Battle Up the Turnpike

The Flyers are going to be at the Prudential Center tonight in an Atlantic Division match-up against the New Jersey Devils. The Flyers have played pretty well against them this year, as you remember they opened their season at New Jersey and won 2-0 and also won the second match-up of the series 2-1. This time around, they will be without the likes of goaltender Ray Emery who was simply amazing at times during those times. The Flyers cannot go too much longer without putting some wins together. Losing in this league is tough enough with the way the Flyguys have been playing, but 2 in a row is something they have to avoid to get them out of this slump. They currently sit at 14-14-1 which honestly, is absolutely terrible considering the expectations and talent that this team has. If there was any time to start getting on the winning side of the puck, do it tonight in the division.

As for Thursday night’s game hosting the Senators, it was a good effort from the guys but not enough. Too many penalties, turnovers were abundant, and shooting for the glass and the logo happened all too much. Plenty of great chances even strength and on the power play but they simply could not cash in. Hopefully tonight they do less of that and more of what they can do to win.

Blair Betts and Darroll Powe are scheduled to come back within the next 2 weeks and Gagne has been practicing recently although I hope he comes back fully healed. I like the way some of the young guys have looked personally, especially Laliberte and Kalinski. But we cannot overlook the importance of Powe and Betts who for one are great penalty killers, and also generate some great shifts in the offensive zone with their respective lines. My hope for eventual lines upon their return:

Carcillo-Betts-Lappy = Who can forget what this line did for us during our winning streaks?

Hartnell-Carter-Briere= I just really like this line. Briere has been playing great since his comeback from injury, and I’ve noticed his back-checking has improved immensely under Lav’s new system.

JVR-Giroux-Powe= JVR and Giroux are a great pairing although Giroux is totally fine at being a top six forward. Powe could really work along the boards and set up Giroux to get him to make a play. Of course, Powe and JVR would be down low working the crease.

Asham-Richards-Pyorala= Asham and Richards simply play well together. The few times they’ve been together this year, I just feel like they were doing good things on the ice. Pyorala is also one of the most underrated Flyers at the moment and we can’t discount his play in all 3 zones.

Hope they win tonight. One more thing… here’s an open note to Mike Richards:

SHOOT THE DAMNED PUCK ON THE POWER PLAY!

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