Flyers' Claude Giroux: 'We circled this game a long time ago'

DETROIT --Claude Giroux's voice was quiet, but it oozed of excitement as he sat by his locker following the team's morning skate Wednesday at Joe Louis Arena.

Tonight, Giroux's Flyers will face Detroit in the teams' most important game of the season.

"We circled this game a long time ago, and now the day is today, so it's a good feeling," said Giroux, the Flyers' captain and leading scorer with 66 points. "You get butterflies a little bit; you know how big this game is. But by the end of the day, we just have to go play our game and just enjoy the game."

Added Giroux: "If we put too much pressure on ourselves, that's when we're not going to follow how we want to play. We've been playing the right way the last few months here, so we know what we have to do."

Both teams control their own destinies. Both are barely in playoff positions. Both know their post-season spots would improve significantly with a victory tonight.

"Right now, we're in a position we wanted to be three months ago," Giroux said. "Because we're in this position, we need to enjoy it and play the way we (can)."

Detroit defenseman Mike Green said it's "imperative we win" and added that "we've put ourselves in a good position here."

Giroux and most Flyers said they watched Boston's 2-1 shootout loss to Carolina on Tuesday. They know it helped their playoff chances (see story). They also know they can't depend on other teams. They need to take care of business themselves.

"It's a tight race; we're aware of that," Giroux said. "We need to be clutch here."

If the Flyers go 2-1-1 the rest of the way, they are in the playoffs, regardless of what the other contenders do.

Should they beat Detroit in regulation, they could clinch a playoff spot by defeating Toronto at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.

Winger Brayden Schenn said the players are excited to get tonight's game underway.

"We all know what's at stake with not many games left," he said. "Playing in this building against a good Detroit team, everyone is looking forward to it. Everyone seems focused and guys are ready to get 'er going."

The key to beating Detroit for the third straight time this season?

"For our team, when we play down low, we're most effective," said Schenn, who has a career-high 25 goals. "So I guess taking care of pucks and keeping it simple. We don't want to start a track meet with these guys; they're pretty quick up front and they have a lot of skill. For us, we have to try and play a grinding style of hockey and try to grind them down like that."

Detroit defenseman Mike Green said the Flyers bring a hard forecheck and lots of energy.

"If we can control the game with our speed and sort of dictate in that sense, we'll be just fine," Green said.

Detroit winger Gustav Nyquist said the Flyers had too much possession time in their two previous meetings.

"We haven't had our best games against them," he said. "I think when we're at our best, we manage the puck well; we don't turn it over in the neutral zone. That's when we get in trouble when teams like the Flyers create turnovers. They come flying at you. We just have to control the neutral zone and try to spend as much time in their end as possible."

In the first period of their last meeting, the Flyers outshot the Wings, 22-3, and built a 2-0 lead en route to a 4-3 win at the Wells Fargo Center on March 15.

"I don't think we came out skating hard," Nyquist said. "We'll be at home here and we'll make sure we're ready from the start."

Goalie matchup. Steve Mason will make his 15th start in the last 16 games -- and 10th in a row -- and will be opposed by Detroit's Jimmy Howard.

Mason has excelled during the Flyers' 13-4-2 surge. Overall, he is 22-18-9 with a 2.53 goals-against average and .918 save percentage. In his career against the Red Wings, Mason is 12-11-2 with a 2.76 GAA and .919 save percentage.

Howard struggled during the midseason but has won his last three starts. He is 13-12-5 with a 2.81 GAA and .906 save percentage.

Howard has shaky career numbers against the Flyers: 2-3, 4.09 GAA, .877 save percentage.

Mason said his excitement level for tonight's game isn't much different than recent contests "because every game in the last couple months has been so meaningful for us. Because we are getting down to the wire, this might seem like it has more meaning, but I'm just trying to treat it as another game -- and a valuable two points up for grabs."

"We've worked hard to get into this position, where we control what happens toward the end of the season," Mason added. "It's not going to be easy to get in, but at least we're in a position where we know it's up to us."

MacDonald update. Andrew MacDonald, who had his head slammed into the boards in Sunday's 6-2 loss in Pittsburgh, took part in the morning skate and said he was ready to go.

"We wanted to see how it felt after another skate this morning, and it felt fine," he said.

The two days off between games did wonders for him, MacDonald said. He also said it gave the team a much-needed break heading into a stretch in which they finish the season with four games in five nights.

"I think it let everyone rest up a little bit, mentally and physically," MacDonald said. "We had a good couple days to clear our minds from the Pittsburgh game and kind of reset."

Barring a setback, he will be in the lineup tonight and be paired with Shayne Gostisbehere.

"His health looks good right now," coach Dave Hakstol said.

Breakaways. Detroit, which is trying to make the playoffs for the 25th straight season, has at least one PP goal in eight consecutive games....Hakstol: "We want to go out and play a good road game, play our game, and do it with consistency for 60 minutes."....Giroux has 37 points in his last 37 games....The Red Wings have been involved in an NHL-high 46 one-goal games. They are 27-8-11 in those games; the Flyers are 21-7-13 in one-goal decisions...The game starts at 8 p.m. on the NBCSN.