Game Thread Flyers at Tampa Bay 1/27/13 @ 6:00 pm

[pilldoc]

Lightning seek fourth straight win against Flyers

Saturday, 01.26.2013 / 11:32 PM

Brian Compton - NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor

FLYERS (2-3-0) at LIGHTNING (3-1-0)

TV: CSN-PH, SUN

Season series: This is the first of three meetings between the teams. The Lightning won three of four matchups against the Flyers in 2011-12.

Big story: Mike Knuble, 40, made his season debut with the Flyers after signing with the team as a free agent Thursday night. Knuble 14:23 of ice time and tallied an assist in Saturday night’s 7-1 win at Florida.

Team scope:

Flyers: Philadelphia’s offense came alive in a big way Saturday, as Matt Read replaced the injured Scott Hartnell on the top line and recorded his first NHL hat trick, while five other Flyers enjoyed two-point nights in a rout against the Panthers. Even goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov (30 saves) chipped in with an assist.

“We needed a game like this,” said forward Danny Briere, who made his season debut after missing the first four games with a wrist injury. “The last few games we worked extremely hard, but we weren’t getting the bounces. To get a game finally where pucks are bouncing our way, it’s kind of nice. Hopefully, guys will settle down a little bit more and start making the plays that we’ve been making in the past. Sometimes a little confidence goes a long way.”

Lightning: Tampa Bay is off to a solid start to the 2012-13 season, reeling off three wins in its first four games. The Lightning opened a five-game homestand Friday night, when they rallied from a 3-1 deficit to earn their third straight victory with a 6-4 win against the Ottawa Senators at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

"We go back to the game plan of just playing simple hockey," said winger Ryan Malone, who had a pair of goals in the third period.

Who’s hot: Read, Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux are pacing the Flyers in scoring as each has four points in five games. … Steven Stamkos has two goals and six assists in four games for the Lightning, while Martin St. Louis (three goals, four assists) and rookie Cory Conacher (two goals, five assists) have seven points apiece.

Injury report: The Flyers will be without Scott Hartnell (foot), Andrej Meszaros (shoulder) and Zac Rinaldo (leg).

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Should be a good test for the Flyers to see where they stand. Did they really improve their play last night, or was it justt a bad Florida team missing its top line. We shall see.

Tampa recently, has given the Flyers fits. Stamkos is off to a good start with 8 pt in 4 games (2 G/ 6 A) and you always have to worry about Martin St.Louis.

The past 2 games dare I say...but Bryz has actually played like an NHL goalie and made some really good stops last night.

I'm hoping for a 4-3 win.

Thoughts........

Edited January 27, 2013 by pilldoc

[Poulin20]

Tampa's goalie was paying tribute to Leighton on the Flyers 1st goal.

[Howie58]

Greetings:

I think we had an interesting contrast this weekend. We demolished a glorified AHL squad with a disengaged audience (the Miami Herald noted that his morning; we Flyer fans were more vocal than the locals), but are in turn demolished by TB. It was unpleasant to watch and Leighton cannot be a scapegoat. Maybe 2 of the 5 were weak, but he made some great saves. For the most part he was a sitting duck.

Tampa Bay and Buffalo have been good benchmark teams for us since the first lockout. I'd say we have gotten an inkling that this could be rough sledding for a chunk of the season...or maybe the whole thing. D is not cleaning house, and discipline is lax.

Howie