Gameday: Bruins come to town for final showdown
by Travis Hughes on Mar 29, 2009 6:51 PM EDT
in 08-09 Game Threads
48 comments
#1 Boston Bruins (47-17-10, 104 pts) at #4 Philadelphia Flyers (41-23-10, 92 pts)
Wachovia Center - 7:00 PM EST - Philadelphia, PA
TV: CSN HD, NESN HD
Radio: 610 WIP, XM 208
This is the open game thread.
Behind Enemy Lines: Stanley Cup of Chowder
It was an excellent comeback win last night when the Flyers came back to beat the Islanders in a shootout, but when you play the best team in the conference, a similar performance won't cut it. That's the issue for Philadelphia tonight as they host Boston for the fourth and final meeting between these two clubs in the regular season.
Boston is coming off of a win themselves last night, as they beat Toronto 7-5 on the road. Over the month of March, though, the Bruins have been a mediocre team, going 5-5-1, the first loss coming to the Flyers back on the 3rd. They have already clinched a top three playoff spot and they have a pretty decent hold on the top spot in the conference, but it's a different story for the Flyers.
A win tonight would be absolutely huge for the orange and black. Tonight is the crucial one game in hand the Flyers hold over the first-place Devils, and a win would move them within four points of New Jersey and a top three playoff spot of their own. With seven games remaining after tonight, a four point gap is certainly possible to close. But without a win tonight, that feat becomes much more difficult. It seemed almost impossible a week ago, but our team does have a legitimate shot at taking the division crown. With great play down the stretch, they have a good shot at it.
First things first, though, they need a win tonight.
Between the Pipes: Martin Biron and Manny Fernandez started for their teams 24 hours ago. Both will be on the bench at 7 PM tonight, as Antero Niittymaki gets the call for the Flyers and Tim Thomas will be in goal for Boston. Niittymaki hasn't started since losing to the Rangers two weeks ago. He is, however, 2-0 against the Bruins with a 1.17 GAA and a .912 save percentage in those games. He knows he won't be getting many starts the rest of the season, so let's hope he takes advantage of his opportunity tonight.
Thomas has just been fantastic for the Bruins this season. He comes into tonight with a 3-1-1 record in his last five, most recently posting a 42 save effort against the Devils. He's 5-1 against the Flyers in his career.
Riley Cote injured his finger last night in a second period fight, so Andreas Nodl was called up to take his place in the lineup tonight. He'll take Cote's place on the fourth line with Arron Asham and Darroll Powe.
Go Flyers.
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I hate Friday and Saturday night games… always have.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
by Travis Hughes on Mar 29, 2009 7:13 PM EDT up reply actions
How about Sunday afternoon games?
Any preference on those?
"...You know, Reemer, someday I'm gonna own a big sports bar."
I usually play baseball on Sunday afternoons, so they ruin my flow a little bit.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
by Travis Hughes on Mar 29, 2009 7:15 PM EDT up reply actions
I completely forgot Mark Recchi was a Bruin now.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
Still doesn't look right...
He always looks better in Orange and Black.
"...You know, Reemer, someday I'm gonna own a big sports bar."
Giroux!
Weird line, but it works.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
Anyone experience this thunderstorm tonight?
It hasn’t hit here yet, but I saw a radar image where it went from totally clear to the highest level of intensity within like five Philly blocks.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
Wow, hope your windshield is okay.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
by Travis Hughes on Mar 29, 2009 7:26 PM EDT up reply actions
Aw man, Powe had a chance there with Thomas down and didn’t realize it.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
Perfect pass, gotta give it to the B’s on that one.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
Niitty spent his time off getting a new paint job, I see.
Swing by The Flyer Frequent. You have nothing better to do.
How many straight games now has Niitty given up 3 in the first? I count 3.
Swing by The Flyer Frequent. You have nothing better to do.
I gotta say, I love the Broad Street Bully era throwbacks
by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Mar 29, 2009 8:07 PM EDT reply actions
My sister’s car breaks down, I go to pick her up, come back, and we’re down by two? What the hell happened?
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
it was 3-1 when i turned it on. in the 10 minutes that ive seen we had a 2 man advantage where we had about 7 good scoring chances, plus about 5 other good scoring chances after the power play. hartnell had a wide open net, waited an extra second and thomas dove across the crease to stop it. in the short amount of action ive seen weve looked great but Tim Thomas looks like Dominik Hasek
Oh, the usual
A couple of penalties (some good, some bad), led to two PP goals. And then a complete breakdown (off an offensive zone faceoff for the Flyers) gave the Bruins an odd-man rush and a nice goal.
Outside of that span of mental breakdowns in the first, Flyers have really done well and held their own. Getting a good number of scoring opportunities, but not putting anything home. Some of it bad bounces/bad shots by the Flyers; some of it is Thomas standing on his head.
"...You know, Reemer, someday I'm gonna own a big sports bar."
You also missed Lucic leveling Jones from behind head first into the endboards (no call). Jack Edwards was actually laughing (because he is classy like that).
by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Mar 29, 2009 8:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Oh wow… any chance for a video of that?
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
by Travis Hughes on Mar 29, 2009 8:37 PM EDT up reply actions
It was bad. Not professional at all.
by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Mar 29, 2009 8:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Edwards I mean. The hit by Lucic probaably should have been a boarding call too.
by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Mar 29, 2009 8:39 PM EDT up reply actions
I’ve had the pleasure of watching a good number of Bruins games on NESN. He one of the worse announcers in the league when it comes to ridiculous homerism.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
by Travis Hughes on Mar 29, 2009 8:40 PM EDT up reply actions
lol, as much as i love our guys, I cant see anyone being a worse homer then coatesy.
I think this has been discussed already, but as far as Coatesy goes…before each game…over/under 9 beers?
idk dude. I am such a fan of coatsey! he is ridiculous! i dont really consider him a great commentator but w/o him in the Flyers broadcasts just wouldn’t be complete. Plus Coatsey’s Corner! So good . . .
oh i dont disagree with you on that one, the guys hilarious. I love how he gets such a hard on everytime theres a fight. the fact that he seems like hes waisted during every game makes him that much more fun
At the same time though, I think Coatesy admits when a Flyer does something wrong. I don’t mind homerish (in fact, I support it) when it’s just simple cheering for the home team. Knowing their audience is part of their job. But they still have to be fair in their analysis when it comes to penalties and things like that…. and I think JJ, Jones, and Coatesy do a pretty good job with that.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
by Travis Hughes on Mar 29, 2009 8:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Mikey! What a deflection!
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
I miss Recchi.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
We could use an over the hill veteran type.
Swing by The Flyer Frequent. You have nothing better to do.
by Ben Rothenberg on Mar 29, 2009 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Hey, look… finally got one by Thomas.
Ain’t over yet boys.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog
Because the Broad Street Subway is orange for a reason.
the turning point in this game was the high sticking no call on Carcillo. the Flyers had all the momentum and then they let themselves get distracted by a bad call. while the flyers were feeling sorry for themselves because of a missed call, the Bruins went down the ice and scored a cheap goal to take the wind out of our sails.
completely agree. While Carcillo totally faked his way to drawing a penalty later, the problem though is the power play tonight: Boston 1-3, scoring 8 seconds into their 5 on 3; Philadelphia 0-3 including 1:52 of 5 on 3.
by Geoff Detweiler on Mar 29, 2009 10:09 PM EDT up reply actions
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