Philadelphia Flyers (33-18-10, 76 pts) at Boston Bruins (42-12-9, 93 pts)
TD Banknorth Garden - 7:00 PM EST - Boston, MA
TV: CSN HD, NESN HD
Radio: 610 WIP, XM 204
This is the open game thread.
Behind Enemy Lines: Stanley Cup of Chowder
It's been a long time since we've been able to say this, but the Philadelphia Flyers are completely healthy heading into tonight's game with the Boston Bruins. No, we're not counting Derian Hatcher.
Kimmo Timonen, who's been battling the flu, returns to the lineup for the first time in over a week. Danny Briere is in his second game back since returning from groin surgery, and he'll look to build on an encouraging performace against New Jersey on Sunday.
Claude Giroux has been recalled from the Phantoms after being sent down due to cap problems. With the return of all of these guys, here is the Flyers lineup tonight.
Gagne - Richards - Knuble
Hartnell - Carter - Lupul
Upshall - Briere - Giroux
Cote - Powe - Asham
Timonen - Parent
Coburn - Carle
Alberts - Jones
Could this be the final time we see this lineup? The trade deadline is, of course tomorrow and rumors are flying everywhere. Honestly though, as excited/nervous as I am for tomorrow, I'm just as excited for this game in an hour. I'm pumped to see this fully healthy lineup in action for, really, the first time all season. Especially that third line (which won the poll last week, btw).
As for the Bruins, they're probably pissed. If you missed the end of their game against the Caps on Saturday, have a look. Alex Semin blasted a shot from just across the red line and it somehow beat Tim Thomas to give DC the 4-3 win. Yeah, I'd be upset after that too.
Between the Pipes: Antero Niittymaki will go for the Flyers tonight, and that's probably a virtue of his shutout hockey (which came in relief of Biron) back on February 7th. Niitty turned away 22 shots as the Flyers went on to win in overtime.
Manny Fernandez was in goal for that game, and he's likely to go for tonight's game as well. He's only played in two games since that night and both were losses -- one in overtime against Nashville on Valentines Day and a regulation loss against Tampa Bay on the 22nd where he allowed four goals on 18 shots.
Questions To Answer
- How is the chemistry between Briere, Giroux, and Upshall?
- Do the Bruins regret starting Manny Fernandez?
- Do the Flyers regret starting Antero Niittymaki?
- Any odd healthy scratches before the game (meaning a trade is imminent)?
- Do the Flyers learn their lesson from last time these teams met by playing a full 60 minutes?
7:00 PM. Go Flyers.