The Flyers look to respond from two weekend losses when they face the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. (Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com)
It was not a pleasant weekend for the Philadelphia Flyers. Back-to-back losses on Saturday and Sunday, both in rather humiliating fashion, has dropped the Flyers into a tie for seventh in the Eastern Conference.
That's what comes with the end of a 10-game home winning streak. The Flyers were due for a couple of bad games, proving to be vulnerable.
That can change when the Flyers face the NHL's worst team in the standing, the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres have a 13-26-5 record, with six of their wins coming via the shootout. They have scored 77 goals this season while allowing 121, a differential of -44.
The Sabres are led in scoring by Matt Moulson, an acquisition from the New York Islanders. Moulson has 14 goals and 13 assists on the season.
Cody Hodgson and Tyler Ennis are the other two top scorers, now with Thomas Vanek gone to the Islanders. Hodgson has eight goals and 12 assists while Ennis has nine goals and eight assists.
Defensively, the Sabres are a solid team, allowing 2.7 goals per game. The team's weakness is clearly scoring. The Sabres score just 1.6 goals per game. Christian Ehrhoff, Tyler Myers and Jamie McBain are fixtures of the Buffalo defense.
In goal, the Sabres will go with Jhonas Enroth. Enroth is 1-8-4 with a 2.46 GAA this season in 14 games.
The Flyers get a boost with Matt Read returning to the lineup. Read experienced concussion-like symptoms that forced him to miss six games. Read scored two goals in the Flyers first meeting against the Sabres in November.
Steve Mason returns as the starting goalie after a rough start on Saturday. He is 18-11-4 with a 2.46 GAA.
After two awful games offensively, with the Flyers scoring four goals overall, the team, especially the second and third lines, has a great chance to rebound against a struggling Sabres team.
However, the Flyers can't take the Sabres lightly. They are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games. At home, Buffalo is 9-12-3.
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (17th, 7th on road), Sabres (27th, 21st at home)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (7th, T-9th on road), Sabres (13th, T-7th at home)
- The Flyers defeated the Sabres, 4-1, on Nov. 21. Read scored two goals while Vincent Lecavalier and Scott Hartnell added tallies.
- Milestone Watch: Wayne Simmonds needs three goals for 100 in his NHL career. Vincent Lecavalier needs eight points for 900 in his career.
Flyers scratches: Erik Gustafsson, Hal Gill, Steve Downie, Zac Rinaldo
Flyers Projected Lineup
Line 1: Michael Raffl-Claude Giroux-Jake Voracek
Line 2: Scott Hartnell-Brayden Schenn-Wayne Simmonds
Line 3: Matt Read-Sean Couturier-Vincent Lecavalier
Line 4: Jay Rosehill-Chris VandeVelde-Adam Hall
D-Pair 1: Kimmo Timonen-Braydon Coburn
D-Pair 2: Nick Grossmann-Mark Streit
D-Pair 3: Luke Schenn-Andrej Meszaros
Goalie: Steve Mason
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Kevin Durso is the lead beat writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
