sarsippius

@Merrick

I was just starting to calm down, thanks for getting me pissed off again

ESPN should just not discuss hockey at all, from their little coverage that wouldn't be much of a drop anyway.

@peter puck

They either don't watch the games or they're all wrapped up in the Sidney crotch-lick parade, or both

Per Carchidi, Bryz goes tonight:

Ilya Bryzgalov, the NHL's player of the month, will return to the lineup and face the New York Rangers Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

The 31-year-old goalie missed the last three games with a chip fracture in his right foot.

Coach Peter Laviolette said Bryzgalov is healthy and he wants him to regain his sharpness for the playoffs.

In two starts against the Rangers this season, Bryzgalov is 0-2 with a 4.11 goals-against average and .869 save percentage. (Henrik Lundqvist numbers vs. the Flyers this season: 5-0, 1.60 GAA, .947 save percentage.)

Bryzgalov, however, has turned around his season since last facing the Rangers. He went 10-2-1 with a 1.43 GAA and .947 save percentage in March.

Sergei Bobrovsky started the last three games, going 2-0-1 and allowing a total of eight goals.

Defenseman Andreas Lilja, who had been nursing an upper-body injury, will also return to the lineup after missing the last five games. Jody Shelley will play for the first time since March 18.

Briere update. Center Danny Briere, who usually excels in the post-season, said he continues to have back spasms. Briere said he hopes to be able to play when the playoffs start next week, but that there is not timetable.

Briere was injured on an open-ice hit by Pittsburgh's Joe Vitale on Sunday. The veteran center called the hit clean, but said Vitale "was obviously trying to hurt me."

Probable lines. Here are the expected Flyers lines for Tuesday:

1. Claude Giroux centering Scott Hartnell and Jaromir Jagr.

2. Brayden Schenn centering Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds.

3. Sean Couturier centering Max Talbot and Jake Voracek.

4. Eric Wellwood centering Shelley and Zac Rinaldo.

This article title ought to make you forget about the Pens, at least for tonight....

Rangers aim to complete season sweep of Flyers

Monday, 04.02.2012 / 2:32 PM

Adam Kimelman - NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor

RANGERS (50-22-7) at FLYERS (46-24-9)

TV: MSG 2 (HD), CSN-PH (HD)

Last 10: New York 6-4-0; Philadelphia 6-2-2

Season series: The Rangers will go for the season sweep of their Atlantic Division rivals. In their most recent meeting, Ryan Callahan had a hat trick and Marian Gaborik had a goal and three assists in 5-2 win in Philadelphia.

Big Story: Can the Rangers continue their march toward the Eastern Conference title? Or will the Flyers finally be able to beat their northern rival and stay in the running for the fourth seed in the East?

Team Scope:

Rangers: As nice as it would be to finish the sweep of the Flyers, Rangers players said Monday their motivation is winning -- regardless of the opponent.

"We don't really pay attention to it," Mike Rupp told The (Bergen) Record of the Rangers' winning the first five games. "It's something more for them to pay attention to. Obviously, it's big that we’ve played well against them and gotten points."

"As for now, to us, that's in the past," Brian Boyle added. "To them, I'm sure it's motivation. They're trying to battle for home ice. They'll be obviously motivated in their building."

In all, the Rangers have won seven straight against the Flyers, a stretch that goes back to Feb. 20, 2011.

Flyers: After wearing a visor for his first three NHL seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, forward Wayne Simmonds took it off this season, his first with the Flyers. The result has been a career-best 27 goals, but it's also featured a pair of serious injuries -- twice he's been hit in the face by pucks.

When it happened Saturday against the Ottawa Senators, he returned wearing a visor out of necessity, but said he isn't sure he's going to keep it on or not.

"Obviously I'll wear the visor until the stitches come out," he said. "I'm not too sure I'm going to continue wearing it after that."

Simmonds may not have made a decision, but his mother certainly has. Simmonds said his mother was against him taking off the visor this season, and at one point called his agent to have him tell Simmonds to put on a visor.

"I don't think she’s too happy right now, but obviously that's my mother, she's not going to be happy with anything I do," Simmonds said. "She told me I should put on a full cage, but it's not college hockey, you can't play like that."

Who's Hot: Callahan has 4 goals in five games against the Flyers this season. … Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds has goals in four straight games. He has 5 goals in that span.

Injury Report: Rangers defenseman Steve Eminger (ankle) and forward Mats Zuccarello (wrist) are out indefinitely. … Flyers center Danny Briere is out indefinitely with an upper-back contusion. Defenseman Nicklas Grossmann is out 7-10 days with a lower-body injury. Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov (foot) is day-to-day.

Stat Pack: The Flyers trailed 2-0 or worse in six of their last nine games, but they're 5-2-2 in that span.

Puck Drop: Why have the Flyers struggled so much against the Rangers? Simmonds has a pretty good idea.

"We have to play our game, and I think in the games that we've played them we only played about 40 minutes of the game and they played the full 60, and you're never going to win playing that way against that team," he said.

Well, of the trade deadline acquisitions, I would think they keep Grossman and let Kubina walk (I believe they are both UFAs). Pronger is done. Carle.....my guess is they try to resign him at a reasonable figure, but he walks for more $ elsewhere. You might be looking at Bourdon AND (not or) Gus playing significant minutes next year.....unless they make a splash in free agency, which is an unknown right now with no CBA

@Vanflyer

Agreed, I like his column too, but after reading this one I wondered if he actually saw the play in context

and yet my thirst for blood and retribution continues unabated.

YES!

Haha, stay thirsty my friend

All necessary sharp objects and flammable liquids will be provided!

Ya, start Shelley. Crosby and malkin (the ones who deserve the lesson) will be nowhere to be seen. Philly will get the instigator. Out comes (guess who?) Crosby and Malkin, and it's 3-0 Pens before you know it. Great idea..that'll teach 'em. I'd rather beat them, THAT is what pisses them off!

Hey killjoy, trying to organize an angry mob here, no time for your logic!

Cindy will grow a playoff beard by not trimming his v a g

http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/kerry_fraser/?id=392041

Kerry Fraser says Schenn should have gotten a misconduct for the crosscheck on Cindy.

@terp

And that's what makes me dislike him so much. Lots of players do the cheap garbage on ice that Cindy does. But man up, don't blame your transgressions on your opponent, as if you're a nice guy that somehow got goaded into acting out of character.

No doubt it's this kind of stuff that makes the playoffs fun.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=625541

"Let's be honest," Crosby said. "Both teams bring out a lot of bad things in each other. You can sit there and put a microscope on every slash that goes on out there. The fact is both teams do it. … That's going to happen when these teams play each other. I know that's probably the most hacks I've given out personally in a long time. So they seem to bring out the worst in me, too."

I think they that call type of logical fallacy "deflecting".

@AbelMorpheus

I don't understand any of it to be honest. 2 coaches standing on the boards cursing at each other, I guess Lavy breaking a stick was worth an extra $7,500

@orange_crush

Magnificent plan. Slap the **** of those whining little cheap shot pu**ies Malkin and Crysby. Drag Hulk Hogan out of the stands and pound him too. Hire Mike Milbury for one game and let him go into the stands are reenact his MSG beatdown of a fan with his own shoe.

Granato only fined $2,500.

This **** shouldn't surprise me, but it still always does, every time

@ emwags 618

Let's not carried away with the Chris who stuff. The defense was mostly putrid without him, and stayed that way until Grossman and Kubina arrived. Pronger's injury gave Bourdon a chance for some ice time, but he hasn't done anything that would make me forget about #20.

Too bad the next game is at Pit. Queen Bylsma has the last change.

Which brings me to a totally unrelated point.....It's great scheduling to have division rivals play twice in the last week or so of the season, but usually it's a HOME AND HOME! Why eff do the Flyers go to their building twice in 7 days to end the season?

Classic from 1976

Is that photoshopped??? That's friggin hilarious

@ trevluk

MVP & Pearson, but no scoring title.

Tied with Jagr in '95 I believe, but lost on # of goals as tiebreaker

pens fans were all up in arms on twitter yesterday as apparently this fan is a cancer survivor. i know i know.. it has nothing to do with anything and how was hartnell supposed to know this. pens fans are stupid, but we already know this.

Well I'm glad he's cancer free. Apparently the chemo doesn't cure stupidity.

@ OH 1 FlyersFan

I think TedZep summed that up nicely in the post above....

Steve Shutt and Clarke Gilles both had the benefit of playing on dynasties, and HOF selection committee is much kinder to guys with multiple Cups

Usually I'd be concerned with a player responding to an idiot fan. But in Hartnell's case, being the silly bastard that he is, I think he just feeds off of it.