Philadelphia Flyers (12-5-1, 25 pts) at San Jose Sharks (14-5-4, 32 pts)
HP Pavilion - 10:00 PM ET - San Jose, CA
TV: CSN Philly HD, NHL Network US HD
Radio: 610 WIP, XM 205
This is the open game thread.
Behind Enemy Lines: Fear The Fin, Battle of California

The Flyers continue one of the hardest stretches of their season tonight as their West Coast swing takes them into San Jose, California to take on the Sharks. As was the case on Thursday in Los Angeles, tonight's game will not be an easy task for the Flyers. San Jose boasts the league's best record and they're also without a regulation loss at home this season, going 6-0-2. They're also 6-1-3 in their last ten.

So why should we expect anything different than the 4-1 beating the Sharks put on our boys last month in Philadelphia? Well, for starters, Ray Emery is in goal tonight, and he's a much better goalie then the Sharks saw in Brian Boucher on October 25. Secondly, the Sharks faced a Flyers team that was struggling on defense at the time. In fact, Kimmo Timonen and Braydon were on the ice for all four SJ goals that night, which provides a nice little window in how they were playing at the time.

They've picked things up since then, and so have the Flyers overall. Since losing consecutive games to the Sharks and the Capitals two nights later in DC, the orange and black are 6-1, and they've scored two goals for every one allowed. They've shown in that stretch that they're the team we thought they were at the beginning of the season, with a prolific offense and a shutdown defense. Add in consistent goaltending and you've got a team that has a good shot at handing San Jose their first home loss of the season.

As for the Sharks, they're coming off a road trip in which they went 1-1-1. After losing their most recent game to Nashville on Tuesday night, San Jose has had plenty of time to rest and prepare their game plan for the Flyers. That's why it'll be important for our boys to set the tone early and get the Sharks off that plan.

San Jose has the second best offense in the league. They've scored 76 goals so far this season -- compared to the Flyers 65 -- but seemingly out of respect for the Flyers' D, coach Todd McLellan has opted to throw his three best scorers on one line tonight. Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Dany Heatley will start the game for them tonight, and it'll likely be up to Chris Pronger and Matt Carle to stop them.

That could be the story line of the game right there. McLellan has said that he won't keep that line together if it means the other three have to struggle. But could you imagine seeing Pronger, who is HATED in San Jose, and Carle, who used to play for the Sharks, going head-to-head against a line all night that has a combined 834 NHL goals? I hope it happens.

After the jump, we've got a few questions to answer tonight, and of course another late night open thread. Join us, won't you?

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Philadelphia Flyers (11-5-1, 23 pts) at Los Angeles Kings (13-7-2, 28 pts)
Staples Center - 10:30 PM ET - Los Angeles, CA
TV: CSN Philly HD
Radio: 610 WIP, XM 208
This is the open game thread.
Behind Enemy Lines: Battle of California

The Flyers begin a four-game West Coast swing tonight in Los Angeles as they reunite with outcast defenseman Randy Jones. He'll get his chance for revenge tonight as he faces his old team for the first time since they banished him to the minor leagues.

The Kings are depleted with injuries, though. Ryan Smyth found out today that he'll be out for a month while defenseman Rob Scuderi is also missing time. Who needs to step up in Scuderi's absence, according to Battle of California? Take a guess...

Rob Scuderi is almost as important as Ryan Smyth but he's a little easier to replace.  Randy "Has a Peephole in His Guest Bathroom" Jones has taken Rob Scuderi's slot.  Jones has played a few games for the Kings and is a high plus/minus player.  Someone like Rob Scuderi isn't going to give you a lot of plus plays that lead to goals, but he's also not going to make any mistakes that cost the Kings' goals.  Jones, on the other hand, will fail to skate hard getting back and cost the Kings a goal (like he did against the Panthers to make it 0-2), but then he'll smartly jump in on the rush and tap in a rebound goal (like he did against the Panthers to make it 3-2).  I don't know, I'm not a huge fan of him because I think poor Wayne Simmonds is going to wake up one morning with a sticky face and a lot of questions, but he's fine for a little while.

The Kings also have a few other former Flyers on their roster, but they're two players that were actually liked around these parts. Michal Handzus and Justin Williams are wearing purple and black these days, and Terry "Choking Situation" Murray is their bench boss. Williams should get top line time tonight playing with Alexander Frolov and NHL scoring leader Anze Kopitar. Zus skates with Wayne Simmonds and Teddy Purcell.

On the Philly end, Brian Boucher will get his second start to the season tonight. After a less-than-impressive first outing about a month ago, Boosh will look to get back to winning as he faces a Kings team he got to see a lot of last season. His team played them six times last season and he got in two of those games, winning both. He even shut them out on October 12th. Hopefully, he can put in a serviceable performance tonight considering we're going to be seeing much more of him over the next two months as the schedule picks up.

David Laliberte is back in the Flyers' lineup as Arron Asham exits with an oblique strain. He'll play alongside center Claude Giroux and winger, not defenseman, Darroll Powe. Letting those three loose is an exciting proposition. Other than that, we should see the same lineup tonight as we saw Monday against the Devils.

If you love hockey and have nothing else to do tonight, you'll be a happy camper. There are five games on the NHL schedule this evening and all of them have different start times, so you can catch a ton of hockey from 7 PM to about 1:30 AM when the Flyers are done beating down on the Kings.

After the jump, we'll ask a few questions to be answered as well as the open thread. Join us for some insomniac hockey, won't you?

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New Jersey Devils (14-4-0, 28 pts) at Philadelphia Flyers (10-5-1, 21 pts)
Wachovia Center - 7:00 PM EST - Philadelphia, PA
TV: Versus HD, TSN 2 HD
Radio: 610 WIP, XM 205
This is the open game thread.
Behind Enemy Lines: In Lou We Trust

It'll be Hammer Time at the Wachovia Center tonight as Dave Schultz enters the Flyers Hall of Fame. But after the memories are relived, the speeches are given, and the standing ovation for a great Flyer subsides, there is a hockey game to be played. And man, should tonight be a hockey game.

The New Jersey Devils are the hottest team in hockey, winners of their last eight and nine of their last 10. They've won nine straight in a row on the road and are undefeated away from home on the season. With a win tonight, they'll tie the record for most road wins to begin a season.

It looked like the Devils win streak could come to an end on Saturday night. Washington jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead before New Jersey struck back with five unanswered goals en route to a 5-2 victory. The Devils finished their chances and outplayed the Caps when it mattered most, and that's how they've been able to string together this streak.

New Jersey isn't blowing teams away. For the most part, their wins have been one or two goal cushions that were the result of come-from-behind efforts. Cue John Fischer from In Lou We Trust...

In my opinion, the Devils are in that odd area where they've won so much - undefeated on the road - yet the wins largely didn't come easy.  In five of the last six games, the Devils conceded the first goal - most recently, the first two goals against the Caps - forcing them to make a comeback.  Can we honestly expect the Devils to keep doing this over and over?  Yet, just when I think the opening to a game may lead to the eventual end of the winning streak, the Devils dig deep and eventually make their presence felt, equalizing before killing off the game for yet another win.

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Last Friday, as the Flyers cruised to a 5-2 victory in Buffalo over the Sabres, they rode the coattails of the third and fourth lines. Tonight in a rematch at the Wachovia Center, they'll look for a full-team performance as the orange and black go for a sixth straight win.

The team is red-hot right now. With 24 goals in their last five games, they are proving their offensive depth while Simon Gagne sits on the shelf. Danny Briere missed a few of those games, but he's back and trying to prove to the Philadelphia faithful that his injury issues are not a repeat of last season's nightmare.

Ryan Parent will also return to the lineup this evening after sitting on the sidelines since Halloween. That means Oskars Bartulis, who played better than expected in his NHL debut Thursday night, will sit. Ole-Kristian Tollefsen is still out with a mild concussion.

As noted earlier here at BSH, James van Riemsdyk is likely out of the lineup with a case of the flu. Riley Cote will replace him, playing on the fourth line. Mika Pyorala will probably jump up and take JVR's spot on the first line with Jeff Carter and Briere.

The Flyers are finally starting to play some actual hockey games. Long, frustrating breaks between games were common early in the season, but beginning now the team plays practically every other day until Christmas. That means we'll likely start to see backup goaltender Brian Boucher start a few games here and there, but not quite yet. John Stevens is opting to start the hot hand, Ray Emery, who has looked great over the course of this winning streak.

The defense in front of Emery has been solid too, a key component in this win streak. Braydon Coburn has fallen out of his early slump, Kimmo Timonen has been Kimmo Timonen, and Matt Carle succeeded learning his trade from one of the best teachers in the world, Chris Pronger.

If the Flyers want to win again tonight, they'll need the same effort they've been getting this entire win streak. It starts in goal and stretches to the defense while the offense takes the pressure away. Ryan Miller will try to steal a game for the Sabres, but the Flyers have to make sure he can't do that.

After the jump, a few questions to answer tonight.

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After yet another long stretch of off days, the Flyers will look to win their fifth straight at home tonight. Standing in their way is the former team of goaltender Ray Emery, the Ottawa Senators.

Danny Briere and James van Riemsdyk are set to play this evening, meaning David Laliberte and his three points in four NHL games will take a seat. JVR isn't 100 percent, so Laliberte won't be sent back to the Phantoms just yet, but barring a last minute change, he won't play tonight.

On defense, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen is still out with a mild concussion, so Oskars Bartulis will likely play with Danny Syvret. It will be Bartulis' NHL debut. With that, you can expect the top four defensemen to put in a lot more ice time this evening.

Pascal Leclaire will start opposite of Emery in the Ottawa goal. The Senators have a goals for-goals against differential of just plus-1, scoring 46 total on the year while allowing 45. They take more penalties per game, on average, then any other team in the league. It was a contentious point of the weekend, as they lost to the Devils on Saturday night while New Jersey scored all three of their goals on the man-advantage. If they are equally as undisciplined tonight, the potent Philadelphia power play should be able to take advantage. That could be the key to the game tonight.

After the jump, we ask a few questions to answer tonight.

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Note: Apologies for no game recap last night.

After a dominating win last night in Buffalo, the Flyers took the red-eye home to Philadelphia and are ready for faceoff against the St. Louis Blues tonight at Wachovia Center. The Blues come into the game as a shaky team with just five wins on the season. Might some of that be attributed to their trip to Europe a month ago to begin the season? It's a possibility, but whatever the reason, the Blues are not living up to expectations here early in the year.

Since beating Detroit twice in Europe, St. Louis has won just three times over Minnesota, Carolina, and Anaheim. Not exactly an impressive resume. Still, they have a ton of young talent while also possessing a strong veteran presence with Keith Tkachuk and Paul Kariya up front. In goal, the Blues are led by Chris Mason, a 12-year pro who slowly worked his way through the ranks before finally landing a steady job with St. Louis last season.

After some speculation that Brian Boucher could get his second start of the season tonight, the Flyers will go with Ray Emery yet again. The entire lineup will be exactly the same as last night, meaning Danny Briere and Ryan Parent are both still out.

Last time these two teams met last season, the Flyers were also ravaged by a flu bug. Two defensemen missed that contest, which the Flyers inexplicably lost 4-0, but tonight, while still tarnished by sickness, the orange and black will have everybody in the lineup. The question is how they will handle the flu after playing just 24 hours ago.

The Flyers are a better team than St. Louis and should beat them on home ice tonight. Hopefully the flu doesn't help the Blues out.

After the jump, a few questions to answer this evening.

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Riding a two-game winning streak into Buffalo tonight, the Philadelphia Flyers will put their potent offense to the test tonight as they take on the red-hot Sabres. Winners in five of their last six, they have surprised many with an excellent start that has propelled them to third place in the Eastern Conference, just five points behind first place Pittsburgh with four games in hand.

The Flyers haven't had nearly as impressive a first month of the season, but they have been on a roll lately, outscoring opponents 12-3 in their last two games. But those opponents were Carolina and Tampa Bay, and the Sabres are much, much better. It starts in net with Ryan Miller, and he's been a stone wall this season. In 11 games, he has a GAA of 1.69 and a save percentage of .941.

The defense is also just downright stingy, and the team has allowed just 24 goals all year long, a number that puts them at first place in the NHL by far. They score 1.7 goals for every goal against, a telling stat that shows you just how solid they are defensively. The Flyers, however, are the most potent offense in the league, averaging 3.67 goals per game. Those numbers are slightly inflated by the past two games, but nonetheless, they can score and will test Buffalo's blueline tonight.

Of course, they aren't fully up-to-speed. Danny Briere will miss tonight's game, still down from a "lower-body injury." Briere also suffered from the flu all week long, as did Matt Carle Arron Asham, Dan Carcillo, Jeff Carter, and Ian Laperriere. Laperriere and Carter practiced while the others did not, but everybody except for Briere is expected to play tonight. David Laliberte will again play in his place. Defenseman Ryan Parent is still out with a groin pull which means we will see Danny Syvret and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen yet again.

The Flyers will have to take it to the Sabres early if they have hopes of beating them. Will the flu bug hinder their efforts? We'll see this evening.

After the jump, a few questions to answer tonight.

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In what's probably the weirdest start time in Wachovia Center history, the Flyers will host the Lightning at 5 PM on a Monday night, thanks to a slightly important baseball game across the street. Yes, most of the Philly sports world will have their minds on the Phillies, who will attempt to stave off elimination against the Yankees at Citizens Bank Park a few hours from now. But before that happens, we turn our eyes to hockey, in a game that shapes up to be a battle for playoff positioning.

Yes, of course, it's very, very early in the season, but the fact that Tampa can take away the Flyers grip on eighth place in the East with a win tonight should show you just how much work the orange and black has to do to get where they want to be. Tampa is coming off of a 2-1 win over the Devils on Saturday night, and with Martin St. Louis riding an 11-game point streak and Steven Stamkos tallying 10 goals in his last nine games, the Bolts have a formidable top line the Flyers will have to deal with.

Whenever these two teams get together in recent times, we are pressed to think about the connections each roster has with the other. Matt Carle, a former Bolt, plays for the Flyers. The Bolts are led by their head coach Rick Tocchet, of course a former Flyer. Steve Downie and Todd Fedoruk (linemates, by the way) are also members of the Lightning. Antero Niittymaki plays in Tampa, too, but he'll be riding the pine this evening. Vinny Prospal has moved on to the Rangers.

It's a rivalry that most don't put much thought into, but these two cities certainly don't like each other. Whether it's the Flyers losing in seven to the Lightning in the 2004 playoffs, the Eagles fighting with the Bucs in several NFC title games, or the Phils winning the 2008 World Series against the Rays, there never seems to be a dull moment when teams from these two cities get together.

Don't expect many changes from John Stevens. You should expect to see the same personnel as you did in Saturday's 6-1 drubbing of the Hurricanes -- yes, that means Danny Briere and Simon Gagne are still out. David Laliberte is still in the lineup and Ryan Parent is out for about another week. Thanks to Parent's absence, Braydon Coburn and Kimmo Timonen are back together.

After the jump, a few questions to answer tonight.

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