Bruins Flew to Philly to Take on the Flyers

Zdeno Chara ready for some action (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

This afternoon the Boston Bruins are looking for their second win against the Philadelphia Flyers this season after defeating them 3-0 earlier this season. The win came from a dominant first period where the Bruins were able to jump ahead of the Flyers from the get-go and maintain their lead and composure through the entire sixty minutes. A feat that has proven to be non-existent in more recent games. The Bruins have won their last four straight against Philadelphia, dating back to last season and have gone 9-0-1 in their last 10 visits to Philadelphia.

Currently the Bruins sit second in the Northeast Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference with the Jets, Canadiens and Penguins ahead of them in the standings. The Flyers sit in last place in the Atlantic Division and fourteenth in the Conference, getting off to a really rough start and seemingly not able to find their rhythm. The biggest mistake the Bruins could do is to go into today’s game cocky. They need to remain focused, cool and collected with their sole focus on playing good, solid two-way sixty-minute hockey. While the Bruins may be in good positioning at the moment for a playoff spot, if they keep blowing third period leads the way they have been, that chance could just as easily slip away and belong to a team like Philly.

“We really have to focus on those two games this weekend, maybe try to separate ourselves and just getting back into winning ways,” defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said.(via nhl.com)

The Bruins are looking for redemption once again after blowing a 5-3 lead against the Canadiens in Wednesday night’s meeting that resulted in a 6-5 shootout loss. The Flyers are hoping to snap their current losing streak before it matches their 5-game skid that occurred from March 31- April 8 of last season. While they may be one of the league’s biggest disappointments, they know what is expected of them and what they need to do to make things happen.

“Obviously we have to go on a pretty epic run – like Pittsburgh – if we’re going to get in,” winger Scott Hartnell said. “You got to believe in something though. You got to believe in yourself.”(via Scott Hartnell said. “You got to believe in something though. You got to believe in yourself.”” target=”_blank”>nhl.com)

Injuries will play the biggest factor for both teams today as the Bruins are still without forward Chris Kelly, defenseman Adam McQuaid and potentially defenseman Johnny Boychuk for his fourth straight game. While the defenseman practiced with the team this morning for the full set, he is still listed on the injured reserve list. However, defenseman Torey Krug was sent back down to Providence late yesterday evening, opening up a roster spot for a defenseman that can either be filled by Matt Bartkowski or Boychuk.

The Flyers issued an update yesterday regarding their injuries and Braydon Coburn did not practice after suffering from a separated shoulder.  While there was no update on the defenseman, the team took the precaution to call up Oliver Lauridsen and place Coburn on injured reserve. Nik Grossman is still listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury and Danny Briere is still out indefinitely with a concussion. Flyers defenseman Andrej Meszaros will also miss today’s game with the expectation of surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff, ending his season with Philly.

Today’s matinee game has a coverage start time of 12:00PM on NESN with Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley. Here’s to matinee hockey and hoping the Bruins can stick it to Philly.