also a scoring threat. Weber leads his team in points with 31. He is also second in the league in PowerPlay goals scored by a defenseman (5).

Weber isn't the only PowerPlay specialist in tonight's game. Claude Giroux, leads the NHL in PP points with 20. He is also 2nd in the league in points scored, only 3 behind Sedin (G has 3 games in hand). 

Scott Hartnell is the sole leader in goals for the Flyers for the first time this season, with 19. He has accumulated 11 points in his last 10 games.
Hartnell has scored 59 goals in Nashville, and would love to get his 60th and 1st as the visiting team.

Shoot G, Shoot:

Claude Giroux has struggled to put the puck in the net lately as he only has 1 goal in his last 9 games. Giroux's shots per game has gone down as well, as he seems to be passing much more than shooting. In his last 12 games, Giroux has only taken 28 shots, which averages to 2.3 shots per game. And during that span he only has 2 goals. 

In the 26 games prior, Giroux took 78 shots, averaging 3 shots per game, scoring 16 times.

As great of a passer that Giroux is, he needs to put the puck on the net more often. He is a great shooter too.

Lineup Changes:
Zac Rinaldo will get the call tonight to replace concussed James vanRiemsdyk. Also defenseman Erik Gustafsson will get his first start since having wrist surgery. He will replace Andreas Lilja tonight.

Who get the start:

Coach Laviolette announced that the Flyers will start Ilya Bryzgalov (16-9-3, 3.07 GAA), who will face workhorse Pekka Rinne (22-11-4, 2.55 GAA) tonight. 

Drop the Puck:

The Nashville Predators host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at 8:00 PM.

(Thanks to Flyershistory.com, ESPN, Philadelphiaflyers.com, Y! Sports, the NHL, the Nashville Predators and the Philadelphia Flyers)