Posted: Friday, February 10, 2012, 12:24 PM | 18 comments |
 

Bob likely to face Rangers
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Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky will likely start against the Rangers on Saturday. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)

   Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, fighting off the flu, missed Friday's practice and likely will be sidelined for Saturday's key game against the visiting New York Rangers.

    Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to get the start against the Rangers, who are 4-0 against the Flyers this season.

    GM Paul Holmgren did not rule out Bryzgalov playing on Saturday.

    "He's feeling better," Holmgren said, adding he will know more on Saturday morning.

    Still, it's a long shot that Bryzgalov plays. He has not practiced in two days and figures to be weakened by the aftereffects of the flu.

     The Rangers have outscored the Flyers, 14-6.

     “Even though they’re a great team, I still believe we can beat them," Flyers winger Jaromir Jagr, a former Ranger, said after practice.

     The last two meetings have been tight. The Flyers blew a 2-0 lead and dropped a 3-2 decision in the Winter Classic on Jan. 2. In the Rangers 5-2 win last Sunday, the game was tied at 2-2 early in the third period.

    Here's a sobering stat for Flyers fans: Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is 4-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .949 save percentage against the Orange and Black this season.

    * * *

   Jason Bacashihua, recalled from the Phantoms on Thursday, replaced Bryzgalov at practice.

   * * *

   The Flyers practiced shootout drills against Bobrovsky on Friday. They are 1-5 in shootouts this season and an NHL-worst 20-39 in franchise history.

    * * *

    After sitting out Thursday's morning skate, winger James van Riemsdyk returned to practice. Afterward, he admitted to feeling in a fog as he recovers from a concussion.

   * * *

   Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.
Posted by Sam Carchidi @ 12:24 PM  Permalink | 18 comments
18
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:08 PM, 02/10/2012
    Since the days of 1st lacing up skates (at age 4!) and going one on one with your brother on a breakaway....all the way to the NHL and being one of a few professionally skilled hockey players in the world....it continues to confound me that this team cannot sink a breakaway (shootout shot) to save their lives.....what confounds me even more is the fact that our goalies who have played one on one growing up and on every level (even just kidding around in practices) can't stop a shot during a shootout. Practice? Practice? Should they really have to practice this? It's fundamental! Put the puck past the goalie! Stop the puck if you are the goalie! How can one become an NHL player making millions of dollars if you can't do these simple fundamental things?
    — Mark1npt
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:15 PM, 02/10/2012
    The flu virus. Soooo tiiiiny. You can't even begin to think about how small this is. Compared to a virus, people are huMANGous! But something so tiny can still make us so sick! (Raise eyebrows)
    — TongueWagger
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:20 PM, 02/10/2012
    Bryz has the Rangers Flu!
    — robynk
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:23 PM, 02/10/2012
    JVR continues to milk his alleged concussion until after the trade deadline. He is really tying Holmgrens hands as the deadline approaches
    — Mottz
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:38 PM, 02/10/2012
    hey Mark, no shootouts in the playoffs. Relax!
    — seaonasdad
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:56 PM, 02/10/2012
    @sdad...I know that, still it's humiliating that a team of professionals are so inept, and I mean INEPT at it. And let's not forget that with as many shootouts as they lose in a season, those points that are lost may sometimes be the difference in not even making the playoffs. Hence, the importance of winning more of them....or at the very least, not humiliating yourself even more.

    Teams will strategize in the last 10 minutes of a game to get us to overtime, not even try to score during the overtime, unless Carle coughs it up in the crease right to them....and try to get us into a shootout, knowing they'll kick our rears. I suspect a few teams have done that already this year as I watch games unfold.
    — Mark1npt
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:38 PM, 02/10/2012
    I didn't notice Matt Carle at all last game...thankfully!
    — dismonkey
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:53 PM, 02/10/2012
    Im no doctor but you would think if JVR is still "in a fog" he probably shouldnt be skating or practicing.
    — shanehockey28
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:00 PM, 02/10/2012
    According to Sam: "Here's a sobering stat for Flyers fans: Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is 4-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .949 save percentage against the Orange and Black this season."

    According to me: Here's a sobering stat for Rangers fans: IN THE PLAYOFFS, Lundqvist's career numbers look like this: .909 save percentage, 2.60 GAA, 15 wins and 20 losses, 3 shutouts in 35 appearances, and he has not taken the Rangers past the 2nd round in 5 attempts. To put those numbers in perspective, our minor-league goalie (Leighton) has better career NHL playoff numbers in ALL of those categories.

    Don't count us out just quite yet.
    — snipesmorris
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:50 PM, 02/10/2012
    Oh, yeah. Leaky is great in the playoffs! Watch him in action vs the Sabres:

    Leaky tries to poke-check the puck into the corner, but hits it right to Thomas Vanek instead. Then Vanek banks the puck off Leaky's body right into the Flyers' net:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtaEthqdp3U&feature=related

    More Leaky playoff excellence: The Hawks' Dave Bolland humiliates Leighton, right through the 5 hole:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-5vOq7ScXI
    — FlyerFan4Life
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:08 AM, 02/11/2012
    As much as I hate to admit it, I actually wasted the time to view your youtube links. A guy can rip Leighton for a lot of things, but giving up goals on breakaways and rebounds isn't exactly unique to him. Now I wasted my time making this post.
    — icarus
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:41 AM, 02/11/2012
    I still can't stop laughing at Snipes' latest post.
    He actually infers that Leaky is a better playoff goalie than Lundqvist. Has to be the dumbest post ever. Leaky has won exactly one playoff series in his entire career - against the number 8 seeded Canadiens. As soon as he faced a decent team in the next round he was lit up like a Christmas tree by the Hawks. And if anybody doubted that Leaky is a total playoff loser and choker he again showed playoff worth against the Sabres last season when he gave up a goal on Buffalo's very first shot, then 2 more first period softees before being pulled for the third time in his last 7 playoff starts.
    — FlyerFan4Life
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:09 PM, 02/10/2012
    Can we please win one, just one, against the Rangers??? They have owned us. Supply each player with earphones and pipe in Metallica prior to going on the ice. Can't but help.
    — dogman5
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:49 PM, 02/10/2012
    Many Rangers fans have been unable to watch any Rangers games since January 1. Msg network is in a battle with Time warner cable over rate increase. I have center ice package but still cant watch any Rangers Devils or Islanders games because they are blacked out. Rangers , Islanders, Knicks, Devils fans dont do squat. Philly fans would not go down without a fight.
    — NYPHILLYPHAN
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:21 AM, 02/11/2012
    Ive had three concussions One after I flew off a on ramp at 100kph from what I was told I flew 17ft in the air and went 40ish feet didn't break a single bone..anyways concussions are f!@#t they are not like any injury I have had there is nothing you can do but wait and eat lots of vegetables and stay in a quiet environment I've been stabbed before and it was sooo much easier to recover from that even though it was in my chest!!! good luck jvr and anyone else suffering from it...I found meditation and tai chi helped
    — tophillyfan


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About Sam Carchidi
Sam Carchidi is in his fourth year as the Flyers' beat reporter. He became an Inquirer staff writer in 1984 and covered mostly South Jersey high school sports and the Phillies before taking the Flyers beat.

Carchidi has written three books _ the nationally acclaimed Miracle in the Making: The Adam Taliaferro Story, which he co-authored with Scott Brown; Bill Campbell: The Voice of Philadelphia Sports; and Standing Tall: The Kevin Everett Story, which was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. He also contributed to a 1993 Inquirer book on the Phillies.

A lifelong South Jersey resident, Carchidi lives in Wenonah with his wife, JoAnn, and their two children, Sara and Sammy.

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