#8 Boston Bruins (29-24-12, 70 pts) at #6 Philadelphia Flyers (35-26-4, 74 pts)
Wachovia Center – 7:00 PM ET – Philadelphia, PA
TV: CSN Philly HD, NESN HD
Radio: 610 WIP, XM 206
This is the open game thread.
Get the Boston perspective at Stanley Cup of Chowder
As the Boston Bruins stroll into town tonight, get ready to witness a team at a crossroads. They’re a team dangerously close to falling off the playoff map, potentially without their best defenseman, and rattled at the prospect of losing their best, arguably their only scorer for the remainder of the season.
Obviously, Marc Savard won’t be playing tonight, and without him, the Bruins season-long question of “where does the scoring come from?” gets even more magnified. But as mentioned, these Bruins are at a crossroads. Do they use the Savard injury as the excuse for why they fell apart down the stretch, or following the lack of suspension to Matt Cooke, do they use it to generate an us against the world mentality?
There’s no mistaking that tonight is a huge game for the Bruins. It’s the same for the Flyers though too, of course, who enter the game with a chance to make up some ground on the teams ahead of them (depending on other outcomes, obviously).
The Flyers have played well against the Bruins all season long, winning at home on a gorgeous Claude Giroux shootout winner in October and on the road amidst all the losing that went on in the middle of December. Of course, the Winter Classic was a different outcome, but Philadelphia owned that game until the final minutes, really.
Michael Leighton will start in goal tonight across from Boston’s Tuukka Rask.
After the jump, complete lineups, a few questions to answer and our in-game discussion.
Flyers Line Combinations
Gagne – Richards – Carcillo
Briere- Carter – Hartnell
van Riemsdyk – Giroux – Asham
Powe – Betts – Laperriere
Pronger – Carle
Timonen – Krajicek
Parent – Coburn
Boston Line Combinations
Sturn – Bergeron – Recchi
Wheeler – Krejci – Ryder
Lucic – Sobotka – Satan
Paille – Begin – Thornton
Hunwick – Seidenberg
Stuart – Wideman
Penner – Boychuk
No word on Chara, game-time decision. He missed Boston’s last game.
Starting Goaltenders
Questions to Answer
- Will Leighton allow the typical one-weak-goal-per-game tonight?
- How will Boston come out? Do they look even more determined in the aftermath of losing Savard?
- Can the top line of Richards-Gagne-Carcillo keep up their hot play?
- Carter has nine goals in nine games. 10 in 10?
Ben, Geoff and I will all be at the game this evening, so enjoy the open thread without us. CSN, WIP, you know the deal. LET’S GO FLYERS!
