Gagne Returns, Flyers/Lightning Preview

The game fans have been waiting for is here (besides the opener against Pittsburgh of course).

Simon Gagne returns tonight to the Wells Fargo Center for the first time as a visiting player. He is sure to get an outstanding ovation, a sentiment that was echoed by Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell earlier today.

While it will be a festive night, a game still has to be played. Here are the keys to tonight's contest:

-Brian Boucher: 'Boosh' is getting the call after his stellar performance in St. Louis and looks to gain consistency early in the season. That way the Flyers can manage breaking in rookie Sergei Bobrovsky to the North American style of play.

TB's Top Six: The Lightning have a tremendous top six and have shown in their first couple games they can put the puck in the net. Along with Gagne are Vincent Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis, Ryan Malone, Steven Stamkos, and Steve Downie. The Flyers have to shut these guys down in order to pull out two points tonight.

Andrej Meszaros-Do not forget this is Meszaros's first game against his former team that lost patience with him. It will be interesting to see if there is a difference in his game tonight. Meszaros and defensive partner Sean O'Donnell had their best games of the season in their first game being able to play with each other.

That's all for now. It's midterm time here at Mason so I will be off and on the next couple of weeks.

Caps Win/Flyers Lose Recaps

The red was rocking on and off the ice in the Washington Capitals last night. The Caps throttled the New Jersey Devils 7-2.

It certainly did not start well though. The Caps looked sloppy and were simply being outworked in their defensive zone, a still glaring problem for this team going forward. The Caps were able to overcome their early mistakes though and keep the game tied at two halfway through the game. That's when the flood gates opened.

The Caps started flying around the ice the way their fans are accustomed to. They wore out the Devils defense with a combination of odd-man rushes, cycling, and despite being outshot 33-29, it seemed all the shots were down in New Jersey's end.

Here were the keys to the Caps win:

-Martin Brodeur: Brodeur may have been the Caps' best player last night conceding five goals on 20 shots. Brodeur has now given up nine goals in just five periods this year. His play has been so atrocious that Johan Hedberg had to finish the game out last night. Not a good sign for the Devils moving forward.

-Alex Ovechkin: Ovechkin was kept off the board in Atlanta, so he came out motivated and it showed. Ovechkin had two goals (one on a penalty shot) and an assist. The great thing about Ovechkin is, even if he is kept off the scoresheet, that is the effort he gives night in and night out, something that is lost sometimes when he is criticized (and rightfully so) for celebrating every goal like it's the first time he's ever scored a goal.

-John Carlson: This kid is an absolute stud. He played well when he came up last year, and it has carried over in two games this year. A tremendous two-way defeseman, Carlson has great speed, vision, and a rocket for a shot that he displayed on the Caps' first goal last night.

The Caps next face the Ottawa Senators on Monday at the Verizon Center.

Meanwhile, the Flyers should be thankful they came out with a point in St. Louis last night.

Brian Boucher, the journeyman made a stellar case to be get some more starts in the net. He shut the door on nine of ten St. Louis powerplay opportunities and kept the Flyers in the game.

Here were the keys to last nights game:

-Penalties: The Flyers took ten penalties. That is simply unacceptable. Sure, some of the calls were questionable, but a player in this contemporary NHL has to know to not put themselves in a position where they might get called. The penalty kill stepped up though and killed nine of the ten powerplays.

-Defensive Zone: The Flyers still have a problem with getting the puck out of their own end. There will be stints where they fail to get the puck out three to four times in a row. Sean O'Donnell looks like he's having an asthma attack with how much he coughs the puck up. This has to improve going forward, and no the Chris Pronger absence is no execuse for it.

-Brian Boucher: We all have our opinions about Sergei Bobrovsky. Should he get a majority of the starts in Michael Leighton's absence? Yes, but 'Boosh' is not going quietly. 'Boosh' looked superb last night, keeping the Flyers in the game when they were asleep the first two periods. It is hard to dislike him. He uses what talent he does have and works unbelievably hard. Still, head coach Peter Laviolette shows no allegiances. He will put the man in the net he feels will give him a chance to win.

The Flyers open up at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday against a young, talented Colorado Avalanche team. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

Caps Lose, Pavelec Awake at Atlanta Hospital

It's on somber nights such as these, that fans and media alike are reminded that athletes are humans too. Thrasher's goaltender Ondrej Pavalec suddenly collapsed with no one around him just two minutes and 25 seconds into the game. View here. NOTE: The video is disturbing, consider before viewing (courtesy of CBC website).

Pavelec has since regained consciousness at an Atlanta hospital and will be kept overnight for observation. In typical hockey player fashion, it has been reported the first thing Pavelec wanted to know was what the score was. Regardless, it was sickening and frightening to watch. As someone who understands and knows how that can shift a player's psyche one way or another, it certainly had an impact on the game. The Thrashers shifted to the motivation psyche.

The Capitals took an immediate 1-0 lead after a nearly 20 minute delay. That's when the Thrashers woke up and responded with a 4-2 victory.

There was a controversial call that helped build momentum for the Thrashers. In the second period, Mike Green was whistled for covering the puck in the crease ensuing in a penalty shot. Evander Kane took the penalty shot and converted turning the tide in the Thrashers favor.

The key breakdown came in the third, when the Thrashers took advantage of a blown faceoff coverage. Fredrik Modin picked up the loose puck and beat Michal Neuvirth, in for the injured Semyon Varlamov, to the blocker side.

The Caps answered with a perfectly executed 2 on 1 by Alexander Ovechkin and Mike Knuble. Ovechkin made a flawless saucer pass to Knuble who buried it with a half-open net. However, it was not enough to pull out a victory.

The Caps will look to rebound against the New Jersey Devils tomorrow night in their home opener after New Jersey was stunned in their season and home opener by Dallas in overtime.

Bobrovsky Stellar, Flyers Win Season Opener

Philadelphia Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette made two intriguing decisions today. The first was starting 22-year-old rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

The other was taking a timeout within the first ten minutes of the Flyers' first game of the season. Both paid off.

Bobrovsky was brilliant, stopping 29 of 31 shots leading the Flyers to a 3-2 win over in-state rival Pittsburgh.

The Penguins stormed out of the gate peppering Bobrovsky with shots, but he weathered the storm stopping 15 shots in the 1st period.

Laviolette, master of the timeout, took it early to settle down an anxious defensive corps that was missing its leader, Chris Pronger. The Flyers settled down after that and played well the rest of the way.

While Bobrovsky stole the show, the key play was Claude Giroux's shorthanded goal to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead. The Penguins had a rushed and atrociously executed breakout with all the forwards up too high. Kris Letang was too fancy trying to make a back pass to his defensive partner and last man back Paul Martin. Giroux picked it off and made Marc-Andre Fleury look foolish on an in-zone breakaway. View the goal here.

While the Penguins were missing Jordan Staal here is why the win is encouraging:

-Crosby/Malkin: Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were on the ice close to 25 minutes each. This has to be troubling for the Penguins going forward especially if Staal misses extensive time. Both Crosby and Malkin will be worn out by season's end if they have to be relied on this much. If you look at the Flyers forwards ice time, only Mike Richards went over 20 mins.

-Defense: The defense was not spectacular, however going into a hostile environment and the opening of a new building, the defense got the job done. With a rookie goaltender in net and without Chris Pronger, the Flyers kept a lot of pucks to the outside and cleared the net pretty well and will only get better once Pronger returns.


-Bobrovsky: Let the goaltender controversey begin. Bobrovsky showed when it mattered tonight both how athletic and astonishingly quick he is. The pressure is now on Michael Leighton when he returns since he has the most to lose. Bobrovsky is motivated and looking to prove he can play at this level.

The Flyers will be at St. Louis on Saturday to take on the Blues. Caps update after their tilt with the Thrash tomorrow.

Video courtesy of nhl.com
Stats courtesy of nhl.com and philadelphiaflyers.com

Bobrovsky to Start, Pronger Out

In a surprising announcement, Sergei Bobrovsky will be the Philadelphia Flyers starting goaltender in the season-opener tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 22-year-old Russian will make his NHL debut against a division rival opening a brand new arena, the Consol Energy Center. Welcome to the NHL.

Also, Chris Pronger will sit out tonight as he still tries to recover from off-season knee surgery. Pronger has practiced the past couple of days, but feels the knee is not up to full speed to compete at the highest level.

Notes: The Carolina Hurricanes have won the first game of the young season, beating the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in Helsinki, Finland.

Eastern Conference Rankings

1. Washington Capitals- The Caps return with virtually the same team as last year with the exception that Semyon Varlamov is now the number one goaltender with the departure of Jose Theodore. The Caps may not be the best team in the East, but they certainly are in the easiest division. This may be a factor that is overlooked in connection with the Caps' playoff struggles. With a division that consisted of only themselves going to the playoffs and playing those four teams 24 of 82 games, it's hard to get experience against quality teams. Regardless, they are still very talented and will likely claim the East in the regular season.

2. Pittsburgh Penguins- The Pens have shored up an inconsistent defense by adding former Devils defenseman Paul Martin and former Coyotes defenseman Zbynek Michalek, an underrated component to the Coyotes remarkable season last year. The injury to Jordan Staal will not help early on, but the Pens have a lot of motivation to prove themselves after a dismal playoff exit last year.

3. Buffalo Sabres- It always seems like on paper the Sabres have no business being at the top of the conference. However, the emergence of Tyler Myers last year as possibly a more dynamic Zdeno Chara will look to be a force and anchor the defense. It also always helps to have the best goaltender in the world in Ryan Miller. Like the Caps, the Sabres division isn't particulary strong, but it does have some quality teams.

4. New Jersey Devils- Like the Pens, the Devils have brought in and retained quality players. The Ilya Kovalchuk contract saga is mercifully over, overshadowing the signing of Anton Volchenkov, one of the best all-around defensemen in the league. Martin Brodeur is another year older, but it should not stop him from putting up 35+ more wins this year.

5. Philadelphia Flyers- The Flyers injury-bug has already hit and it's just now October. Michael Leighton is already out for a month and superb penalty-killer Ian Laperrier is out indefinitely. This may put more pressure on Chris Pronger to return quicker (like he cares about our opinion). Despite the injuries, the Flyers have shown in the preseason they have a tremendous balance of offensive and defensive depth. Look for Sergei Bobrovsky to take advantage of being Brian Boucher's backup at the start of the season.

6. Boston Bruins- I was bewildered when I saw on the ESPN hockey blog a feature on Tim Thomas trying to reclaim the net from Tuuka Rask. Good luck, Tim. Rask proved last year he belongs in the net as the starter. The continued concussion problems of Mark Savard will impact the team, but Tyler Seguin, the 2010 number two overall pick and the trade for Nathan Horton will look to provide a spark.

7. Ottawa Senators- Ottawa is such an enigma. There are usually two versions of this team. There is the extremely talented one, that shows a combination of speed, grit, and solid goaltending. Then, there is the team that looks completely lost and outmatched. The loss of Anton Volchenkov on the backend leads to their dropoff, however with players such as Spezza, Alfredsson, and Fisher still on the ice every night, this is still a playoff team.

8. Tampa Bay Lightning- This team has been the risky pick all off-season. It's hard to counter the argument though. With the first two lines featuring names such as Lecavalier, St. Louis, Stamkos, and Gagne along with Dan Ellis in the net, this team can compete in an anemic Southeast division.

9. Atlanta Thrashers- The Thrash have become basically the Chicago Blackhawks role players team. This certainly adds more depth, however the loss of Colby Armstrong will be felt and of course Ilya Kovalchuk. Had both still been with the team, they would be a playoff team.

10. Toronto Maple Leafs- Once again, this is not a joke. Brian Burke is a magician and he has assembled a plethora of young talent to revive this original six team. Phil Kessel, Dion Pfaneuf, JS Giguere, Colby Armstrong are now all Leafs, and they will no longer be an embarrassment and start working their way back toward being a prowd franchise and volitile playoff contender.

11. Montreal Canadiens- Les Habs' offseason was simply astonishing. They traded playoff hero Jaroslav Halak and have given the reins to Carey Price, likely since the Habs don't want to admit they were wrong when they annoited him as the next Roy. While they have some talent up front, they do not have a lot of depth and will pay the Price for it.

12. New York Rangers- The New York Mets of the NHL, strapped by outragous and guaranteed contracts, have not improved whatsoever over the offseason. The Blueshirts will once again have to rely on King Henrik to win every game for them. He cannot play all 82 and admitted how fatigued he was at the end of last year. Martin Biron is a capable backup, but like his previous stops, he cannot steal a game for a team.

13. Carolina Hurricanes- Not much remains of the 2006 Cup team. Sure Eric Staal and Cam Ward, two young all-stars still remain, but there needs to be more than an incredible forward and goaltender to sustain success in this league.

14. New York Islanders- The Isles cannot catch a break. Defensemen Mark Streit is out indefinitely after injuring his shoulder in a meaningless scrimmage. Perhaps Rick Dipietro will be availabe for more than five games this season? If not it's up to soon to be 41 year-old Dwayne Roloson. Ouch.

15. Florida Panthers- The Panthers finally did themselves a favor and are blowing the team up and starting over. There are good pieces with Booth and Vokoun in the net. Still, Panthers GM Dave Tallon will have his hands full. He's already proven he can form a championship team with a majority of the players he acquired for the Blackhawks so the fans, however many that are left, have to exercise patience.

Season is six days away, Flyers vs. Sabres tonight, start getting ready!