Gameday: Stumbling Flyers take on red hot Preds

by Travis Hughes on Mar 7, 2009 6:43 PM EST in Philadelphia Flyers Game Threads - 08-09

Nashville Predators (33-28-4, 70 points) #4 Philadelphia Flyers (34-19-10, 78 pts)
Wachovia Center - 7:00 PM EST - Philadelphia, PA
TV: CSN HD
Radio: 94.1 WYSP, XM 206
This is the open game thread.
Behind Enemy Lines: On The Forecheck

The Flyers had possibly their worst game of their season on Thursday night against Calgary, and if they want to make us forget about that, it's going to have to be an impressive showing tonight against Nashville.

That might not be all that easy, though. The Predators come into tonight's game sitting in sixth in the Western Conference, winners of six straight. They are led by their top line of Steve Sullivan, Jason Arnott, and J.P. Dumont, a unit that has 11 goals and 17 assists in their last five games.

The Flyers anemic power play won't help things. They've been atrocious lately and tonight they face one of the premier penalty killing teams in the NHL. The Preds are fourth on the PK, stopping opponents 84.4% of the time. They are also the third best faceoff team in the league, so that's something to look out for as well. (The Flyers, by the way, are 25th in the league at faceoffs.)

Danny Briere will miss tonight's game, forcing Arron Asham up to the third line with Claude Giroux an Dan Carcillo. Man, that sounds like it's got some scoring punch. Andreas Nodl will play with Riley Cote and Darroll Powe on the fourth line. Remember way back when the Flyers had offensive depth?

These two teams haven't played since 2006, but historically the Predators do very well against Philadelphia, winning six of their last seven.

Between the Pipes: Martin Biron will be in net for the Flyers tonight. In relief of Antero Niittymaki on Thursday night, he gave up one goal while making 22 saves.

Rookie goaltender Pekka Rinne is likely in net for the Predators, although that is not completely certain as he has felt a little sick lately. Despite that, he's been in net for every game of the Preds six-game win streak and will be a tough customer for the Flyers tonight. Rinne has a 22-10-1 record this season.

Nashville Predators Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Scott Nichol	concussion	12/10/2008
Alexander Sulzer	shoulder	01/29/2009

Questions To Answer

Shea Weber has fought in five straight games. Does he make it six? Maybe Carcillo's first Flyer fight?
How long does it take before John Stevens mixes up those lines? You don't really think Giroux will be stuck with Carcillo and Asham all game do you?
Biron...?
Turnovers were a huge killer for the Flyers against Calgary. Cut down on them?

I won't be around for the game thread tonight. Don't blow the place up or anything. Go Flyers!

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STREAM:

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Welcome to Smashville, Tennessee.

by Aditya T (smashville) on Mar 7, 2009 6:46 PM EST reply actions

Only good until end of first, unless you are some sort of VIP…

by chillicothe20 on Mar 7, 2009 7:25 PM EST up reply actions

Thanks, man.

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 6:57 PM EST reply actions

This already has the feel of a high scoring affair

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 7:10 PM EST reply actions

Very quiet crowd for the beginning of a home game. It seemed like JJ was almost whispering for a few minutes there.

by Ben Feldman on Mar 7, 2009 7:16 PM EST reply actions

The crowd was about as flat as our boys played for the first two minutes.

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 7:19 PM EST reply actions

Biron

What a wicked save! Someone remind me why we have a goalie controversy…

by chillicothe20 on Mar 7, 2009 7:23 PM EST reply actions

Because Niittymaki can make the exact same great saves.

by Ben Feldman on Mar 7, 2009 7:26 PM EST up reply actions

And Marty doesn’t always make that great save. Neither does Nitty. Their both inconsistent. This has been the state of our goaltending for a good long time.

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 7:27 PM EST up reply actions

*they're

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 7:28 PM EST up reply actions

I just wish they both played like this ALL the time!

by chillicothe20 on Mar 7, 2009 7:29 PM EST up reply actions

Nitty statistically is slightly more consistent, I think, but he’s very prone to give up multiple goals in short spans of time and then do very well the rest of the game, but the offense can’t come back from the 2 or 3 goals he’ll give up within a few minutes.

by Ben Feldman on Mar 7, 2009 7:30 PM EST up reply actions

Action

Lots of action, but no score thru 10 minutes.

by chillicothe20 on Mar 7, 2009 7:26 PM EST reply actions

Carcillo is truly insane.

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 7:31 PM EST reply actions

I’m not sure the Predators are going to be best served by getting into an overly physical battle.

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 7:43 PM EST reply actions

Is it just me or does Barry Trotz look a bit like Gene Hart? http://rockthetank.com/hated/trotz.png vs. http://www.flyers.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/GeneHart.jpg

by Ben Feldman on Mar 7, 2009 7:46 PM EST reply actions

hahaha very nice. They are both what you might call “stocky” or “burly”

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 7:48 PM EST reply actions

Richards -- 1-0 Flyers

Nice pass from Gagne. Maybe this PPG will start heating up our powerplay again.

by Ben Feldman on Mar 7, 2009 8:05 PM EST reply actions

Any word on why Nodl was called up and not Ross? Wanted Giroux as a centerman? Nodl has been playing really well lately? Ross is a bit hurt?

by Geoff Detweiler on Mar 7, 2009 8:09 PM EST reply actions

2-0!

by chillicothe20 on Mar 7, 2009 8:10 PM EST reply actions

Flyers

are making it happen. I wish we had had this intensity against the Flames or Devils lately.

by chillicothe20 on Mar 7, 2009 8:11 PM EST reply actions

aweeeesome goal. Nice patience Carter. Great work by Palindrome. 2-0

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 8:11 PM EST reply actions

Good fights from both Carcillo and Cote.

by Ben Feldman on Mar 7, 2009 8:31 PM EST reply actions

This game just became awesome. 2 consecutive fights by Carcillo and Cote and a 2-0 Flyers lead with 6 to go in the 2nd. Also, Marty’s having a great game.

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 8:32 PM EST reply actions

Is it just me or is Biron being awesome tonight…

by pintium02 on Mar 7, 2009 8:34 PM EST reply actions

Why 2 fights back to back? Cote fighting for somebody in particular or just his job?

by doubleh on Mar 7, 2009 8:37 PM EST reply actions

That’s a great question. It really just seemed like Cote didn’t want to be forgotten in the wake of the Carcillo excitement. That or this is going to be a common trend like the Bash Brothers in the Mighty Ducks.

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 8:55 PM EST up reply actions

Nice reference.

by pintium02 on Mar 7, 2009 9:03 PM EST up reply actions

I just want to go ahead and say I really like this Carcillo fellow.

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 9:15 PM EST reply actions

he is exciting to watch and seems to play with intensity.

by Ben16 on Mar 7, 2009 9:16 PM EST up reply actions

Yep, he’s played great.

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 9:21 PM EST up reply actions

(I meant to say this about Biron in response to pintium’s comment) but it fits here as well I suppose. He took a puck to the face, stayed with it, and got himself an assist.

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 9:23 PM EST up reply actions

Me too. I was upset with losing Upshall and I still think including a draft pick as well in the trade was unnecessary, but I think that the suggestions that Gretzky had him on too tight of a leash and that the Coyotes weren’t utilizing him to the best of his abilities may very well have been spot on.

by Ben Feldman on Mar 7, 2009 9:20 PM EST up reply actions

I also really like that other Danny. But we are pretty good even when he’s not in the lineup. We’ve pretty much proven that time after time (although not in the playoffs)

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 9:30 PM EST reply actions

How long does Cote retain his job? Any wagers?

by doubleh on Mar 7, 2009 9:39 PM EST up reply actions

Giroux

We need to lock this guy up for a very very long time. He’s going to be an unbelievable player for a long time.

by Ben Feldman on Mar 7, 2009 9:32 PM EST reply actions

Nice to see a win after last game.

by pintium02 on Mar 7, 2009 9:37 PM EST reply actions

So much for that streak, Predators. Well played for a good while though. Nice intensity. I hope to see more good things out of Nashville going forward.

by Have a Seat on Mar 7, 2009 9:38 PM EST reply actions