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.
Questions to Answer
- How do the Flyers react to sickness after a busy 24 hours?
- What does the Carcillo/Betts/Laperriere line do for an encore after playing a key role in three of the Flyers five Friday night goals?
- Can the young, speedy Blues dictate the tempo against the Flyers?
- Mason made 37 saves on the Flyers last time they met. Can he keep up that magic?
7 PM puck drop from South Philly. Watch on CSN Philly in HD, listen at 610 WIP, and as always, join us here for the conversation. LET'S GO FLYERS!