IS STOCKPILING DEFENSEMEN
LONDON, Ontario _ After they dropped a 4-0 decision to Toronto Thursday night, the Flyers are 0-2 in the preseason and have been outscored, 7-1. Don’t panic. It’s the preseason. Teams are tinkering with combinations, experimenting with rookies. That said, the Flyers are getting into a habit that was their downfall last season: Too many undisciplined penalties. They allowed Detroit seven power-play opportinites in Wednesday’s 3-1 loss; they allowed the Maple Leafs eight power plays in Thursday's 4-0 defeat. On the bright side, the Flyers have not surrendered a power-play goal in 15 chances, though the Leafs scored one goal Thursday just after a penalty had expired. “I actually thought the effort was a lot better tonight,” said coach John Stevens, adding he was concerned by some of the penalties. “Overall, I thought the guys worked a lot harder tonight. I felt we did some better things as far as puck pursuit, but we need the number of penalties to come down, for sure.” General manager Paul Holmgren said he was impressed with the play of Blair Betts _ who has the inside track on the fourth-center spot _ and rookie left winger James van Riemsdyk. “Blair has played pretty well both games, and James has, too. The list isn’t very long,” Holmgren said. After four fights Thursday, the Flyers and new-look Leafs will play again Saturday in Toronto.
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