The Battle of PA starts a new season as the Flyers pay a visit to Pittsburgh tonight at 7pm. By division and conference standings, both teams are evenly matched. Philly, with 16 points, stands fifth in the conference while Pittsburgh has a four way tie with the Bruins, Rangers and Leafs with 15.
What was deemed a 'rebuilding year' for the Flyers has certainly come to be more than that. The addition of Daniel Brierre has done wonders for the offense, in addition to the outstanding play from Mike Richards, Joffrey Lupul and Simon Gagne. Marty Biron, the guy known as Ryan Miller's backup for most of last season, has no doubt made a name for himself. With seven wins and two shutouts, Marty is far from being a backup and may very well be one of the best financial moves the Flyers made towards the end of last season.
Pittsburgh's Ryan Whitney, who suffered a groin injury heading into the third period against Colorado last week, is expected back in the lineup tonight after Therrien scratched him for both the Islanders and Devils games. The Pens' powerplay has nonetheless managed to convert in Whitney's absence, but his presence back on the ice can only strength it even further.
Is Therrien waiting for another game time decision on his netminder, or is it safe to say Dany Sabourin will start? Sabourin, coming off his first shutout of the season, is my guess against the Flyers who just happened to get shutout themselves on Monday night. Coincidence? No - I find it to be hard to make any such comparison or justification between the two, so I'm just going to step away from this one...
One shutout against the Flyers doesn't exactly scream "These guys can't score". All you have to do is look at the team's statistics to see for yourself. I'd expect the Flyers to challenge much more and put a lot more pressure on (insert goalie's name here) and the defense than the Devils did. I don't expect back-to-back Penguins shutouts, but I do expect a win tonight.
In the realm of rumors, there are a few circulating about the Pens. Now I'll admit - I'm not really one who likes to engage in rumors or even so much as fuel them even further. Yes, there has been talks of a veteran netminder like Curtis Joseph coming to the Pens, but I think we can hush that one up a bit now with Sabourin's level of play. I will say this though; this past weekend I read a rumor claiming both Ryan Malone and Eric Christensen will be out of the black and gold before the season's end. What say you on this matter?
I for one think Christensen is too unstable for a full-time role, but when he wants to play he sure as hell does. And as far as my money goes, there's no better guy to have in your lineup during a shootout.
Ryan Malone, on the other hand, is a different story. Malone is one of those guys who has been known to just 'click' with Crosby. He's also a native of Pittsburgh, which in my mind makes him somewhat of a hometown hero. Dishing out Malone is like taking Jersey native Jim Dowd away from the Devils. On second thought, they did that already. Hmmmm
This is, I'd also like to add, one of the weirder months of the season. Up until tonight, the Pens haven't played the Flyers. Yet after tonight, the next match-up comes next Saturday in Philly. Similarly, we play the Devils again Monday after having already played them this past Monday. Seven of the remaining ten games this month are all division games. If the Pens are going to heat up at any point, now would be a good time.
