Flyers at Sabres
THE STORY: Lost in last season's failed playoff run for
the Philadelphia Flyers is their seven-game triumph over the Buffalo
Sabres in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. The Flyers'
poor goaltending was on display against the Sabres long before it did
them in during a four-game sweep at the hands of the eventual Stanley
Cup champion Boston Bruins. Ilya Bryzgalov was brought in to fix
that very problem - with mixed results thus far this season. On
Wednesday, Bryzgalov will guide coach Peter Laviolette's club into
western New York to face the Sabres. While the Russian used his
"compass" to snap a five-game losing skid in the team's 5-1 win over the
Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, the Flyers are hardly out of the woods.
They've won just two of their last six games. After winning five of its
first six contests, Buffalo has seemingly lost its way. Coach Lindy Ruff
was irate after the Sabres dropped a 3-2 decision to the Florida
Panthers on Saturday. "Unacceptable. Unacceptable from a discipline
standpoint, from a play standpoint," he said. "You can package that
whole game and put it in the unacceptable category." With a few days to
stew on that loss, the Sabres might want to put forth a better
performance against the rival Flyers. Philadelphia has won three of four
on the road, while Buffalo is 2-3-0 at home - although one of those
triumphs came in Helsinki.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Versus, TSN2
ABOUT THE FLYERS (6-4-1): Jaromir Jagr is showing that
he has plenty left in the tank. The 39-year-old Russian has collected
five goals and two assists in his last four games. The
Jagr-Claude Giroux-Scott Hartnell line recorded 23 points during that
span. As for Bryzgalov, he has struggled versus the Sabres - posting a
1-3-0 career mark with a 3.57 goals-against average.
ABOUT THE SABRES (6-4-0): After signing a six-year, $27
million deal in the offseason, Ville Leino will get his first chance to
face his former team. Leino hasn't done much to justify the contract
thus far, collecting just one goal and one assist this season.
Conversely, Thomas Vanek has recorded points in nine of 10 games this
campaign. The Austrian has a team-leading eight goals and seven assists,
netting him the second-fastest start in Sabres' history (Pat
LaFontaine, 29 points in first 10 games of 1992-93 season)
OVERTIME:
1. Flyers center Danny Briere won't face his former team as he'll sit
out his second straight contest with an upper body injury. Matt Read
will join him as the rookie is also nursing an upper body injury.
2. Sabres RW Jason Pominville is riding a three-game point streak.
Pominville, who has three goals and two assists during that stretch, has
20 points in 22 career games versus Philadelphia.