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Buffalo Sabres vs. Philadelphia Flyers – NHL Match Preview
On Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center, the second seeded Philadelphia Flyers will take on the Buffalo Sabres in NHL game seven.
Philadelphia would seem to have the edge at home, once down 3-2. But this season, Buffalo played better on the road. It would help the Flyers’ cause, if Chris Pronger is healthy enough to play full time. In Game 6, he played only on the power play. Since the Sabres’ power play has been better than theirs, the Flyers want to stay out of the penalty box. Philadelphia wants to neutralize Thomas Vanek, Buffalo’s most dangerous scorer, and also must deal with Derek Roy’s return.
Philadelphia’s Brian Boucher scored 3-1, 2.12 goals against average, .935 save percentage and Buffalo’s Ryan Miller scored 3-3, 2.61, .925. Even though Boucher’s solid performance in Game 6 relief would seem to give him the edge to be the Game 7 starter the Flyers have used three goalies. The Sabres have the edge in net in theory.
In the series Buffalo center Brad Boyes, picked up to help the offense, hasn’t registered a point. Philadelphia, C Jeff Carter (knee) won’t play Game 7. Buffalo, Tim Connolly will sit out after being pushed headfirst into the boards in Game 6; Roy (quadriceps) will play for the first time since December, will return to action; RW Jason Pominville (leg) is expected to miss the game; D Shoane Morrison, RW Mike Grier and RW Patrick Kaleta are day to day.
For the Sabres to win, Miller will need to be their best player. For this match, in NHL betting odds, the over is 1.77 and the under is 2.09 while the total is at 1.5.
New York Rangers face Stanley Cup favorite Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday on NBC
In a possible first round playoff matchup, the New York Rangers will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Sunday on NBC (12:30 pm ET).
NHL Betting Odds have the Rangers at 35-1 to win the Stanley Cup while the Flyers are at 11-2.
Currently, the Rangers find themselves in a fight for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. New York and Buffalo are tied for the eighth spot with eighty seven points, three points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes. Gaining two points in this contest may be crucial to New York’s chances of surviving the first round of the playoffs.
If the Rangers get matched up against the Flyers, not many people will be expecting the Rangers to win that series, especially after New York has won just one of five games so far this year against Philadelphia.
While this game is obviously important to New York for numerous reasons, the Flyers will be trying to get two points as well to help secure first place in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. That number one seed will allow Philadelphia to have home ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, where they have 21-11-6 record.
In addition to being in a division race with Pittsburgh, the Flyers are also trying to hold off a red hot Washington team for the best record in the Eastern Conference. With very few games left on the schedule, every chance to gain two points in the standings is amplified.
Weekend Clash Between Philadelphia Flyers And Dallas Stars
This weekend the Philadelphia Flyers will battle against the Dallas Stars. With a 43-19-7 record the Flyers are currently the top team in the Eastern Conference. In the Eastern Conference with a 37-25-8 record, the Stars are sitting in the 7th spot.
According to popular sports betting sites, the Flyers are among the top favorites to win the Stanley Cup at 8-1 in NHL Odds.
They will need a strong finish to ensure that they maintain their positioning, while these teams are in good positioning for the playoffs. In the Western Conference, there are several teams that are within reach of passing the Stars if they are unable to win games as the season comes to a close. With a poor finish meanwhile, the Flyers could lose their spot atop the Eastern Conference.
Even though the Flyers do have some weaknesses that the Stars may be able to exploit, they will certainly be the favorite going into this game. Their defense is not quite as dominant while their offense is among the elite of the NHL. To put the puck in the net early the Stars need to find a way and then collapse back on defense.
If the Flyers just play their normal style, they should be able to take this game. Even though the Stars are really just a middle of the pack team in most offensive and defensive categories, they are solid and they play well in close games.
For this game the Stars will be the home team. While playing at home this season Dallas has a record of 19-11-6. While playing on the road this season the Flyers are 22-9-3. In online free picks the Philadelphia Flyers are favorite to win this match.
Sunday Clash Between New York Rangers And Philadelphia Flyers
In the NHL game of the week, the Philadelphia Flyers traveling to New York to battle against the Rangers in a contest between two Atlantic Division rivals on Sunday.
At 5-1, the Flyers are a top favorite in NHL Future Odds to win the Stanley Cup.
Philadelphia looks like one of the dominant teams in the league poised to make a run at the Stanley Cup as they are currently in first place in the Eastern Conference with a five point lead over Boston. The Rangers are fighting for their playoff lives on a nightly basis while the Flyers continue to cruise through the regular season. New York, currently in seventh place is just three points ahead of Buffalo who is on the outside of the standings looking in and is only one point ahead of Carolina for the eighth playoff spot.
The same way it has all year long, the Rangers hope their strong goaltending and defensive play will carry them through the remaining month and a half of the season. As the Rangers cannot afford to miss any opportunity to gain a point or two in the standings, each game is extremely important for them.
The Philadelphia still have something to play for as the regular season winds down as well while they have their playoff ticket all but punched. As the Flyers are 20-8-3 on home ice this year, earning that number one seed in the Eastern Conference will be a big boost for them. Philadelphia which would secure home ice advantage throughout the playoffs also has a chance to catch Vancouver for the best record in the NHL. As they both try to get those coveted two points, except a hard fought battle between these two teams on Sunday.
At The Verizon Center –Philadelphia Flyers Vs. Washington Capitals
On Saturday at the Verizon Center (7 pm ET, COMCAST, CSN), the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals meet for the second time this season.
With the Flyers at 12-5-2 and the Capitals with a 14-4-1 record, both teams are near the top of the NHL Eastern Conference standings. The Flyers are favorites in hockey betting odds.
With the Capitals the highest scoring, averaging 3.68 goals per game, and the Flyers not far back at 3.32 GPG, both teams are among the highest scoring in the league.
The Flyers have allowed the third fewest goals in the league at 2.2 per game as Philadelphia is also among the league leaders on defense.
The Flyers are without forwards Dan Carcillo (Out Indefinitely, knee injury), Ian Laperriere (Out Indefinitely, concussion), goalie Michael Leighton (Out Indefinitely, back injury), and defensemen Matt Walker (Out Indefinitely, hip injury) on the injury front.
Capitals’ defenseman goalie Semyon Varlamov is Out Indefinitely (groin injury) and Tom Poti is Day-to-Day (groin injury).
In the last 10 meetings head-to-head Washington is 6-2-0-2 and the over/under is 4-4-2. When the Capitals edged the Flyers 3-2 and cashed as a -190 moneyline favorite, the teams last squared off on Nov. 7. Under the over/under total of 5.5 what the score stayed.
NHL 2010-11 Preview: Boston Bruins
After last season’s meltdown against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals (in which they led three games to zero and game seven 3-0), the Boston Bruins return youth and firepower that should lead the club to hoisting the Stanley Cup at the end of the year.
Despite the loss of Marc Savard due to injury (post-concussion syndrome), Boston has the right blend of experience (Recchi, 42 years old) and youth (Sanguin, 18) to get it done at the next level.
The offense is a balanced, if pedestrian, attack that was 30th last year in goals scored while converting only 7.47% of shot opportunities. With the loss of Savard, Patrice Bergeron moves up to the first line at center to lead a balanced attack that also includes David Krejci and Mark Recchi. Bergeron (19 goals, 33 assists, 52 points), Krejci (17,35,52), and Recchi (18,25,43) numbers should go up with the addition of Nathan Horton at RW from Florida, listed first line on the current depth chart.
The defense is the cornerstone of the Bruin attack and is led by team captain Zdeno Chara. The unit was second in the league in goals allowed and third in the penalty kill and with Tuukka Rask listed as lead goalie (1.97 GAA and .931 save pct.) defense will again shine for Boston.
“Offense wins games, defense wins championships”. Boston appears “loaded for bear” as management has put together a young club that should improve on last year’s playoff surge.
Stanley Cup Finals: Game 3 Review and Game 4 Preview
On Wednesday, June 2nd, the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks played Game 3 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. Philadelphia was playing at home, with their backs against the proverbial wall. They were down 2-0 and needed a win on Wednesday night. They got it, but it was far from easy.
Philadelphia defeated Chicago 4-3 in overtime in Game 3. Once again, they showed off one of their biggest assets, their depth, as four players scored a goal. Chicago played very well for most of the game, and carried a 3-2 lead before allowing Philadelphia to tie the game. Michael Leighton, goalie for Philadelphia, played a solid game, making 24 saves and allowing 3 goals. Chicago’s goalie, Antti Niemi, made 28 saves while taking the loss. Claude Giroux played the role of hero on Wednesday, scoring the winning goal in OT. Patrick Kane for Chicago had a good game as well, scoring a goal and making an assist.
While winning Game 3 has to boost Philadelphia’s confidence, now is not the time to slack off. Game 4 is Friday night in Philadelphia, and they have momentum on their side. If they are able to play as well in Game 4 as they did in Game 3, they have a real chance to head back to Chicago with the series all tied up at 2-2. If they make the mistake of becoming overconfident, though, they could easily head back to Chicago behind 3-1, which would be a tough deficit to overcome.
NHL Playoffs – Philadelphia vs. Boston – Game 3 – Preview
In this heated match, penalty killing was a definite factor. Against Boston’s 8, penalty time for Philadelphia totaled 10 minutes. Both teams were able to turn away 9 power plays, totaling 17:56 of power play time. Even strength goals proved to be the difference. In the first two periods, each team scored a goal, with the Bruins scoring the winning goal in the 3rd. For the first two periods, the advantage went to the Flyers with a 22-16 shots on goal edge. The Bruins gained the lead with 11 shots on goal to the Flyers 5, in the third period. Final score was 3-2 in favor of Boston.
In the success, both games 1 and 2 were played in Boston which may have been a factor. The Philadelphia Flyers have the home arena advantage for Game 3; but, that may not be enough. The Boston Bruins have momentum and a higher goal to shots on goal percentage. More aggression has been their focus. The Boston Bruins have limited penalty time giving less power play time to their opponents. Into game 3, their focus limiting penalty time is likely to continue. The Philadelphia Flyers, in turn, do not have this focus which has limited their scoring opportunities. In the playoffs, Boston has been carrying through under pressure.
Game 3 – Preview – NHL Playoffs – Philadelphia vs. Boston
In this heated match, penalty killing was a definite factor. Against Boston’s 8, penalty time for Philadelphia Flyers totaled 10 minutes. Both teams were able to turn away 9 power plays, totaling 17:56 of power play time. Even strength goals proved to be the difference. In the first two periods, each team scored a goal, with the Boston Bruins scoring the winning goal in the 3rd. For the first two periods, the advantage went to the Flyers with a 22-16 shots on goal edge. The Bruins gained the lead with 11 shots on goal to the Flyers 5, in the third period. Final score was 3-2 in favor of Boston.
In the success, both games 1 and 2 were played in Boston which may have been a factor. The Flyers have the home arena advantage for Game 3; but, that may not be enough. The Bruins have momentum and a higher goal to shots on goal percentage. More aggression has been their focus. The Boston Bruins have limited penalty time giving less power play time to their opponents. Into game 3, their focus limiting penalty time is likely to continue. The Philadelphia Flyers, in turn, do not have this focus which has limited their scoring opportunities. In the playoffs, Boston has been carrying through under pressure
New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Set yourself to watch an enthralling match between New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers (7:30 PM ET, TSN2). The New Jersey Devils have a regular season record of 48-27-7, 103 pts and Philadelphia Flyers with 41-35-6, 88 pts.
The Devils have been really performing consistently and have proved under Lou Lamoriello’s training the Devils have been continuously improving their game year after year. It is the dedication of the coach, the team management in drafting and developing players. Zach Parise look to be in great touch after the awesome performance at the Vancouver Olympics for Team USA. They also have a very experienced goaltender Martin Brodeur who would love to add another Stanley Cup under his belt. The Devils are strong in all three zones and the addition of Russian sniper Ilya Kovalchuk has given a totally new dimension to the team. They are also considered as the stingiest team, with 186 goals against, a league low.
The Flyers have seen quite a lot of ups and downs this season. They were the favorite in the start of the season with a perfect starts but went down to a slump. This took a toll on John Steven’s job. No lesser than five different netminders stood between the pipes this season after Peter Laviolette took over the charge.
Throughout their campaign in-fighting and locker-room discord news made rounds. With so many things going wrong with the Flyers, Stanley Cup will definitely help them in preventing a big off-season overhaul. With the likes of Mike Richards and Simon Gagne they are considered the league leaders. Flyers have a very good penalty killing ability and the team looks very talented as any team in the league. It is between the pipes that seem to fall apart for the Flyers. Boucher is the man for Flyers to re-create some magic for his team else failure awaits Philadelphia.