Philadelphia Flyers (3-11-2, 8 pts) at Pittsburgh Penguins (7-6-2, 16 pts)
Tonight will be either the Thrill of Victory or the Agony of Defeat, as they used to say on ABC's Wide World of Sports. I can think of no better team to beat to break out of a slump than the Flyers (though the Rangers are a close second), and I can think of no worse team to lose to under the current circumstances than the Flyers. It will either be very, very good, or very, very bad.
Maybe the Pens can use tonight as a way to go back to how they were playing at the beginning of the year, kind of like a reset button. Let's hope so, because they've been unable to generate any kind of offense since the last time they played Philly. In their last four games, it has been especially bad, with the Pens managing just 18.5 shots per game. That simply won't get it done.
The Flyers almost beat Buffalo at home on Saturday night, and they've been playing a bit better of late. The score doesn't show it, but they had out shot their opponents in eight straight games before Saturday night. Their penalty kill has also been excellent. Of course, most of what you need to know about the Flyers special teams comes from the following fact - the Flyers have allowed more power play goals than they've scored, and their PK has been excellent this year.
So, tonight the Pens badly need to break the losing streak, and not just because they need the points. Ask yourself: would you want to be off until Friday with an upset Michel Therrien just waiting to "explain" things to you all week long? Me either...
Let's Go Pens!
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3 comments:
1) The way the Flyer defense has been playing ALL year the Pens should have little trouble getting tons of scoring chances
2) the key will be if they can recover their decent defensive zone coverage that gave them early success
3) If they play to capabilities, this game could get ugly on the score sheet. the Flyers are a fragile team right now
With Buffalo on the horizon this would be a great game to get a little confidence going.
GO PENS!
This is definitely a statement game - the Penguins should NOT be happy about their performance the last few games, so I expect to see some jump right out of the gate...then again I've been saying that to myself the past couple games...
We are... "PENS" STATE!!!
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