Minnesota Wild (20-16-3, 43 pts) at Philadelphia Flyers (21-10-9, 51 pts)
Wachovia Center – 7 PM EST – Philadelphia, PA
TV: CSN Philly HD, FS North
Radio: 610 WIP, XM 207
Check Here for Internet Streams
Behind Enemy Lines: Hockey Wilderness
What To Watch For: It’s the first home game since December 23rd, and how the Flyers settle back into their Wachovia Center digs could be how this game is decided. The Flyers PP cooled off a little bit toward the back end of the road trip, but at home it’s been white-hot. They’re converting at 45.2% in their last nine home games. It’ll be tested tonight though, as Minnesota has the best PK in the league. It’s the Flyers 41st game, the midpoint, of the season.
Scouting the Enemy: Minnesota is good defensively, but they don’t light the lamp all that much. They have won two straight games by scores of 2-0 and 1-0, including that 1-0 victory over Boston on Tuesday. The Wild are 10-1-1 against the East. Their overall record isn’t fantastic, but they are probably a better team than the numbers show. Kim Johnsson returns to the Wachovia Center for the first time since leaving the Flyers.
Between The Pipes: With Niittymaki out and Scott Munroe called up, Martin Biron gets the nod again this evening. Nicklas Backstrom, the one that doesn’t play for Washington, is in net for the Wild. He has two straight shutouts.
Injury Report: I’m not into masochism, so let’s not go there.
Questions to Answer:
1. How does Carter play after being named to the all-star game? He hasn’t gone four games without a goal all season, and he hasn’t scored in the last three. Does he score?
2. Can the Flyers bust out of the recent PP goal scoring slump? They scored just two PP goals during the six game road trip.
3. Braydon Coburn is coming off perhaps his best game as a Flyer, playing nearly a half hour and scoring a goal. Will all that ice time take a toll, or does he have another dominant performance?
4. How does the team react to the home crowd after being away for so long?
Let’s Go Flyers!
