Lineup changes; Homecoming
Peter Laviolette made a few more lineup changes this morning, plus Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen return to Nashville for the first time since being traded to the Flyers in 2007.
Lineup changes; Homecoming
NASHVILLE – After getting burnt at Madison Square Garden on Sunday with his lineup against the Rangers, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said he will re-insert forward Darroll Powe back into the lineup for tonight’s game against the Predators.
That means Riley Cote will be back in street clothes for the 34th time in 35 games.
Arron Asham will remain in the lineup, leaving skilled forward Ville Leino – who has contributed to the top lines in his handful of games with the Flyers – will be out as a healthy scratch again.
Here are the expected lines for tonight’s matchup:
Hartnell – Carter – Briere
Gagne – Richards – Carcillo
Asham – Giroux – Van Riemsdyk
Powe – Betts - Laperriere
Laviolette said the defensive pairings will remain the same as this weekend. Michael Leighton is back in goal for his 15th straight start.
Scott Hartnell was all smiles at this morning’s skate at the Bridgestone Arena. He was greeted by Nashville coach Barry Trotz and a host of team employees. Hartnell skated in Nashville for 6 full seasons before being traded to the Flyers as a restricted free agent in the summer of 2007.
Hartnell came with former Nashville defenseman Kimmo Timonen in that deal for a 1st round pick.
This is both Timonen and Hartnell’s first game back in Nashville since then. Both players led Nashville to their best season in franchise history (51 wins, 110 points) in 2006-07.
“Being here at the rink this morning, there were just a lot of great memories and a lot of big wins,” Hartnell said. “It was a lot of fun. Just being on the ice, and see some of the other guys on the other team [at their skate] was a little weird. Hopefully we can have a big win and have some fun here.”
Hartnell broke out of his 13-game goal scoring slump last Saturday against Chicago and was one of the Flyers’ more up-tempo players in a brutal loss Sunday in New York.
Predators fans were excited to see Hartnell, too, hanging outside of the arena waiting for an autograph on a life-size cutout (picture: http://twitpic.com/18yvj3).
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter (http://twitter.com/DNFlyers).
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Can we please start benching Hartnell for A.C. Slaternen.— taintaugustine- ninanoodle is right. leino should be in and asham or hartnell out. i like ash's work ethic but leino would add skill and scoring touch to a lineup that certainly could use it.— canflyfan
- " . . . lot of big wins" in Nashville? Have I been following a different NHL entirely? Also, seriously, Leino's playing way better than both Asham and Hartnell right now--put him in until he shows that he's as much of a liability as those two are at the moment.— MaC130
- Minor error in your article: Hartnell was an unrestricted free agent when he was traded to Philly, not restricted.— davemoosehead
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- So Hartnell scores 1 goal and he gets put right back on the Carter line and PP unit again? The team really needs to separate the off ice nice guy from the fat, out of shape, chocolate milk drinking in the locker room turd he is on the ice. At least Powe's back in the lineup again, what's our record this season when Powe is out? I still don't understand why he wasn't in the Rangers game knowing they were going to need a presence along the boards. Leino-Carter-JVR Gagne-Richards-Carcillo Hartnell-Giroux-Briere Powe-Betts-Laperriere— punkrockdiva81
- Can someone hit Peter Laviolette over the head so he will see that Ville Leino SHOULD BE PLAYING!!! In the few games he has played Ville has made positive contributions. MAYBE, just maybe hair-man Hartnell will "show up" and play tonight since he's playing against his old team...but I highly doubt it! I'll still be watching because that's what a real fan does!!!— NinaNoodle
While I would not put them up against a true heavyweight, yeah Carcillo, Asham or Hartnel can handle Avery just fine.— flyler- They should have cut Cote in the beginning of the year. What is Carcillo's job on the team anyway? I thought he was the fighter on the team and was suppose to deal with the likes of Avery and all them other tough guys on other teams. Paul get rid of the freakin goons and put together a faster hockey club.— engineeringagr8tdrive
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- Should never have put Cote back into the lineup to begin with. This is the second time they've expected retaliation for something and Avery has burned them... learn a lesson and just put your head down and shoot the puck and you'll be fine.— xphile101
- glad to see ash in there, 8th goal tonite?— SD doug
- That's the thing about hockey, it's insane. =0— flyler
- Can someone remind Peter Laviolette that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result each time.— Rantastic
- Can someone remind Peter Laviolette that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result each time.— Rantastic
- seeing that / young / pic of Hartnell . . . priceless : )— ingy9
- Gawd they stink!— JohnnyN
