Flyers at Red Wings
The Philadelphia Flyers are experiencing some painful times both on the scoreboard and in the trainer's room. With a listless offense and mounting injuries, the Flyers look to change their fortune on Saturday, when they visit the Detroit Red Wings. Philadelphia, which has mustered a paltry six goals in five games, suffered a 2-1 loss to Phoenix on Friday and also saw top-six forwards Scott Hartnell (upper body) and Vincent Lecavalier (lower body) exit with injuries.
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said both players would undergo MRIs on Saturday and likely will miss one week of action. While Philadelphia's offense has been virtually non-existent, Detroit isn't exactly lighting up the scoreboard. The Red Wings have collected just three goals en route to dropping its last two decisions to Boston and Phoenix, respectively.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN (Philadelphia), FSN (Detroit)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (1-4-0): After admitting confidence was an issue on Tuesday, captain Claude Giroux did his best to put a positive spin on another fruitless performance three days later. "We're starting to see the picture a little bit more, and obviously having the loss is frustrating," Giroux said. "But you know what? It's a long season and we're getting better every day," The Ontario native also noted that the lacerated tendons in his right index finger are not affecting his game.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (2-2-0): In a move to give its ailing offense a jolt, Detroit recalled University of Michigan star Luke Glendening from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League on Friday. The 24-year-old Glendening is expected to make his NHL debut on Saturday while centering the fourth line with Drew Miller and Jordin Tootoo, who is returning from a sprained left shoulder. Coach Mike Babcock experimented with different line combinations in Friday's practice, most notably moving veteran Todd Bertuzzi to the top line with Pavel Datsyuk and captain Henrik Zetterberg.
OVERTIME
1. Detroit requested - and received - a time change for Tuesday's game against Columbus. The contest was moved back 30 minutes to 8 p.m. in an effort to avoid a conflict with Game 3 of the American League Championship Series pitting the hometown Tigers against the Boston Red Sox.
2. The Flyers are expected to recall LWs Tye McGinn and Michael Raffl from their AHL club to replace Hartnell and Lecavalier.
3. With Glendening coming up, the Red Wings sent veteran C Cory Emmerton to Grand Rapids in a corresponding move.