Flyers Gameday: The Yotes

After last night's impressive win in Buffalo, the Flyers caught a quick zeppelin back to souf Philly to play the Phoenix Coyotes tonight at the Wach. Sure, the Flyers shutout the Sabres last night, mostly due to great team defence and a little bit of luck. The Flyers have now won 4 straight and face a team tonight that has dropped four straight. Last year these two teams met and the Yotes won in Philly. Tonight, the Flyers will look to continue their strong play as of late. They are doing a great job of getting the puck out of their own zone and winning small battles in the offensive end. It's amazing how a team's confidence can snowball with these small moments in the game. Metro, Carle, and Sbisa were moving the puck so well last night, and Upshall, Hartnell, and the entire 4th line were good at generating a forecheck. Once a team starts doing these small things well confidence grows as well as scoring chances.

Same lineups tonight, except Nitty gets the start against the Coyotes, and Mikael Tellqvist will be between the pipes for Phoenix. Keep your eye on Olli Jokinen. The ugliest man in the NHL can score goals with the best of them, and he'll be generating offense for Gretzky's club all night. Kyle Turris is also on the ice, and we here at FGSB will be watching the young phenom with a critical eye. He hasn't shown a lot of ability to score yet this year, but we bet he'll be right in the middle of the action tonight. Peter Mueller is a threat, and I wouldn't be suprised if he finds his name on the scoresheet. Dude has a shot that's nastier than my coldsore. Phoenix has a bunch of young players, tough vets, and tonight has all the making for a full throttle tilt.

I'd love to see Carcillo drop the gloves...probably against Gratton. Of the few people who I think "Man, I wish that guy wore Orange and Black..." With Carcillo, he'd be a fan favorite, in no time. Also on the ice tonight is the Fridge. Philly fans know Todd Fedoruk. He was fun to watch for a few years, but he's just a joke. His face is made of glass and he didn't contribute at all really. While he did provide some leadership, I think the best thing that happened to the Fridge is that he got sober with Holmgren's help. I could see Asham turn him into miso soup tonight.

Jeff Carter is on a tear, as is Gagne. I'd love these two to keep lightin' the lamp and look for them to keep the win streak alive. I could see a dirty Metro goal tonight, the dude deserves one. A Richards PP goal wouldn't be out of the question either. This is a game the Flyers should win, tired or not, as they are a better team than the Coyotes. They should win....if they play the way they've been playing. I predict a high scoring game with multiple fights, lots of crab fries eaten, lots of laughing at Steve Coates, and the win streak to keep going. Let's go Flyers.