About the Flyers - 03-29-11
A preview of the Flyers.
When and where: 7 p.m., Consol Energy Center.
TV: FSN Pittsburgh, CSN Pittsburgh.
Record: 45-20-10, 98 points. The Flyers are in first place in the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division.
Leading Scorer: Claude Giroux, 70 points (24 goals, 46 assists).
Last Game: 2-1 home loss to the Bruins, Sunday. Brian Boucher made 34 saves for the Flyers.
Last Game against the Penguins: 2-1 home shootout loss Thursday. Alex Kovalev and Chris Kunitz each had a shootout goal for the Penguins.
Flyers Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: James van Riemsdyk (above). He has five points in his past three games.
Ex-Penguins on the Flyers: Daniel Carcillo, LW (Carcillo was a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin, but never played for the NHL club); Joe Mullen, assistant coach; Kevin McCarthy, assistant coach; Simon Nolet, scout.
Ex-Flyers on the Penguins: Arron Asham, RW; Mike Comrie, C; Kevin Stevens, professional scout.
Useless Flyers Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Former Penguins forward Mark Recchi holds the Flyers' single-season record for points with 123 in 1992-93.
Best Flyers Video We Could Find: The Battle of Pennsylvania is always fierce:
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Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (34-18-5, 2.28 GAA, .920 SV%) for the Penguins and Sergei Bobrovsky (27-11-6, 2.53 GAA, .917 SV%) for the Flyers.
Injuries: For the Penguins, goaltender Brent Johnson ("upper-body") and forward Mark Letestu (shoulder) are day to day. Forward Dustin Jeffrey ("lower body") is doubtful. Forwards Sidney Crosby (concussion), Nick Johnson (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (knee) are on injured reserve. For the Flyers, defenseman Chris Pronger (hand) and forward Jody Shelley (face) are out. Defenseman Oskars Bartulis (shoulder) and forward Ian Laperriere (concussion) are on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins did not practice yesterday. Their primary lines and defensive pairings against the Panthers Sunday were:
James Neal - Maxime Talbot - Alex Kovalev
Chris Kunitz - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Pascal Dupuis - Craig Adams - Chris Conner
Mike Comrie - Mike Rupp - Arron Asham
Kris Letang - Brooks Orpik
Zbynek Michalek - Paul Martin
Matt Niskanen - Ben Lovejoy
Andreas Nodl - Claude Giroux - Jeff Carter
Scott Hartnell - Daniel Briere - Ville Leino
James van Riemsdyk - Mike Richards - Kris Versteeg
Daniel Carcillo - Blair Betts - Darroll Powe
Kimmo Timonen - Braydon Coburn
Matt Carle - Andrej Meszaros
Sean O'Donnell - Nick Boynton
Notes:
-Matt Cooke is serving a suspension.
-Can Comrie return to a role on one of the top two lines?
-Letang is happy to have Orpik back.
-Staal has 99 career assists.
-Letang has 98 career assists.
-Dupuis has 146 career assists.
-Fleury has 20 career wins against the Flyers. That his most wins against any one opponent.
-Giroux has 49 career goals.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 6 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)