Flyers/Habs Preview

Tonight the Philadelphia Flyers will take on the Montreal Canadiens in their last game before the All-Star break at the Wells Fargo Center. Fans are much more eager to watch this match up after the Flyers dominated the Habs in the Eastern Conference Finals last year.

This is the fourth and final meeting of the season with the Flyers holding a 2-1 series edge in this year's contests. The Habs are looking to rebound after a 4-3 shootout loss to Anaheim on Saturday, on an emotional night that saw the return of former captain Saku Koivu, his first return to Montreal since leaving the team via free agency.

The Flyers meanwhile are coming off a strong 4-1 win in Chicago to get at least some revenge and satisfaction from last year's loss in the Stanley Cup. Regardless, both teams despise one another and as Danny Briere said, these are the kinds of games that motivation is not really needed, it's already there. With that here are tonight's keys:

-Bob: It may be getting redundant, but Bob had possibly his best game of the season Sunday in Chicago. He can really take a stranglehold of the starting job by putting into the coaches minds' throughout the break that he is the Flyers best and consistent option for the remainder of the season.

-Powerplay: I would have laughed if someone told me going into this year that the Flyers powerplay would be in the bottom third of the league. There are certain nights where the Flyers have relentless pressure, are getting clean and smart shots off, but the bounces aren't going their way. Then there are nights when they just dump the puck in, don't outwork the defense, and never set up let alone get off a shot. The powerplay is the biggest area I think the Flyers can improve on going into the final stretch before the playoffs.

-JVR's Absence: Dan Carcillo did an admirable job stepping in Sunday and filling his role. The fact of the matter is, JVR is a needed presence on the ice. Even when he's not scoring he has been involved and much more physical. However, it is the last game before the break so I cannot disagree with the Flyers holding him back so he can rest and be ready to go next week. Also, I believe a personal matter came up for JVR this week along with his groin so hopefully he can take care of that by next week as well.

The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. due to the game being on VS tonight. Good luck to Briere, Claude Giroux, and Coach Laviolette at the ASG, represent the organization well and do not get hurt!