Philadelphia Flyers Daily Clips – March 18, 2014

FLYERS Headlines

1. Philadelphia Inquirer – It gets tougher: Blackhawks next for Flyers 2. Philadelphia Inquirer – The roots of Mason's success 3. Philadelphia Daily News – Frequent Flyers: Flyers' playoff probabilities 4. CSNPhilly.com – Special teams key in Flyers' weekend sweep of Pens 5. CSNPhilly.com – Flyers continue to show their best vs. Penguins 6. Bucks County Courier Times – Avoiding letdown first order of business 7. Bucks County Courier Times – Technology socking it to skate-cut injuries 8. Camden Courier-Post – Flyers' Giroux part of MVP consideration 9. HockeyBuzz.com – Flyers Gameday: 3/18/14 vs. Chicago 10. HockeyBuzz.com – Meltzer's Musings: Relentlessness and Resiliency 11. Philly.com – Flyers have turned themselves into a team no one wants to play

Chicago Blackhawks Headlines (FLYERS opponent today)

1. Chicago Tribune – Tuesday's matchup: Blackhawks at Flyers 2. Chicago Tribune – Hawks' Saad doesn't make Philadelphia trip 3. Chicago Tribune – Blackhawks' Kris Versteeg is where he wants to be 4. Chicago Sun-Times – Injured Brandon Saad misses trip to Philadelphia 5. Chicago Sun-Times – Bryan Bickell still has time to redeem underwhelming season Flyers Cup Headlines

1. Philadelphia Inquirer – La Salle comes back to beat Prep for Class AAA Flyers Cup 2. Bucks County Courier Times – CB South & Souderton to Meet in Flyers Cup Final 3. GametimePA.com – ICE HOCKEY: La Salle rallies to edge St. Joseph's Prep in OT to win Flyers Cup NHL Headlines

1. NHL.com – Bruins beat Wild for ninth win in a row 2. NHL.com – Lightning hold off Canucks, win third straight 3. NHL.com – Blues reach 100-point plateau with win vs. Jets 4. NHL.com – Halpern's late goal leads Coyotes past Kings 5. NHL.com – Daily Primer March 18: Roy returns to Montreal 6. NHL.com – Capitals F Brooks Laich expected to miss rest of regular season after groin muscle surgery 7. NHL.com – Leafs say goalie Bernier has groin strain, believed to be day-to-day 8. NHL.com – Penguins' Letang back at practice after stroke 9. NHL.com – Stars' Lehtonen appears set for return from concussion as team sends Nilstorp back to minors 10. NHL.com – Bobrovsky, Okposo, Niemi named 'Stars' of week 11. CBCsports.ca – 30 Thoughts: Changing odds in NHL draft lottery FLYERS Articles

1. Philadelphia Inquirer – It gets tougher: Blackhawks next for Flyers

Sam Carchidi

After dispatching the Metropolitan-leading Pittsburgh Penguins on consecutive weekend days, the Flyers face a healthier, more dangerous opponent Tuesday night, hosting the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. The task doesn't look as daunting because of the momentum built by the Flyers' 4-0 and 4-3 wins over a Pittsburgh team that was shorthanded because of injuries to five key players. "We need to keep going as a team and move forward," said defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who has eight points and is plus-6 in the seven games he has played since helping Finland win a bronze medal in the Olympics. "This weekend shows we can play with anyone if we play as a team and we work and every line is doing their job." The Blackhawks, who will be playing at the Wells Fargo Center for just the second time since they won the Stanley Cup there in 2010, lead the NHL with 231 goals. They have lost their last nine regular-season games in Philadelphia since 1996. Chicago (39-15-14) had lost six of its previous eight games before Marian Hossa collected a goal and two assists in its 4-1 win over Detroit on Sunday. Hossa had missed the previous five games with an undisclosed injury. The right winger "changes the complexion of our team game," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville told the Chicago Tribune. "We seem to have the puck a lot more when he's out there. It made a big difference having him back." Quenneville will be seeking his 700th career win Tuesday. Chicago, however, will be without versatile winger Brandon Saad (19 goals, plus-29), who was injured Sunday. Flyers goalie Steve Mason is expected to make his ninth straight start. In the wins over the weekend, the Flyers (35-25-7) kept the Penguins' scoring chances to a minimum. "Defense is going to be the key to our success for the rest of the year," winger Wayne Simmonds said. On Dec. 11, the Flyers were routed in Chicago, 7-2, as ex-Blackhawk Ray Emery allowed six goals on 18 shots and was yanked. Former Flyers Patrick Sharp (goal, two assists) and Kris Versteeg (goal, assist) aided the Blackhawks, who used a 5-1 second period to emphatically wipe out a 2-1 deficit. "The first period we played all right, and then in the second period they gave it to us," center Sean Couturier said. "That's past. That's behind us and we just have to focus on the next game and get a good start. "It's a good test to see where we are at." 2. Philadelphia Inquirer – The roots of Mason's success

Sam Carchidi

Walking rapidly toward the entrance of the Air Canada Centre, fans wearing blue and white Toronto Maple Leafs jerseys - van Riemsdyk, Clarkson, and Phaneuf were among the players' names on their backs - curiously eyed an oddly dressed couple that strolled alongside them. To Toronto fans, the couple looked strange because they were wearing orange, black, and white. Flyers colors.

The colors of the enemy. Finally, a man stopped the couple. "What are you doing wearing those jerseys?" he asked before a recent game. "They're the wrong color." "There were no blue ones left," replied the woman in a pleasant tone. The woman and her husband each wore No. 35 Flyers jerseys with "Mason" stitched on their backs, showing their allegiance to their son, Steve, the 25-year-old goalie whose performance down the stretch will help determine whether his team is playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs next month. Bill and Donna Mason live about 40 minutes outside of Toronto in Oakville, Ontario, in the house where they used to pepper their son with hard shots in their basement, in their garage, or on the pond behind their backyard. It was there that Steve Mason, then 9 years old, discovered just how much he would rather stop a puck than shoot one. "Always wanted to be a goalie. Wouldn't have had it any other way," said the easygoing, soft-spoken Mason, who was acquired from Columbus late last season. "When I was younger, I was fascinated by the position. You got to wear cool gear. You got a painted helmet. Those were the things that originally drew me to the position. I never had a favorite player when I was growing up; it was always a favorite goalie." Mason is built like his dad, a strapping 6-foot-4 man. When you look at Bill Mason, you think you understand where his son picked up his hockey talent. But it turns out Steve's love for hockey comes more from his petite mom, Donna. "My mom will tell you I got my ability from her," Steve said. While growing up in Montreal, Donna played highly competitive ringette hockey - a game played with a straight stick and a rubber ring - and was enamored with the sport that defines her country. "I was a huge hockey fan," said Donna Mason, who, along with her 27-year-old daughter, Melanie, will be at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday and Thursday to watch the Flyers face Chicago and Dallas, respectively. "Every Saturday night, we'd be at my aunt's house, watching Hockey Night in Canada and listening to Danny Gallivan. I was a big Montreal Canadiens fan. I'd keep scrapbooks of the games on who scored. I was big on goalies back then, like Ken Dryden. I wasn't thrilled when my son wanted to be a goalie because I didn't like the pressure." When Donna Mason watches her son on TV, "I'm at the back of the sofa when the game starts, but I keep inching up." She smiled. "It's like I'm helping him out, going back and forth" with her motions. It seems to have worked. Mason has played solidly for most of the season, regaining his form after some scuffling years in Columbus. Bill Mason, a commercial real estate salesman in the Toronto area, played many sports while growing up, but unlike most of his Canadian friends, hockey wasn't one of them. Doctors would not allow him to compete in

any contact sports after he was nearly killed while walking across the street and struck by a car when he was 6 years old. Returning home from school one day, Bill and another boy were at a crosswalk with a crossing guard. In an instant, Bill's life changed. "I got into a bit of a tussle with the boy," Bill Mason said. "He ran across the street and I chased him. He made it and I didn't." A car crashed into Bill. He broke his left leg, lost a kidney and his spleen, and spent six months in the hospital. Doctors said it would be too dangerous to play hockey or football. Undeterred, Bill Mason, whose father played hockey in college and coached in youth leagues, took part in basketball, volleyball, baseball and swimming in high school. Years later, he coached Steve in baseball and soccer. Steve also played hockey, and his dad would drive him to 6 a.m. practices. At first, the younger Mason played forward and defense. But in the back of his mind, he wanted to be a goaltender, wanted to emulate his idol, Martin Brodeur. "I didn't start out as a goalie, but I probably wouldn't have it any other way," Mason said. "I think when I eventually have kids, if they get into hockey, I'll put them out in a forward or a defenseman position just so they can learn to skate. Skating is such an important part of the position. To go right into goaltending, I think you fall behind in your skating." It may sound surprising, but Mason says a goalie's game "revolves around skating. In order for me to get from one position to another, it's not just a push. It's a technique that's involved and it all stems from skating." When he was a youngster, Mason made his position switch after getting a paper route and delivering the Oakville Beaver, using the money to buy goalie equipment. "Did it for probably nine years, and hated every day of it," Mason said. "I'd get paid really crappy money, but I wouldn't spend it on anything. I'd save up for a year and a half, two years, and I'd put every dime of that toward gear." Mason played goal in local leagues and worked his way up the ranks. By the time he was 16, he was playing for the Grimsby Peach Kings in a Junior C league. "He was 16 and playing against some guys 21," Bill Mason said. "I remember him saying, [incredulously] 'Dad, Some of these guys have beards!' " Mason excelled at every level, played for the OHL London Knights when he was 17, and was selected by Columbus in the third round of the 2006 draft. At 20, he was the Blue Jackets' starter and was named the league's rookie of the year. But he struggled in the next three-plus seasons and lost his job to ex-Flyer Sergei Bobrovsky. "His confidence wasn't there," said Donna Mason, who works in the finance department for a Ford dealership. Mason's parents have attended some of their son's games in Toronto, Buffalo and Detroit. They have also traveled to games in Columbus and, on occasion, to Philadelphia. Bill and his friends went to Montreal to watch a game, and Bill joined the other Flyers fathers for a game in Washington this season.

After a game at the Wells Fargo Center this season, the players' dads went down to the ice for a photo. "When you're down there at center ice and look up, you say, 'How can these guys function with 18,000 people looking at you?' " he said. His son is a focused sort. Which explains why he said "no thanks" when his dad offered to pick him up and bring him back home the night before the Flyers played in Toronto earlier this month. Mason stayed at the hotel with his teammates. His parents understood and met with him after the game. "Steven has his routine and we don't want to disrupt it," Bill Mason said. Mason has a much better rapport with his teammates and goalie coach Jeff Reese than the player he replaced, Ilya Bryzgalov. Getting out of Columbus seems to have revived him. "I don't know if the word is relieved," Bill Mason said, "but he needed a change of scenery." More Than Numbers Goalie Steve Mason is in the middle of the NHL pack in save percentage (2.57), but his value to the Flyers can better be measured by the manner in which he gave the team stability and confidence when it was struggling to get its offense untracked early in the season. GREAT START The 6-foot-4, 217-pound Mason was unquestionably the Flyers' MVP in the first half of the season. He kept them in games, always appeared in control, and he enabled the team to steady itself, learn coach Craig Berube's system, and blossom into a cohesive unit. OLYMPIC FALLOFF Mason has not been as sharp and has had some scrambling moments since the Olympic break ended, but he seems to have a knack for making big saves at crucial times. RACKING UP WINS Perhaps the best way to quantify Mason's value is this way: Despite not having a strong defense in front of him, Mason is sixth in the NHL in wins (28-16-6 record), and his .914 save percentage is virtually the same as that of Antti Niemi, who is tied for the league lead in victories (34) while playing for powerful San Jose, a team with a dominating group of blue liners. 3. Philadelphia Daily News – Frequent Flyers: Flyers' playoff probabilities

Frank Seravalli

168 days down. 27 to go. The Flyers enjoyed one of their few remaining days off of the season on Monday. It was a rather quiet day in the NHL, with only two games in the Eastern Conference having a very small impact on the Flyers’ playoff chances.

Nonetheless, Monday was one more day for the Flyers to savor their weekend sweep of the Penguins, which brought their playoff chances to a season-high. It’s a far cry from even late January, when their chances stood at just 27.2 percent after losing in Anaheim. That flavor will quickly dissipate today, though, as the Flyers get set to host the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks at 7:30 p.m. Aside from that Game 6 loss in the 2010 Stanley Cup final, Chicago has not won in Philadelphia since Nov. 9, 1996 - a streak of 11 wins (9 regular season, 2 playoff). The Blackhawks are far from the Flyers’ toughest test over these next four weeks. They still have to play each of the two Presidents Trophy contenders (St. Louis and Boston) twice. Monday’s opponent, Los Angeles, recently ran off 8 straight wins. Plus, Columbus and the Rangers are fighting for their playoff lives. So, yes, the Flyers have a little wiggle room after a 4-point weekend. But they are far from out of the woods. Here is a look at where the Flyers stand: > Flyers (35-25-7) have an 83 percent playoff probability heading into game against Chicago. They can increase that figure to 89.6 percent with a win. (SportsClubStats.com) > Flyers are 1 point ahead of the Rangers with 2 games in-hand. They are also 3 points up, with 2 games in-hand, on Washington for the final playoff position. > Flyers’ most likely playoff position (36 percent) is 2nd place in the Metropolitan division. Next most likely is 3rd place in the Metro (30 percent) and they have an 11 percent shot at the second wild card spot, which would match them up against the top seed in the Eastern Conference. (SportsClubStats.com) > There are 15 games left in the regular season and a total of 30 points up for grabs. What are the Flyers’ chances depending on record? (SportsClubStats.com) 20 points (9-4-2, 10-5-0, 8-3-4) or better: Guaranteed in 19 points (9-5-1, 8-4-3): 100 percent 18 points (8-5-2, 9-6-0, 7-4-4): 100 percent 17 points (8-6-1, 7-5-3, 6-4-5): 99.8 percent 16 points (7-6-2, 8-7-0, 6-5-4): 98.5 percent 15 points (7-7-1, 6-6-3): 93.9 percent 14 points (6-7-2, 7-8-0, 5-6-4): 80.8 percent 13 points (6-8-1, 5-7-3): 61 percent 12 points (5-8-2, 6-9-0, 4-7-4): 35.9 percent 11 points (5-9-1, 4-8-3): 18 percent 10 points (4-9-2, 5-10-0): 7.3 percent 9 points (4-10-1): 2.2 percent 8 points (3-10-2): 0.5 percent 7 points (3-11-1): Out > Most likely record, based on games played and remaining strength of schedule, is 7-6-2, giving the Flyers more points and a 98.5 percent shot. Who doesn’t like those odds? (SportsClubStats.com) > The Flyers’ most likely first round opponent: Columbus (38.1 percent), followed by Rangers (21.4 percent), Boston (10.4 percent), and Pittsburgh (6.7 percent). Enjoy the games.

4. CSNPhilly.com – Special teams key in Flyers' weekend sweep of Pens

Tim Panaccio

When you’re facing the No. 1-ranked power play and penalty kill during a two-game weekend series, it’s pretty safe to suggest that special teams will make a difference. That’s where the Flyers came up with a gargantuan effort in sweeping the Penguins this weekend, 4-0 on Saturday at home and 4-3 on Sunday at CONSOL Energy Center. Wayne Simmonds had two power-play goals Sunday while Matt Read, who scored three goals overall, had shorthanded goals, one in each game. Simmonds has 12 power-play goals and 20 power play points this season and is among the league leaders. Read’s shorthanded goal in the second period Sunday was the game-winner and actually gave the Flyers a 4-2 lead at the time. The Flyers' penalty kill units were a perfect 9 for 9 in two games while their power play went 3 for 7. Was there something the Flyers saw in Pittsburgh’s power play they could exploit? “Nothing really,” Read said. “They have the No. 1 power play in the league. It was just about taking time and space away from them. Getting in the right lanes, put your sticks in the right positions. Our whole penalty kill unit did a very good job this weekend. We didn’t give them time to make plays and it caused a couple turnovers and breaks the other way.” The Flyers were far more aggressive attacking the Penguins' PK box than Pittsburgh was in attacking the Flyers. Coming into the weekend, the Flyers were 12th in power play and ninth in penalty killing. “Power play, penalty kill, very good again,” said coach Craig Berube. “Lots of shots, lots of chances. We played a real strong game.” Their PK shut down Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Neither had a point in both games. “It gives us momentum and the guys have done a great job at it,” Berube said, crediting Ian Laperriere’s work on the PK and Joey Mullen on the power play. “They’ve got real good sticks right now, blocking shots.” He too said the two shorthanded goals in both games wasn’t because Lappy spied something on film. “No, you just do a good job, they get a break and they’re attacking the other way,” he said. “That’s all it was. We had a couple 2 on 1s. It’s nice when we’re doing that and not getting a 2 on 1 the other way.” Sean Couturier logged 11:37 shorthanded ice time on the PK in both games. Partner Matt Read logged 8:08 in both games. “Lappy did a good job video scouting,” Couturier said. “We were well prepared. We did the right little things, like putting our sticks in passing lanes and taking away shots. Overall, it was a very good week for special teams, even the power play.” Simmonds lauded the PK units.

“Unfortunately, we take a lot of penalties,” he said. “Our PK has been top five to 10 the last three years. Those guys work their butts off every game. They give us a chance to win every night.” 5. CSNPhilly.com – Flyers continue to show their best vs. Penguins

Tim Panaccio

It’s a question people have been wondering about for a couple of years now with no real consensus as to an answer. Have the Flyers gotten into the Pittsburgh Penguins' heads? No matter how good the Penguins have been over the past three seasons, they can’t seem to beat the Flyers. That's been especially the case in Pittsburgh where the Flyers are now 8-1-1 during the regular season since CONSOL Energy Center opened. The Flyers swept the Pens in a home & home series over the weekend. “I think playoffs are a little different than the regular season,” said Matt Read, who had three goals –- two shorthanded -- in the two victories, Saturday and Sunday. “When you win back-to-back games here on the same weekend, it’s got to be something in the back of your mind when we would play them [if we met] in the playoffs.” Goalie Steve Mason wasn’t around when all of this began during the 2011 season but he has an opinion. “I know the boys in this dressing room love playing against them,” Mason said. “Whether we’re in their head or not, we don’t really care. “We get paid to play against them. It’s a fun game to be part of. We’re just happy about [getting] four points.” Defenseman Kimmo Timonen said going into this stretch of 12 games against playoff contenders that success would begin and end on how the Flyers were skating against the up-tempo Penguins. Outside of a poor second period in Sunday’s game where the Flyers were back-peddling after letting up on Pittsburgh, the Flyers pretty much owned the other five periods of hockey that were played. Coach Craig Berube got his biggest boost from his special teams where Ian Laperriere’s penalty killers were 9 for 9 while Joey Mullen’s power play units went 3 for 7. “The past two days, especially today, special teams, theirs were really good,” Pens defenseman Matt Niskanen observed. “And ours weren't.” Mind you, Pittsburgh was No. 1 in the NHL in both power play and penalty kill efficiency. “We’re moving the right direction and it’s not easy to get four points out of this weekend,” Timonen said. “We all know that. “The way we’ve been playing, every line, and Mase playing well, when we skate and play like that, these last two games, we’re a hard team to play against. We’re going to win a lot of games. The way we started the games, it was perfect.

“I don’t know if it was them being slow or we were so much quicker. The two power play goals in the first period helped.” Wayne Simmonds scored both power play goals Timonen referenced in the second game as part of a 3-0 first-period explosion. “We play Pittsburgh a ton of games a year,” Simmonds said. “Our power play has been successful since I’ve been here against them, anyway. We’ve done a good job against them. We kinda know where they’re going to come from. “I don’t want to say we pick them apart, but we know where they are going to come from and we change our point of attack. It seems to be working.” In their heads? “I don’t know, they’re a great team,” Simmonds replied. “You can never discount anyone in this league. But we seem to play our best hockey against them, it seems.” Sean Couturier continued to add to his reputation as a prolific shutdown centerman, holding Sidney Crosby to zero points in consecutive games, something that hasn’t happened before from the Flyers’ standpoint. “We seem to always bring our A-game and play really well against them,” Couturier said. “There’s a lot of emotions out there and they are fun games to play.” And something to keep in mind in case these two teams meet again when it really matters most -- in the playoffs. 6. Bucks County Courier Times – Avoiding letdown first order of business

Wayne Fish

While they might be feeling good about themselves after a sweep of the mighty Penguins, the Flyers know big emotional victories are usually followed by a visit to Letdown City. In this case, they don’t even get a chance to bring their “B” game to the following contest, since the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks hit town on Tuesday night. Everything went the Flyers’ way over the weekend. Their special teams play was spotless, overpowering Pittsburgh both on the penalty kill and power play. They committed few turnovers, scored some shorthanded goals of their own and served notice that their “A’’ game can be a challenge for anybody. It might be stating the obvious but the Flyers know they have to keep playing this brand of hockey to ensure a playoff spot a month from now. “We enjoyed this (Pittsburgh sweep) but now we have to focus on (Tuesday),’’ Kimmo Timonen said. “We have to play a really solid team game.’’ The Flyers do have one thing going for them: The Blackhawks haven’t won a regular-season game in Philadelphia since Nov. 9, 1996 (nine-game losing streak).

There’s still that little matter of Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup finals, but the Flyers would rather forget about that one. As for regular-season play, some might say the ‘Hawks are due. To prevent the streak from ending, the Flyers might have to rely on some of the home-cooked hockey which has now produced a record of 17-5-1 since Nov. 7. “The last game (a 7-2 loss in Chicago on Dec. 11) we played them we didn’t do too good,’’ Sean Couturier pointed out. “It’s a good test for us to see where we’re at. It’s tight for a playoff spot – we just want to try to get points every night.’’ The Blackhawks began the season running neck and neck with Anaheim but injuries and some spotty play have conspired to drop Chicago all the way to third in the Central Division behind St. Louis and Colorado. But they’re still a dangerous bunch. /n Mason on a roll: Aside from the San Jose game on Feb. 27, Steve Mason’s goaltending has been strong. He’s played in all eight games since the Olympic break (5-2-1) and Berube doesn’t sound like he’s going to backup Ray Emery (recovered from a lower body injury) any time soon. “We’ll get a read on him (Mason),’’ Berube said. “Ray’s ready to go and that’s a plus.’’ Emery started the Dec. 11 game and gave up six goals on 18 shots in 41 minutes. Mason said he isn’t tired. Having a couple weeks off in February rejuvenated his play. “I feel great, that’s what the Olympic break was for,’’ Mason said. “There are games with two-, three-day breaks in between. There’s been time to rest. Now it’s just a matter of managing my time off.’’ Emery has been available since last Saturday so now each game is a coach’s decision. Flyers Tuesday What: Chicago Blackhawks at Flyers. When: 7:35. Where: Wells Fargo Center. TV/Radio: CSN/97.5-FM. Season series: Chicago leads, 1-0. What to watch: Claude Giroux continues to roll along. His two assists on Sunday moved him into the NHL’s top five in scoring and since Dec. 11 he is the league’s leading point-getter. . .For the Blackhawks, winger Brandon Saad (upper body injury, doubtful) is the only notable scratch. . .The Flyers have been improving in special teams, especially the penalty kill, which stopped Pittsburgh cold (0 for 9) over the weekend and produced two shorthanded goals.

7. Bucks County Courier Times – Technology socking it to skate-cut injuries

Wayne Fish

Nearly all skate-cut leg/foot injuries, such as the one that nearly ended Flyer prospect Eric Wellwood’s career, could be reduced in terms of severity or avoided outright with one simple precaution. Cut-proof socks. According to one Flyer, you would need a saw with a very sharp blade to cut through these Kevlar-reinforced critters. More and more NHL players are jumping on board after seeing semi-catastrophic injuries to players such as Wellwood and Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson, who suffered a season-ending severed Achilles tendon two years ago. The United States men’s Olympic hockey team recently wore the socks in Sochi. And a number of Flyers have put them on, including Wayne Simmonds, Mark Streit, Andrew MacDonald and the Schenn brothers, Luke and Brayden. The odds against getting hit in the back of the leg or skate aren’t as high as you might think. Simmonds said he got nailed several times before adding the socks to his equipment arsenal last year. “I put them on last year after I saw what happened to Karlsson,’’ Simmonds said the other day. “That was pretty scary. “Sometimes you don’t even think twice about things like that. You’re not even thinking about it, it’s just socks. But when something that bad happens, it brings it to your attention. “You wear as much equipment as you can to keep your body from getting harmed like that.’’ The socks only cost about $28, several companies make them so there’s a wide variety of “fits’’ and they feel pretty much like regular socks. So why would anybody not wear them? Going without the socks makes about as much sense as playing without a protective cup. Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration but you get the idea. “There’s been a couple times when I’ve been stepped on,’’ said Simmonds, who plays about as rugged a brand of hockey as you will find in Philadelphia. “I’ve been kicked by a skate. I think they (the socks) have helped a lot.’’ Wellwood, playing for the Adirondack Phantoms in April, 2013, had to be rushed to a local hospital after one of his own skates sliced into his foot, sending a stream of blood flying out of his skate. Only quick action by medical personnel prevented the incident from escalating into a life-threatening situation. If that didn’t get everyone’s attention, nothing will. “I know I’ve been hit by skates before (while wearing the socks) and come out unscathed,’’ Simmonds said. “So it’s been good.’’

Simmonds said he managed to dodge any serious cut injuries in junior but that he witnessed several bad accidents which he filed away in his memory. No doubt that played into the decision to wear the socks. “They (company reps) did a demonstration and with the normal socks, the skate cuts right through like butter,’’ Simmonds said. “With these, you have to literally try and saw the sock in half to break through.’’ Makers of the socks employ the same technology used in Kevlar body armor for law enforcement officials. Bullet-proof vests have save countless lives. Flyers head athletic trainer/strength and conditioning coach Jim McCrossin says he encourages players to wear the socks but the decision is still up to the players. “They ask me my opinion and I tell them,’’ McCrossin said. “But you know hockey players are creatures of habit. To break a habit is tough. “But when you see an injury like Wellwood’s, which was horrific, you want to give the athlete all the information you can and make sure they know the product is out there to help avoid an injury.’’ Equipment managers Derek Settlemyre and Harry Bricker also make sure the younger players are aware of the product. According to McCrossin, if Wellwood had been wearing the socks, he probably still would have been injured but not to the severity he was without them. McCrossin said Flyers prospect goalie Anthony Stolarz wasn’t wearing the socks when he suffered a severe skate cut on his leg a few months ago. “But,’’ said McCrossin with a bit of a sarcastic chuckle, “he is now.’’ 8. Camden Courier-Post – Flyers' Giroux part of MVP consideration

Dave Isaac

From way back in his crease, goalie Steve Mason can tell when Claude Giroux’s going to have a big game. Recently, he has had that feeling a lot. The Flyers’ captain has five points in his last three games, including a pair of assists in each of the weekend wins over the Pittsburgh Penguins. “The intensity in his game, I find, is second to nobody in the entire NHL,” Mason said. “You know that when he’s got that look in his eye, I wouldn’t want to be the other goaltender because he’s gonna do everything he can to put the puck by you. He’s proving why he’s making a case for the Hart (Trophy) and top player in the world.” The Hart Trophy is given to the NHL’s “player judged most valuable to his team” as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.

By that literal definition, perhaps no one is more deserving than the Flyers’ second-year captain. Giroux, 26, leads the NHL in points since Dec. 11 and has absolutely been the team’s catalyst to overcoming a 1-7 start to the season. “We definitely struggled as a team the first 10, but he’s been confident,” said Scott Hartnell, Giroux’s linemate. “He’s been leading us on and off the ice and just been fun to play with. Every game he’s excited to play and he’s got that fire in his eye. It’s great to be a linemate of him and teammate of him.” Hartnell can also tell when Giroux turns it into overdrive, usually an hour and a half before the game has begun. It becomes especially evident with how competitive Giroux gets in pregame diversions of two-touch soccer and H-O-R-S-E. “You look at him,” Hartnell said. “Sometimes you can tell he’s already intense and he’s already thinking about plays and the power play and that kind of stuff. He’s been our best player. When he goes, we definitely follow.” The Flyers are 28-13-2 when Giroux has at least one point in the game. It’s no coincidence that he couldn’t find the back of the net for the first 15 games and the Flyers were 4-9-1 and in the basement of the Metropolitan Division. “It’s amazing how things change,” Mason said. “At the beginning of the year when he was pressing and things weren’t going his way, everyone around the league was saying, ‘What’s going on with Claude Giroux?’ Everyone within this dressing room and organization knows what kind of player, leader and hard worker he is.” Giroux got a late start to preseason action because of a bizarre golf injury that caused him to have surgery on his right hand. Although he’s denied to make excuses, that probably played a part in his slow start. “We knew it was only a matter of time before he’d find his game,” Mason said. “I think he’s more than found it. I think he’s proven why he’s one of the top players in the entire world. We’re just lucky to have him on our team.” Former coach Peter Laviolette titled Giroux the best player in the world two seasons ago, putting a ton of weight on his shoulders. After signing an eight-year, $66.2 million extension this past summer, there was even more pressure for Giroux to perform. “He’s done a great job,” coach Craig Berube said. “The whole line has, really. It’s from hard work. He works hard out there. He’s become a very good positional player in the middle of the ice, which is important, and he’s doing well on the power play. They get life off that, but the whole line itself is shooting pucks and attacking.” Entering Monday’s action, Giroux was in a three-way tie for fourth in the NHL in scoring with 69 points. Scoring certainly figures into the equation when the Hart Trophy is decided. However, of the last five league MVP’s, only two were also the scoring leaders. As long as the decision isn’t purely based on points, Giroux has a good shot. It would be difficult to see anyone in the league catching up to Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who has 88 points. Ask Giroux, just like when he was asked about making the Canadian Olympic team, he’s trying not to think about it. He’s not one to draw attention to himself. He’d rather credit his teammates, like he’s done with 46 assists this season. “Anytime your team plays well, individually you’re gonna play better,” Giroux said. “I think that’s a fact right now. Everybody’s played really good. Everybody’s kind of helping each other. When we play as a team, individually your stats are going to look better.”

9. HockeyBuzz.com – Flyers Gameday: 3/18/14 vs. Chicago

Bill Meltzer

FLYERS @ BLACKHAWKS GAME PREVIEW (6:15 A.M. EST) Needing another win against an elite opponent to strengthen their hold on second place in the Metropolitan Division, the Philadelphia Flyers (35-25-7) will host the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks (39-15-11) on Tuesday night. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:30 p.m. EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philly, nationally in the U.S. on NBC Sports Network and nationally in Canada on TSN2. This is the second and final meeting of the season between the inter-Conference clubs that played in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. It is the lone game in Philadelphia. On Dec. 11, the Flyers were at the tail end of a six-game road trip (2-2-1 to that juncture) when they arrived in Chicago to take on a Chicago team that had just dismantled the Dallas Stars, 6-2, on the road the previous evening. At the time, the Blackhawks had the best record in the NHL (22-6-5) and were 8-0-2 against Eastern Conference opponents. Flyers coach Craig Berube tabbed Ray Emery to start in goal for the game in Chicago. Emery had been very sharp in his last start. Despite the team's 2-0 loss in Minnesota, the goaltending was excellent in that game. The previous season, Emery enjoyed a stellar season as the backup netminder for the Cup-winning Blackhawks. Things started well for Emery and the Flyers, who were playing without Vincent Lecavalier (back injury). The Flyers outshot the Blackhawks by a 10-6 count in the first period and skated off to the locker room with a 1-0 lead. Thereafter, the wheels fell off for the Flyers. The final 40 minutes saw the Hawks use their speed and precision puck movement to pick the Flyers apart. Compounding the problem was the fact that the Flyers abetted Chicago in the process by losing their discipline. Emery, who gave up six goals on just 18 shots, had no chance on at least four of the Chicago tallies. Steve Mason yielded one goal in five shots worth of third period mopup work. The Hawks soared to a 7-2 victory. Jakub Voracek and Steve Downie notched Philly's goals on power plays in the first and second periods respectively. The Flyers will spend the remainder of the month of March at or near home. Save for a March 26 road game at Madison Square Garden, the rest of the schedule for the month consists of home games. Up next on the slate will be Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars on Thursday night. FLYERS OUTLOOK The Flyers are 5-2-1 after the Olympic break and 10-3-1 over their last 14 games. By virtue of their home-and-home sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend, the Flyers jumped from fourth place to second place in the Metropolitan Division. On Saturday, the Flyers dismantled the visiting Penguins by a 4-0 count. Philly played arguably its best 60 minutes of hockey of the season, and dominated from start to finish. The other "Best Game of the Season" contenders to date are a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and a 5-2 win in San Jose on Feb. 3.

Scott Hartnell (power play), Matt Read (shorthanded and even strength) and Vincent Lecavalier scored for the Flyers. Steve Mason recorded a 25-save shutout. The Flyers went 1-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-5 with a shorthanded goal against a Pittsburgh team that had entered the game with both the NHL's top-ranked penalty killing and power play units. On Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Flyers once again jumped all over the Penguins early in the game. Philly build a 3-0 lead on an even strength goal by Brayden Schenn and a pair of power play tallies by Wayne Simmonds. This time, the Penguins showed some push-back. After the Penguins cut the deficit to 3-2 with a mid-game power play chance to tie the game, Read responded with another shorthanded goal to extend the lead to 4-2. Once again, the Penguins countered with a goal to cut the gap to a single goal. In the third period, Mason stepped to the forefront. He made 12 saves to slam the door on the Penguins. The Flyers also generated 12 shots of their own in preserving a 4-3 win. For the weekend, the Flyers went a combined 3-for-7 on the power play and 9-for-9 on the PK with the two shorties by Read. Offense has generally not been a problem for the Flyers since their early-season struggles. Through the first 15 games of the season, the Flyers scored just 22 goals (1.47 per game). Since that time, Philly has tallied 170 goals in 52 games (3.27 per game). In the first five games after the Olympic break, the Flyers yielded 21 goals. However, they have allowed just five in the last three games. Mason has been a very busy goaltender on both ends of the Olympic break. He started six of the final seven games leading into the break. Afterwards, he has started all eight games played to date. This was partially due to the sparse number of games in early March and partially due to Emery being unavailable due to a groin pull. With Emery now healthy again and the Flyers playing for the third time in four nights, there is a decent chance that the former Blackhawk will once again get the start against Chicago. BLACKHAWKS OUTLOOK After getting off to a 23-6-5 start to the season through their blowout win over the Flyers earlier this season, the Blackhawks have not been as dominant. Over the last 31 games, Chicago has gone 16-9-6. While many clubs around the NHL would gladly take that record over a 31-game stretch, the Hawks are capable of doing better. Over the last 10 games, Chicago is a mediocre 5-5-0. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville saw the complacency that was setting in with his club. He didn't like it. The two-time Cup winning coach laced into his team following back-to-back 3-2 losses on the road in Colorado and at home against Nashville. He was especially unhappy with the majority of the first period against the Predators, calling it "as bad as we've probably played for any stretch all year" and saying "I'm not happy with our game at all." The team responded. Hosting the longtime archrival Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, the Hawks limited the Wings to 20 shots en route to a 4-1 win. Nick Leddy (power play) opened the scoring for the Blackhawks, who later got tallies from Ben Smith, Marian Hossa and team captain Jonathan Toews (shorthanded). Corey Crawford made 19 saves. Are the Blackhawks back on track now? Or did the win against the Red Wings lull them back into complacency mode? Much like the Penguins, who are running away with the Metropolitan Division despite the back-to-back

regulation losses to the Flyers, it can be an ongoing challenge for a team in Chicago's spot to stay focused and motivated down the stretch. Chicago is nine points behind Central Division and President's Trophy leader St. Louis, who have already reached 101 points for the season. Meanwhile, the fourth-place Minnesota Wild are 12 points behind the Blackhawks. Fifth-place Dallas is 17 points in back of Chicago. Under the NHL's new playoff format this season, the Blackhawks are already virtually locked into a first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche. All that is really at stake is which club will get the home ice advantage in the series. Trailing the second-place Avs by one point through 68 games apiece, the Hawks (34 regulation/OT wins) are far behind Colorado (41 ROW) in the primary tiebreaker category if they finish tied in points. While playing for home ice gives a certain degree of incentive, it is not nearly the same as the urgency of playing either for first place or for the right just to get into the postseason. As such, Quenneville and the locker room leadership group has to stay on the team to keep its focus and intensity level high on a game-in and game-out basis. The Hawks possess the NHL's speediest and most deadly attack, leading the league in scoring. Any time the Hawks can generate speed on the rush or the foecheck, they are a constant threat to score. Chicago already has six players with more than 15 goals, and defenseman Duncan Keith has already hit the 50-assist plateau for the season. A former Norris Trophy winner, Keith could win his second Norris this season as a reward for a stellar all-around campaign. Leading scorer Patrick Kane has 29 goals and 68 points in 67 games. Ex-Flyers forward Patrick Sharp is also one goal away from the 30-goal mark. Two-way forces Toews (27 goals, 64 points) and Hossa (25 goals, 53 points) remain threats every time they hit the ice. The Hawks will be without young standout Brandon Saad (19 goals, 44 points) tonight. He is sidelined with an upper body injury. The rest of the weapons are intact. Hossa returned to the lineup against Detroit after missing five games with an upper-body injury. The veteran Slovakian star scored a line-rush goal and assisted on two others. Even as Chicago roared out to their dominating first two-plus months of the season, the penalty kill was a weak spot for the club. The Hawks have actually picked up their penalty killing percentage since the Flyers scored two goals on the man-advantage in the first meeting of the season and the Hawks fell to the bottom of the NHL. Since that time, Chicago has improved to 23rd in the NHL for the season. One other area where there is occasional vulnerability is that, because Chicago's defensemen handle the puck a lot, they also turn over their share of pucks. There may be some bang-bang opportunities for Philly tonight, but probably not many. It should also be noted that the Hawks block a lot of shots and are a very good backchecking club. The Blackhawks enter tonight's game as one of the NHL's top-four deadliest opponents in terms of even strength goal differential. They are also in the league's top five in faceoff percentage. Winning these facets of the game will present massive challenges to the Flyers. KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING) Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.82 (11th), Blackhawks 3.32 (1st) Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.81 (19th), Blackhawks 2.52 (11th)

Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.95 (18th), Blackhawks 1.41 (4th) Power play efficiency: Flyers 20.1% (11th), Blackhawks 20.8% (4th) Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 84.2% (8th), Blackhawks 80.6% (23rd) Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.8% (17th), Blackhawks 52.1% (5th) PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change) FLYERS 19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek 40 Vincent Lecavalier - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds 9 Steve Downie - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read 12 Michael Raffl - 18 Adam Hall - 36 Zac Rinaldo 44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn 8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit 47 Andrew MacDonald - 22 Luke Schenn 29 Ray Emery or 35 Steve Mason Potential Scratches: Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Jay Rosehill (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome). BLACKHAWKS 23 Kris Versteeg - 19 Jonathan Toews - 81 Marian Hossa 29 Bryan Bickell - 26 Michal Handzus - 88 Patrick Kane 10 Patrick Sharp - 65 Andrew Shaw - 12 Peter Regin 52 Brandon Bollig - 16 Marcus Kruger - 28 Ben Smith 2 Duncan Keith - 7 Brent Seabrook 27 Johnny Oduya - 4 Niklas Hjalmarsson 8 Nick Leddy - 17 Sheldon Brookbank 50 Corey Crawford [31 Antti Raanta] Potential Scratches: Brandon Saad (upper body), Michal Rozsival (healthy), David Rundblad (healthy), Nikolai Khabibulin (IR, shoulder surgery). 10. HockeyBuzz.com – Meltzer's Musings: Relentlessness and Resiliency

Bill Meltzer

The Philadelphia Flyers played 120 minutes worth of hockey with the Eastern Conference leading Pittsburgh Penguins this weekend. The Flyers were the hungrier, sharper team in about 110 of those 120 minutes including the entire game on Saturday and the majority of yesterday's rematch. Pittsburgh's wave of key injuries notwithstanding, the Flyers were the better prepared and more focused team all weekend.

Philly kept both Sidney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin off the scoreboard in consecutive games. The Flyers went a combined 3-for-7 on the power play against the club that had entered the weekend with the NHL's top-ranked penalty kill (since surpassed by New Jersey). Philly shut down the NHL's top-ranked power play to the tune of 9-for-9 on penalty kills. Matt Read scored shorthanded goals on successive days. Philly also won the majority of faceoffs in both games. Steve Mason was not tested all that often in recording a 25-save shutout in Saturday's game in Philadelphia. He had to make 11 third period saves for the Flyers to nail down yesterday's game after leads of 3-0 and 4-2 shrank to 4-3 by the end of the second period. Sunday's rematch started off much like Saturday's game. The Flyers jumped all over the Penguins with high-intensity puck pursuit in all three zones. Philly's players had their feet moving with good puck support and the Penguins' did not. When that happens -- as the Flyers can attest from the games this season when they've been the ones getting sliced and diced -- a team looks slow both physically and mentally. They take multiple penalties. They give up crooked-number goals in a period. Penguins' goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury deserved a better fate in the first period. He was the only reason why the Flyers did not jump out to a 4-0 or even 5-0 lead before the game was 14 minutes old. At the 2:06 mark of the first period, Brayden Schenn notched an ugly-but-good goal to stake the Flyers to a quick 1-0 lead. The Flyers broke loose on a 2-on-1 rush that became a 2-on-0 as Vincent Lecavalier fed Wayne Simmonds at point blank range. Fleury made an incredible sliding save on Simmonds but was in no position to make a second save on the unpreventable rebound. Schenn followed up the play and tucked the puck through the legs of sliding defenseman Robert Bortuzzo in the now vacated crease. The goal was Schenn's 17th of the season. Simmonds earned his 29th assist of the season and Lecavalier got his 13th. Shortly thereafter, Bortuzzo took a penalty for interfering with Scott Hartnell. The Flyers power play struck to double the lead. At the 6:47 mark, after Fleury made a couple of tough stops around the net but the Pittsburgh penalty killers were unable to clear the puck, Flyers captain Claude Giroux worked the puck back to Kimmo Timonen at center point. Wayne Simmonds set up shop on the doorstep and deflected the puck home. Again, Fleury had no chance. The power play goal was Simmonds' 20th overall goal and 11th power play tally of the season. Timonen got his 23rd assist and Giroux received his 45th helper. Simmonds would only have to wait 6:54 of game-clock time and about nine minutes in real time for goal number 21 and power play goal number 12. As he is prone to doing when frustrated, Malkin took a bad penalty -- roughing Flyers' agitator Zac Rinaldo -- at the 8:54 mark of the opening period. Philly was not able to bag a goal on this advantage but the Penguins remained on their heels. The third and final goal that Fleury allowed was a tad leaky but mostly due to a passive penalty kill as the Flyers attacked on their third power play of the opening period (which also turned out to be their final man advantage of the game). First, Taylor Pyatt headed to the box for two minutes for high-sticking Adam Hall. At the 13:41 mark, Simmonds struck for another power play goal. Jakub Voracek (31st assist of the season) sent a backhanded pass from the right side to Giroux across the ice. Giroux was unable to handle the pass cleanly but

had room to quickly retrieve the puck. The Flyers' captain (46th assist) then passed the puck to Simmonds, who was stationed along the goal line a few feet wide of the post. Simmonds swung out in front. He does not score many of his goals on this particular puck rotation, but the play worked to perfection this time. Simmonds did not seem to have much to shoot at but pulled the puck backhand to forehand and then jammed it home through Fleury after a couple of whacks at the puck to give the Flyers a 3-0 lead. Fleury's afternoon was done. In an effort to wake up the team, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma replaced Fleury (12 saves on 15 shots) with little-used backup Jeff Zatkoff. It was just the 15th appearance for Zatkoff this season. Ideally, the Flyers would have liked to have taken their 3-0 lead to the first intermission without any late-period Pittsburgh goals or carryover power plays. They did a great job of closing out periods in Saturday's game. The finish to yesterday's otherwise tremendous first period wasn't quite as clean. With 2:27 left in the first period, Brooks Orpik weaved a point shot through traffic for his second goal of the season. Bortuzzo (6th assist) and Joe Vitale (13th assist) got the assists, as the Penguins cut the deficit to 3-1. With just five seconds left in the first period, Brayden Schenn got a minor for interfering with Malkin. Suddenly, the Flyers' commanding lead didn't seem quite so commanding. The Pens had gotten some life and had 1:55 worth of power play time to start the second period and get back in the game. The second period was a strange one from the Flyers' perspective. It was the only one of the six periods played this weekend in which the Penguins outscored them (2-1), yet the Flyers limited the Penguins to just five shots for the 20-minute frame and also navigated their way through a combined 5:55 worth of penalty killing time. At the 5:50 mark of the middle frame, the Penguins cut the deficit to 3-2. Vitale retrieved the puck on a dump-in, winning a battle against Andrew MacDonald. The Penguins then worked the disc around the perimeter with Jussi Jokinen (30th assist) sending the puck to Rob Scuderi (third assist) at the left point and Scuderi going to partner Matt Niskanen at the right point. Niskanen ripped a right point shot through a screen and high over Mason for his 10th goal of the season. Midway through the period, Steve Downie took a roughing penalty from a tussle with Pittsburgh defenseman Deryk Engelland. The Penguins now had a power play with a chance to tie the game. Instead, the Flyers drove a stake through their hearts. At 12:11, Read scored his second shorthanded goal of the weekend. Engelland, who has been prone over the years to getting victimized in games against the Flyers, made an ill-advised pinch and turned the puck over to Luke Schenn. A quick lead pass later from Schenn (seventh assist of season, second breakout pass assist of the weekend) to Read, the Flyers were off to the races on a 2-on-1 as Sean Couturier joined the rush. Read elected to shoot rather than pass and snapped a shot past Zatkoff. The goal was Read's 19th of the 2013-14 season. It was his 4th shorty. Philly once again had a multi-goal lead. Again, it would have been ideal to close out the period strong so that the Penguins could not have any potential building blocks to take into the third period. Instead, the Flyers suffered their only major breakdown of the two-game set this weekend. The sequence started innocently enough. Michael Raffl won a neutral zone faceoff back to Kimmo Timonen, who went cross-ice to partner Braydon Coburn as the Flyers organized a rush up the ice. Raffl turned over the puck to Brian Gibbons in the neutral zone and then Coburn ended up on the wrong side of the puck when he was unable to stop Gibbons from stepping past him along the walls. Now the Penguins had a 2-on-1.

With Timonen as the lone Flyer back to defend, the veteran defenseman tried a desperation slide to prevent Gibbons (7th assist of the season) from getting a pass across the ice to Jayson Megna. It failed, and Megna made mo mistake. He scored from near the right post to make it a 4-3 game at 16:19 of the second period. The goal was Megna's fifth of the season. Now the Flyers had a dogfight on their hands. They survived an early third period penalty kill as Read was sent off for holding Megna. Shots in the final stanza were 12-12, but Mason and company held the fort and the Flyers managed a fair amount of attack of their own. Crosby hit the outside post late in regulation but he, Malkin and the Penguins came away empty from the home-and-home. Truth be told, the Flyers needed both games this weekend far more than the Penguins did, and the play on the ice reflected that disparity of urgency. Even with the home-and-home sweep with a pair of regulation wins, the Flyers remain 15 points behind the Eastern Conference leading Penguins in the standings. Nevertheless, the two wins were of huge help to the Flyers in both the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference playoff races. With the Columbus Blue Jackets idle yesterday and the New York Rangers losing 1-0 in regulation to the San Jose Sharks, the Flyers jumped from fourth place to second place in the Metro last night. With 77 points in 67 games, the Flyers are one point ahead of both the Rangers and Blue Jackets. That, of course, is a very skinny lead but the Flyers currently hold some other advantages against both teams beyond the one-point lead in the standings. The Flyers hold two games in hand over the Rangers. Meanwhile, Philly holds a tiebreaker advantage in regulation and overtime wins (32 to 30) over Columbus, who have also played 67 games. That's the good news. The bad news for Philly is that the schedule isn't about to get any easier now that the home-and-home with the Penguins is done. Tomorrow night, the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks come to town. Chicago, which is realistically more or less locked into a first-round playoff matchup with Colorado with only home ice at stake down the stretch, has been coasting for awhile. The Hawks are a mediocre 5-5-0 over its last 10 games. However, the club was recently called out by head coach Joel Quenneville for its lack of intensity and focus in recent games; playing similarly of late to the Penguins performance in Saturday's 4-0 shutout loss to the Flyers. The Blackhawks are still very, very dangerous to play against and seemed to wake up on Sunday, downing old rival Detroit by a 4-1 count. Are the Blackhawks back on track now? Or did the win against the Red Wings lull them back into complacency mode? The Flyers can't worry about that. All the Flyers can do is try to duplicate the process that led to the weekend sweep of the Penguins. If the Flyers attack Chicago with the same level of ferocity and show the same level of resiliency when there is a bit of adversity, they can beat the Blackhawks or any team. If not, and they need Chicago to sleepwalk through tomorrow's game, the Flyers won't deserve to win. It's as simple as that. Legitimate playoff teams do what the Flyers did this weekend. They relish the chance to control their own fate and to challenge themselves to elevate their game against top-notch opponents. On Saturday, the Penguins showed no push-back and the Flyers didn't let them come up for air. On Sunday, the Penguins did push back. The Flyers handled it with aplomb.

There is no reason to fear any team -- respect, yes, but not fear -- when the process gets followed. The Penguins' depth may be depleted right now but the Flyers won because they were the better team in both games.

11. Philly.com – Flyers have turned themselves into a team no one wants to play

Al Morganti

The defending Stanley Cup-champion Chicago Blackhawks arrive in town for a nationally televised Tuesday night meeting with the Flyers, and when they arrive on the ice they are likely to find a team that has suddenly developed the potential to be that “dangerous” playoff team. After their woeful start to the season, and the firing of coach Peter Laviolette, the Flyers now find themselves a very popular choice as the team nobody will want to see in the first round of the playoffs. That is -- IF they get to the playoffs. The Flyers are coming off a bonus weekend during which they swept the Pittsburgh Penguins, winning first in Philly and then in Pittsburgh. There is some legitimate griping from the undeveloped part of the state suggesting that part of the reason for the Flyers’ success was the Pens’ injury situation. Point well taken, but there is no getting around the fact that the Flyers turbocharge their game when playing the Penguins. There is also no way around the super rivalry aspect of the series, and there is no way any favored team likes to get into a nasty rivalry matchup in the first round of the playoffs. It also appears that Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma has a difficult time game-planning for the physical style of either the Flyers or the Boston Bruins. Time and again Bylsma’s Penguins go the wrong way when confronted with such a style, and over the past few seasons it has landed them out of the Stanley Cup hunt faster than expected. No matter what the injury situation, the Flyers scarfed up four points against a team with superstars Sidney Crosby and Geno Malkin healthy and ready to roll. They also took all those points even with Pittsburgh goalie Marc Andre Fleury being a whole lot better against them than he has been in the past. Thus, injured or not, all of that has to make the Penguins worried about a potential playoff match-up. In the meantime, the Flyers have no room to sit back and revel in those victories. The Blackhawks roll into Philly on Tuesday night, and then the killer march through March resumes with matches against Dallas, St Louis (twice), Los Angeles, Toronto and Columbus. It remains a daunting game of hopscotch to get to the playoffs, but the Flyers have some real momentum, and goalie Steve Mason has been sturdy. There is also the matter of captain Claude Giroux discovering that he can indeed be one of the NHL’s premier players and the addition of defenseman Andrew MacDonald at the trade deadline who actually turned into two defensemen. No, he didn’t bring a twin brother. However, since acquiring MacDonald and sending Andrej Meszaros to Boston, the Flyers have received a bonus in the form of Luke Schenn. Sure enough, Schenn was already in Philly, but he is now paired with MacDonald and he only has to worry about patrolling his patch of ice on one side of the rink. At least for now, the result has been a much steadier game from Schenn, and the Flyers have actually been able to somewhat limit the minutes heaped on Kimmo Timonen.

We’re not talking about Norris Trophy candidates here, but we are talking about a defensive crew that has a lot more balance. The Flyers have also benefitted from a steady hand from coach Craig Berube, who has done a nice job of keeping the ship on course through the shifting winds of the Eastern Conference. It would have been nice to see if Berube had lost his cool at the end of the Pittsburgh game when the Crosby nearly scored on a play that was obviously offside. Maybe then we would have seen Berube go squirrel on the officials. Then again, no matter what the situation thus far, Berube has maintained a steady hand -- purposely not allowing the Flyers to even think about a “woe-is-us, we-got-screwed” attitude. Long way to go from here, and the Blackhawks will present a most difficult test, but the Flyers have made it all the way back into the status of a dangerous team. If they could only get a do-over for October, it would be a whole lot more comfortable. Chicago Blackhawks Articles (FLYERS opponent today)

1. Chicago Tribune – Tuesday's matchup: Blackhawks at Flyers

TV/radio: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday; CSN, WGN-AM 720. Series: Hawks 1-0. Last meeting: Hawks won 7-2 on Dec. 11 at the United Center. Probable goaltenders, rec, gaa Hawks, Antti Raanta, 12-3-3, 2.44 Flyers, Steve Mason, 28-16-6, 2.57 Team comparison HAWKS (39-15-14) CATEGORYFLYERS (35-25-7) 3.32 (1)Goals for2.82 (10) 2.52 (11)Goals against2.81 (19) 20.8 (3)Power-play pct.20.1 (10) 80.6 (22)Penalty-kill pct.84.2 (8) Statistics through Sunday. (NHL rank) Storyline: The Hawks will look to string two victories together after defeating the Red Wings 4-1 on Sunday night. Patrick Kane has two goals and two assists in his last five games. Claude Giroux leads the Flyers, who have a modest two-game winning streak, with 23 goals and 46 assists. 2. Chicago Tribune – Hawks' Saad doesn't make Philadelphia trip

Cbris Kruc

Winger Brandon Saad did not make the Chicago Blackhawks trip to Philadelphia, where they will face the Flyers on Tuesday night. Saad suffered an upper-body injury during the second period of the Hawks’ 4-1 victory over the Red Wings on Sunday. After the game, Quenneville said Saad “seemed all right. I don’t think it’s too serious.” 3. Chicago Tribune – Blackhawks' Kris Versteeg is where he wants to be

Chris Kruc

The snow and cold he could do without, but Kris Versteeg is otherwise enjoying every minute of being in Chicago rather than Florida. First and foremost is the NHL standings. With the Blackhawks, Versteeg is on a club that sits in third place in the Central Division and is headed toward the playoffs and a possible run at a second consecutive Stanley Cup. His former team, the Panthers, on the other hand, are dead in the water in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division and will next hope to make an impact in the NHL draft in late June. "I definitely have looked at that," said Versteeg, who was acquired by the Hawks in a Nov. 14 trade with the Panthers. "It doesn't change the way I feel about both places. I love both places. Obviously, they're having a tough season and to be able to be traded to a contending team is a blessing and I'm thankful for that. Hopefully I'll make (the best) of getting a chance to win another Cup." Versteeg has ratcheted up his game since the three-week Olympic break and has been rewarded by coach Joel Quenneville with a spot on the top line, skating with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa. "I think that he's progressing," Quenneville said of Versteeg. "He's an interesting player in that he can do a lot of things. I don't think we've given him a big role yet. I just think as he gets better here, he can grow into a little bit more responsibility. He's pretty handy and nifty with the puck (and) he's good in those tight areas. You can see him getting a little bit more quality ice time as we go along." A bigger role is just what Versteeg has been seeking and the 27-year-old plans to take advantage in his quest for another Cup with the Hawks after playing a big role in the 2010 title before being traded in a salary-cap-related move. "I know what I can do," Versteeg said. "I just have to play my game and when I'm bringing energy and playing the right way I can be an effective player. Hopefully down the stretch I can do that and (then) into the playoffs. These are games I really do like to play in — the big ones. I get excited for them and hopefully that carries into my play and (results) in some wins as well." Versteeg has displayed chemistry with Toews and Hossa, taking on the role of playmaker and looking to set up his linemates. "Since the break it's been going good," Versteeg said. "I feel pretty strong and every time I'm out there just hopefully try and create something. There have been a lot of looks since I've been back. I'm creating offensively with passing."

Said Hossa: " 'Steeger' is a really interesting player and guy. He has really (strong) playmaking ability. He's got a great passing game and he's really smart." Through 67 games this season — 49 with the Hawks — Versteeg has 10 goals and 21 assists. Those are not eye-popping numbers, but for a player who is still recovering from surgery to repair the ACL in his knee performed a year ago this month, it is a big contribution. He is gutting it out while still not at top speed. "I'm not going to see what I expect to see until next year when you get a full summer off and you can kind of go at it," Versteeg said of his rehab. "Right now, I feel great. As good as I think I'm going to feel." Added Quenneville: "That injury usually … it takes you a year to get back to where you really want to be. In the meantime, I think he's still doing good things and he can help us." Saad report: Brandon Saad did not make the trip to Philadelphia, where the Hawks will face the Flyers on Tuesday night. The winger suffered an upper-body injury during the second period of the Hawks' 4-1 victory over the Red Wings on Sunday. After the game, Quenneville said Saad "seemed all right. I don't think it's too serious." 4. Chicago Sun-Times – Injured Brandon Saad misses trip to Philadelphia

Mark Lazerus

Brandon Saad didn’t make the trip to Philadelphia with the Blackhawks. Instead, he stayed home after suffering an upper-body injury Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings. Saad left the game with about eight minutes left in the second period and didn’t return. He also missed a shift at the end of the first period after taking a big hit from Niklas Kronwall. Coach Joel Quenneville said Sunday he didn’t think Saad’s injury was too serious, but his status for the Hawks’ showdown Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues at the United Center is in doubt. Saad is sixth on the team with 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) and is tied for sixth in the league with a plus-29 rating. Smith waiting Andrew Shaw and Brandon Bollig were scheduled to become restricted free agents this summer and received contract extensions. Ben Smith is also in the last year of his contract, but there have been no talks between the Hawks and his agent. ‘‘You try not to give that too much power,’’ Smith said. ‘‘As long as I keep working hard and show what I can do, that stuff will take care of itself.’’ Hawks honored The Hawks were named one of six finalists for Sports Business Journal’s 2014 Sports Team of the Year award. The others are the Boston Red Sox, the Golden State Warriors, the Seattle Seahawks, the Portland Timbers and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. 5. Chicago Sun-Times – Bryan Bickell still has time to redeem underwhelming season

Mark Lazerus

There’s no sugarcoating Bryan Bickell’s season, no positive spin to put on it. After signing him to a four-year, $16 million contract, the Blackhawks expected more than 10 goals and two assists at this point in the season. They expected him to average more than 11/2 hits per game. They expected him to play more than 10 minutes on most nights. But there’s one surefire way for Bickell to salvage his lost season. After all, he earned that contract in the playoffs last season. He still can justify it in the playoffs this season. ‘‘When I think of myself as a hockey player, I feel I’m a playoff kind of guy,’’ Bickell said. ‘‘The regular season is important, but the playoffs is the most important time. That’s where the physicality goes up a level, and it tends to bring more out of me. It sparks me.’’ History backs up Bickell. Besides last season, he had big playoff performances in juniors in 2005 (17 points in 21 games) and 2006 (10 points in seven games) and had two goals in each of the Hawks’ first-round losses in 2011 and 2012. There always are going to be players who underperform during the regular season but have a knack for coming up big in the postseason. Dave Bolland was a perfect example, a guy who seemed to shrug off uninspiring stretches during the regular season to become a difference-maker when the stakes were highest. Bickell doesn’t want to think of himself that way. He wants to be a consistent performer from October to June. He wants to be a reliable and productive presence night in and night out. He also doesn’t want to wait until the playoffs to flip that switch. In fact, the Hawks’ recent struggles before their 4-1 victory Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings handed Bickell a golden opportunity to get back into coach Joel Quenneville’s good graces. And Bickell has made some headway. After playing less than 10 minutes in 15 of 26 games since returning from a knee injury in mid-December, Bickell has averaged nearly 13 minutes in the last three games. He doled out six hits against the Colorado Avalanche, was one of the few players Quenneville wasn’t disgusted with against the Nashville Predators and delivered four more hits against the Red Wings. He even found himself bumped up to the second line Sunday. ‘‘When things are going right, Q likes to keep everything the same,’’ Bickell said. “When we’re struggling, he likes to throw a wrench in and try to get sparks a different way. Hopefully, that can get me going.’’ Bickell had no goals and no assists in those three games, but he was throwing his weight around and going to the net — the same formula that enabled him to tally nine goals, eight assists and one large contract last spring. ‘‘I see a trend,’’ Quenneville said. ‘‘I think the last three or four games, Bick’s been much better. This time of year, we need his presence because he’s got some physicality to his game. When he elevates his game to a different level, it’s like, wow, he really influences the game.’’ Flyers Cup Articles

1. Philadelphia Inquirer – La Salle comes back to beat Prep for Class AAA Flyers Cup

Doug Gausepohl

Up against a hungry St. Joseph's Prep team, La Salle boys' hockey squad followed the blueprint that served it so well over the years. Find a way to win. The third-seeded Explorers did just that Monday night as they came back from a 4-1 deficit and defeated No. 1 St. Joseph's Prep, 5-4, in overtime and won their fourth consecutive Class AAA Flyers Cup at the Skatium in Havertown. Coty Thomas scored his second goal of the game 3 minutes, 46 seconds into overtime to cap off an amazing Explorers comeback. "It really shows what a good team this is when you can come together, battle back, and get the overtime win," Thomas said. La Salle was down, 4-1, with less than four minutes left in the second period. Collin Gustafson scored with 3:41 left in the second period to make it 4-2. La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner made a simple statement to his team during the second intermission. "The message was to play the same way we did in the first period," Muehlbronner said. Midway through the third, La Salle cut the deficit in half when Albert Washco converted on Andrew Romano's third assist of the game with 5:09 left. Romano, who assisted on all three of La Salle's previous goals, tied it up on a scramble in front to send the game to overtime. St. Joseph's Prep owned the second period. Midway through, David Mustin scored to make it 2-1 in favor of the Prep. Just seconds later, Jake Gerbner doubled the Hawks' lead with a shot that sneaked past La Salle goaltender Harrison Feeney. Near the end of the second, Chris Maratea connected on a blast from near the top of the blue line to put the Hawks up by 4-1 with about four minutes left in the second period. The Explorers will play in the Pennsylvania Class AAA championship Saturday against the winner of Monday's Penguins Cup final between Peters Township and Bethel Park. The title matchup will take place at 5 p.m. at the Pegula Ice Arena in State College, Pa. La Salle will be going for its second Class AAA state title in three years. La Salle 1 1 2 1 - 5 St. Joseph's Prep 1 3 0 0 - 4 Goals: LS - Coty Thomas (Andrew Romano, 13:46; Collin Gustafson (Romano), 13:19; Albert Washco (Romano), 9:13; Romano (unassisted), 11:51; Thomas (Gustafson), 6:14. SJP - Peter Hansinger (Joseph Krause), 14:49; David Mustin (Demitrious Stefanou), 8:17; Jake Gerbner (Thomas Quigley), 8:54; Chris Maratea (Stephen Centrella), 13:01. Saves: LS - Harrison Feeney, 27; SJP - Charlie VanKula, 29.

2. Bucks County Courier Times – CB South & Souderton to Meet in Flyers Cup Final

Scott Huff

The gold standard in the Suburban High School Hockey League in recent years has been without question Council Rock South. The Golden Hawks have soared to Flyers Cup titles in 2012, 2011, and 2009 and also captured a state championship in 2012. Council Rock South was jettisoned from this year’s Flyers Cup tournament when Souderton clipped the Hawksby a 5-4 score in the semifinals. The Indians will face Central Bucks South in the Flyers Cup championship final for the 2013-2014 season on Tuesday. “I have so much respect for both (Central Bucks South head coach) Tom Coyne and (Souderton head coach) Matt Montagna,” said Council Rock South head coach Joe Houk. “It is great that we are going to have a team from our league (SHSHL) win the Flyers Cup and move on to the state championship. “Right now, the way that Souderton is playing, they are going to be tough to beat,” added Houck. “The senior leadership they have – and they have the premier player in the league in (Daniel) Rock. He is just so strong and mentally tough. “But Central Bucks South has a lot of skill players, and you can’t count them out,” continued Houck. “They have four stellar players on defense, and both teams work hard. “The Flyers Cup is the big prize,” added Houck. “Sometimes the state championship game is just a bonus to the season. You want to be a Flyers Cup champion.” And that will be either SHSHL’s Souderton Indians or Central Bucks South Titans. And the beat goes on… Flyers Cup ‘AA’ Championship Final Tuesday – March 18, 2014 @ Warwick Ice Arena – 7:45 pm # 4 Souderton Indians vs. # 2 Central Bucks South Titans Head to Head Meetings: Souderton and Central Bucks South have played each other three times this season with Souderton holding a 2-1 advantage. The Indians defeated CB South 7-3 in a regular season SHSHL game played on November 7, 2013. Souderton scored five goals in the first period to roll to the victory. Alex Politsky registered a hat trick in the win, while freshman goaltender Dawson Anders had 29 saves. The Titans won the second regular season contest with a 7-6 win on November 22, 2013. Jake Bauer and Mike Pilla each scored a pair of goals for the winners, while Daniel Rock and Politsky each scored a hat trick for the Indians. And in the SHSHL semifinals on February 26, 2014 – Souderton captured a 4-3 victory over CB South. Clay Anders scored a pair of goals – including the game winner. Dominic Bova scored a couple of goals to pace the Titans. Dawson Anders turned away 38 shots for the Indians. Road to the Flyers Cup Finals: Souderton opened the Flyers Cup tournament with a 5-1 victory over # 13 Neshaminy. The Indians followed with an 8-4 win over # 5 Haverford and advanced to the championship final with a 5-4 victory over # 8 Council Rock South. In the win over Rock South, the Indians had single goals scored by Politsky, Anders, Rock, Luke Dieterich, and Tyler Diepietro. Central Bucks South opened the Flyers Cup tournament with a 6-1 victory over # 15 Council Rock North. The Titans followed with a 6-4 victory over # 7 Cumberland Valley and advanced to the championship finals with a 6-2 win over # 6 Parkland. In the win

over Parkland, Pilla scored a pair of goals to spark the offense. Tom Liberta, Brendan Clements, Damon Delaurentis, and Alex Stoll each scored single goals – Leo Flick collected four assists. Souderton head coach Matt Montagna says: “It is going to be a great environment to play a championship game. Both CB South and us have a great fan base, and the building should be packed and very loud. These teams know each other very well, and it should be – let’s say – a very physical game to say the least. The script for us is going to be the same as it has been all year – and South knows exactly what that will be. He (CB South head coach Tom Coyne) knows what my game plan is going to be, and I know his game plan. Not only do these players play against each other, a lot of them play with each other on club teams. Central Bucks South is an excellent team – but so are we. I think that we have been underestimated with how well we play defensively. There will be no surprises in this game – and the team that plays the best will win the game. And we want that to be us.” Central Bucks head coach Tom Coyne says: “I love the fact that we are playing Souderton in the final. I would rather play the devil we know rather than the devil you don’t know. We played both Cumberland Valley and Parkland with very little idea of who they were all about. Souderton is a very good team that can capitalize on your mistakes – and they beat us twice this year. The only advantage that we will have is that we are the home team and get the last line change. Daniel Rock is a great player, and we will have the advantage of playing our best pairings against him. Our blue line defense of (sophomore) Connor Matsinger, (sophomore) Thomas Liberta , (sophomore) Jared Conroy, and (senior) Brandon Spognardi has not gotten enough credit for our success this season. The last two years we lost in the Flyers Cup semifinals to Cherokee, and this year we were able to make it to the finals. We’re there to win it.” Winner Gets: The winner of this game will play the Bishop Canevin Crusaders who were the winners of the Penquin Cup ‘AA’ final. That state championship game will be played on Saturday - March 22, 2014, at the Pegula Ice Arena (Penn State University) with a 2:30 pm opening faceoff. Flyers Cup Stat Sheet: Souderton (3-0): Daniel Rock (9 goals – 4 assists – 13 points); Alex Politsky (3-6-9); and Clay Anders (2-4-6). Central Bucks South (3-0): Leo Flick 2 goals – 5 assists – 7 points); Mike Pilla (2-4-6); Dominic Bova (3-2-5). Flyers Cup Goalie Profile: Souderton: Dawson Anders (3-0) – 2.92 goals against average – 64 saves. Central Bucks South: Aaron King (2-0) – 3.09 goal against average – 29 saves; Jeff Pelkowski (1-0) 1.0 goals against average – 10 saves. 3. GametimePA.com – ICE HOCKEY: La Salle rallies to edge St. Joseph's Prep in OT to win Flyers Cup

Nick Iuele

While La Salle had won the past three Flyers Cup championships and was among the favorites to win it again this year, this season had its fair share of challenges. Still, the Explorers' ability to rise above adversity has been a trademark in 2014. After winning an epic double-overtime thriller against Holy Ghost Prep in the semifinals, La Salle was once against faced with an uphill battle, falling behind top-seeded St. Joseph's Prep, 4-1, in the second period of the Flyers Cup final. Undeterred, the Explorers showed their ability to fight back even when all hope appeared lost and came back to win their fourth consecutive Flyers Cup crown.

No. 3-seeded La Salle scored a pair of goals to tie the game the in the third and won it 5-4 on Coty Thomas' goal with 6:14 left in overtime. The Explorers gave up three goals in the second period and appeared to be in big trouble, but Thomas and captain Andrew Romano lifted their games and got contributions from everyone on the ice to complete the comeback. It is a tournament no one at LaSalle will soon forget. "It has been different each year that we have won the Flyers Cup, but this year we won it on a lot of character,' La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner said. "This season was a lot tighter than past seasons. The games have been hard fought. We played a great game and, although [Prep] deserved to win after the second period, we came out on top.' Thomas found himself at the right place at the right time and buried his opportunity for the win. Romano, who had La Salle's game-tying goal and notched three assists to earn tournament MVP honors. He was the best player on the ice for the majority of the game and was involved on every Explorers goal. "I just wanted to make sure I finished my chance, the game was on the line at that point,' Thomas said. "I tried to just go out there and work hard. Coach told us just to work hard as a team and battle back. It really shows how good a team is when they can come back like that.' The first period could be categorized as a physical chess match, with both sides trading toothless scoring opportunities. That all changed with eight minutes remaining in the period, as La Salle finally sustained possession in the Prep half and made the most of it. Thomas fired a Romano feed past the keeper from the point on the power play to give the Explorers a 1-0 lead. That advantage was short-lived, however, as Prep tied it up on a power play just minutes later when Peter Hansinger's wrister from the right side hit off the goalie's side and hit the inside of the cage. Once both teams got on the board, the game opened up. Both goalies were frequently called into action in the second period, though no spectacular saves were needed early on. The possession was virtually 50-50, each side racing down the ice to take a shot, then getting back quickly to defend in transition. It was hard to say which team had the edge, but a goal seemed imminent given the flow of chances. It was Prep which cashed in on a pair of opportunities midway through the period. First David Mustin found a loose puck and smashed it home from distance, and then Jake Gerbner found a rebound during a scrum in front of net and tucked it home less than a minute later. It was a dream sequence for the Hawks, but an absolute nightmare for La Salle. To make matters worse for the Explorers, Prep converted on another power play opportunity with less than four minutes to play. Chris Maratea's shot from way out deflected off of a teammate and down into the net, giving the Hawks a 4-1 lead. La Salle answered fairly quickly, though, showing that it would not go down without a fight. This time it was Collin Gustafson, who knocked home a rebound a minute after the Maratea goal to cut into the deficit. Given the lack of defense that was being played in the game, even two goals down La Salle had to feel firmly in the game. "The message after the second period was just to come out and play like we did in the first,' Muehlbronner said. "They dominated us in the second. If we wanted to get back into the game, we knew we had to be much more aggressive. We had to get pucks to the net and make things happen.'

The contest became decidedly more chippy after the Gustafson goal, and when the period ended with a 4-2 score line and a fighting Explorers team desperate for goals, the final 17 minutes appeared primed for some fireworks. La Salle provided those fireworks. About 10 minutes into the third, La Salle beat Prep goalie Charlie VanKula to cut the deficit to one. With a five-on-three advantage due to two Hawk penalties, the Explorers attacked the open space and Romano found Albert Washco, the hero of the semifinal, who flipped the puck past the lunging netminder. With gained momentum, the Explorers did not stop there. Just a couple minutes later, Romano scored a goal of his own, latching on to a Connor Lloyd pass and smashed the puck home. With the game knotted at 2-2, Prep fought desperately to regain its lead with a flurry of chances at the end of the period, but this game was headed for overtime. "It means the world to be able to come back like that, I'm so proud of my teammates,' Romano said. "We didn't stop. We were going to keep coming. I tied that game up late and we knew in overtime the game was ours. We didn't want to give up the Cup.' It took a little while, but La Salle poured on the pressure and finally won via Thomas' goal. It completed an incredible comeback, but that was nothing new for the Explorers. They seemed dead in the water for a while in the third, but their resilience shined through for the second time in as many games. Next up: a shot at the state title. "In years past we had been down in the Flyers Cup, but we didn't give up. We did the same tonight and came out on top,' Romano said. "We definitely get it from our coach. He instills positivity in us throughout the game. We had our struggles early in the season, but we stayed positive and now we are champions.' NHL Articles

1. NHL.com – Bruins beat Wild for ninth win in a row

Matt Kalman

With a three-game road trip looming, the Boston Bruins made sure to give their home fans another winning-streak-extending performance Monday night. The Bruins extended their streak to nine games with points from eight different players and 33 saves from goaltender Tuukka Rask in a 4-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild at TD Garden. Boston (46-17-5) went 3-0 on its homestand and is on its longest winning streak since it won 10 in a row in November 2011. The Bruins had never beaten the Wild at home in six prior meetings. Rask has won six in a row and the Bruins have allowed one or no goals six times during the streak. The Bruins have averaged four goals per game during the impressive run. "Well we've scored a lot of goals I think. And we've just found a way to win," said Rask, who has a .947 save percentage in his past six starts. "We've played some really good games and then we've played some OK games. It's a sign of a good team when you win when you don't play at your best. And I think we've just found a way to win most nights." But Bruins coach Claude Julien wants to make sure his team doesn't get a collective swelled head. Rask had to make a couple stops on breakaways and the Bruins were outshot 16-10 in the third period.

"We had some stuff to look at before tonight. ... It was just another one of those games where goaltending was good. Again too many breakaways or good scoring chances, and we have to fix that," Julien said. "But again, we played well enough to win. And I think offensively we did a lot of good things. We've just got to make sure we continue to fine tune our game and don't get complacent." Jarome Iginla scored twice for the Bruins; Loui Eriksson and Reilly Smith added one goal apiece. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper stopped 25 of 28 shots and Jason Pominville scored for the Wild (35-23-10), who started a three-game road trip with their second regulation loss in their past 12 games (6-2-4). "It's tough to sit here after a 4-1 loss, but you can't be too disappointed with the effort of our guys tonight," Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said. "And obviously kind of a tough bounce on their first goal, but I thought we were really taking the play to them. Even with that our guys were staying with it after two periods. They get a late goal and we're still right there. And obviously that's not an easy team to come back against." After a scoreless first period, the offense picked up in the second beginning with a fluky goal by Iginla at 3:52. The Bruins forward took a shot on the rush that deflected off Minnesota defenseman Jonas Brodin and then dropped through Kuemper's five-hole. Eriksson doubled the Bruins' lead after some yeoman's work by linemate Carl Soderberg, who stole the puck at the Minnesota blue line and circled the net before making a backhand pass across the slot to Eriksson. The goal gave Boston a 2-0 lead with 11:55 elapsed. "Yeah, that definitely hurt for sure," Minnesota forward Kyle Brodziak said. "We were really happy with our first period. We felt like we were playing the game like we were supposed to. It's too bad we couldn't get a couple breaks early on, that might've changed the game a little bit. But yeah, it's tough when you give up two quick ones like that." Minnesota pulled within one at 18:34. Ryan Suter's pass out of the Wild zone sprung Pominville with Boston defenseman Andrej Meszaros hot on his trail. Pominville broke his stick on his slap shot from the top of the right circle and the puck eluded Rask. "Well it is [distracting]," Rask said about the broken stick. "You get the read on a shot and then you react and then it goes the other, but there's nothing you can do about it. I wasn't watching the stick. Yeah, it's tough." Smith's first goal in 16 games put Boston ahead 3-1 at 7:50 of the third period. The Bruins wing banged in a rebound of a Patrice Bergeron shot from the right side of the slot. Iginla sealed the game with an empty-net goal at 18:55. Each team gets right back at it Tuesday; Boston will visit the New Jersey Devils while the Wild continue their road trip against the New York Islanders. 2. NHL.com – Lightning hold off Canucks, win third straight

Lonnie Herman

The Tampa Bay Lightning opened up a three-goal advantage after two periods and then barely held on for a 4-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Monday night.

Ondrej Palat and Steven Stamkos each had a goal and an assist, Ben Bishop stopped 25 shots and the Lightning finished a six-game stretch at home with three consecutive wins and eight of a possible 12 points. The win propelled the Lightning (37-25-7) into second place in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay and the Montreal Canadiens each have 81 points, one more than the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the Lightning have a game in hand on each. "We were a little loose in the third, but we've got points in five consecutive games at a time when we really need them so hopefully this is some good momentum heading on the road," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We got to take advantage of a team playing their fourth game in six nights, all over the country. You feel for them a little bit, but not too much because we go through the same thing. What comes around goes around. You have to give them credit; they threw everything at us in the third." Alexandre Burrows scored twice and assisted on the other Vancouver goal. Goaltender Eddie Lack made 26 saves. Vancouver had the first eight shots in the third period and produced some quality scoring chances, including a breakaway attempt by Nicklas Jensen that Bishop denied at 3:42. "It's a game of bounces and you have to deal with it," Burrows said, "but at this time of year, you wish the bounces would go your way." But the barrage of shots finally paid off when Tom Pyatt was penalized for goaltender interference and the Canucks connected on the power play at 5:44 to cut the margin to 3-1. Burrows flipped a rebound of Kevin Bieksa's shot from the blue line past Bishop for his fourth goal of the season. Pyatt made amends just over three minutes later when his bad-angled shot beat Lack from the short side, restoring the Lightning's three-goal lead. It was Pyatt's third goal of the season. "Obviously, I want the third goal back," Lack said. "I thought [Pyatt] was going to pass it, but he fired it quickly. If I would have had that, it would have been a 3-3 tie." The Canucks (31-30-10) cut the deficit back to two with Burrows' second goal of the game at 11:44 and then added a shorthanded goal by Jannik Hansen, his 11th of the season, at 15:16. "We fought back and came up empty," Vancouver coach John Tortorella said. "We can't come up empty." Vancouver's third-period rally concerned Stamkos. He was clear that there is some work to be done before Tampa Bay visits Toronto on Wednesday. "We still have to fix some things," the Lightning captain said. "We take the lead into the third. We know especially teams that are fighting for their playoff lives are going to throw everything at us. We have to be a little bit smarter." Tampa Bay scored twice in the second period to extend its lead to 3-0. After Bieksa fanned on a 2-on-1 chance, the Lightning turned the tables and Palat finished a 2-on-1 break the other way when he deflected Matt Carle's feed off Vancouver defenseman Ryan Stanton and past Lack at 6:54 while the teams skated 4-on-4.

Stanton was victimized again in similar circumstances late in the period. Bishop made a stellar stop on Zack Kassian and the Lightning took off in the other direction. This time, Valtteri Filppula was the beneficiary. His centering pass hit Stanton's skate and found its way past Lack for Filppula's 22nd goal of the season at 19:51. "First one, he's in the middle of the ice, taking the ice away," Tortorella said of Stanton. "If he's going to go down and try to take away the ice in a short 2-on-1, he has to be more off to the post so it can't happen that way. The second one? That was just a tough break. A little bit of puck-luck there. Doesn't matter what it is, we didn't get points and we need points." The first period played out evenly until Kassian was called for tripping. On the ensuing power play, the Canucks left Stamkos alone to the right of their net and when the puck bounced his way, he didn't miss. Lack had no chance on Stamkos' 16th goal of the season at 17:56. With an assist, Palat extended his scoring streak to five games; his goal in the second period gave him eight points over that stretch (three goals, five assists). Vancouver defenseman Christopher Tanev was injured in the opening period and did not return. 3. NHL.com – Blues reach 100-point plateau with win vs. Jets

Louie Korac

Playing without two of their top six forwards didn't faze the League-leading St. Louis Blues. The Blues will be without Vladimir Tarasenko for six weeks with a right hand injury, and T.J. Oshie missed the game against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night because of the birth of his first child, a daughter, earlier in the day. It left the Blues without two players who've combined for 38 goals. But David Backes' power-play goal with 6:51 remaining snapped a 1-1 tie and the Blues remained hot by defeating the Jets 3-1 at Scottrade Center. Backes had two goals, Brenden Morrow scored and goalie Ryan Miller stopped 16 shots to remain unbeaten in regulation with St. Louis (7-0-1). The Blues are the first team in the League to hit the century mark in points (101). They are four points ahead of their closest competitors, the Boston Bruins, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks. St. Louis improved to 47-14-7 on the season and 8-0-1 in its past nine games. The Blues are 7-0-2 in their past nine home games and 20-0-2 against Central Division opponents. It's the sixth time in franchise history that the Blues have reached the 100-point mark, the most-recent was in 2011-12. "'Vova' (Tarasenko) with his injury, we're hoping he's back sooner than later and then our thoughts are with 'Osh,' Lauren and the new baby in the hospital," Backes said. "Hopefully he'll be back with us soon. We miss a guy like that, all his energy. "We had to fabricate a little energy in the locker room before we went out. He's quite a spark plug for us. You miss a guy like that, not just in the room, but on the ice too making plays all over the place. They're both missed, but we're going to have little instances like that throughout the year, throughout the rest of the season, throughout the playoffs. Different guys stepping in to fill those roles, it's good to see." Eric O'Dell scored for the Jets, who fell six points behind the Phoenix Coyotes for the Western Conference's second wild-card spot in the race to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Jets goalie Al Montoya stopped 22 shots.

"That's frustrating. This is what that team does," Montoya said of the Blues. "They get up by a goal and they hold the fort. It was a perfect situation for us." After Evander Kane took a slashing penalty in the offensive zone, Backes gave the Blues the lead with their only shot with the man advantage after he took a caromed puck in the slot off a shot from Ian Cole and beat Montoya five-hole at 13:09 of the third period. "I wish I had a beautiful explanation for you that it was all planned out and great hockey sense," Backes joked. "At that time of the game, power play late, power plays for both teams weren't real spectacular to say the least earlier. Just kind of dumbing it down, shooting the puck, getting bodies to the net and I was able to find a loose one and swatting at it and rolled her through there." Jets coach Paul Maurice lamented that Kane took an offensive-zone penalty against the Blues' Chris Porter. "We just can't be in the box there," Maurice said. "That's the bottom line on that play." O'Dell had tied the game for the Jets (31-30-9) 1:55 into the third after taking a pass from Kane in a 4-on-4 situation and beating Miller, who dove out to try to poke-check the puck. It was a game then, and not because the Jets fought their way back in, according to Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, but more so because the Blues failed to capitalize when the chances were there in the second period. "For us, we made a game of it because we couldn't pull away because of all the scoring chances," Hitchcock said. "That made a game of it. "We really played well in the second period and kind of got a little bit sloppy in the last four, five minutes. But the first 15 minutes, 16 minutes we played in the second period, we could have had four, five goals if we would have salted it away and gave them a chance to play in the third period." Backes was given credit for an empty-net goal with 1:11 remaining when he was taken down by Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba while trying to go for the empty net to make it 3-1. It's Backes' first goal without actually putting the puck in the net. "I think it is," Backes said. "That doesn't happen a whole lot. Sometimes when things aren't going perfect for you, you'll take them any way you can get them. Hopefully that's the start of a little streak here." "I don’t think that game should have gone to 3-1," Maurice said. "I don't think that's an automatic goal. I don't think it's a slash. He goes down, maybe they locked feet. But it's not unimpeded progress. "That game should be still 2-1 in my mind. But 2-1 is still a deficit for us." Morrow snapped a 10-game scoring drought when he one-timed Derek Roy's centering feed past Montoya 1:44 into the second period to open the scoring. After Jay Bouwmeester's point shot was blocked, the bouncing puck eluded Jets forward Devin Setoguchi and Roy was able to slot a pass to Morrow. Bouwmeester broke a 12-game pointless streak and Roy also snapped a 10-game drought. Miller only saw five shots in the second period but was up to the task on a couple of quality chances, including saves on Blake Wheeler after a neutral zone giveaway and Bryan Little after a Blues line change that could have produced a disastrous result.

An uneventful first period produced only 13 shots between the teams, hardly any stoppages in play and no penalties. The Jets' Anthony Peluso had the best chance with a point-blank backhand that Miller was able to get his paddle down to make the stop. "We had a lot of good players," said Hitchcock, whose team improved to 38-1-5 when scoring first and 30-0-4 when leading after two periods. "We didn't finish like we normally would have but we had a lot of good players in the game today. I thought we managed the game well. We got up to speed more and more. ... We had all six defensemen contribute. We had four lines chip in when we had to. You like to see rewards for working this hard, getting that many scoring opportunities." 4. NHL.com – Halpern's late goal leads Coyotes past Kings

Curtis Zupke

Reporters who entered the Phoenix Coyotes' dressing room were greeted with Keith Yandle and Paul Bissonette dancing to a loud hip-hop beat. It's not every day that a team comes back in the third period against the Los Angeles Kings. Celebration was in order after Jeff Halpern's goal with 3:05 left gave Phoenix a 4-3 win Monday night against Los Angeles to silence the Staples Center crowd. Yandle also scored in the third and the Coyotes, down 3-2 to start the period, boosted their chances of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs by climbing past the Dallas Stars into the second wild-card position in the Western Conference. The Kings had been 21-0-0 this season and 126-1-11 in the past 138 regular-season games when leading after two periods, dating to April 4, 2009. "I know how good they are here," Coyotes captain Shane Doan said. "They've got such a great blue line and they've got so many good forwards. Obviously, their record is pretty much perfect. So it was big for us to find points, even in regulation." Halpern's fourth goal this season was a shot from the left side that Kings goalie Jonathan Quick appeared to stop with his stick; however. replays showed that the puck crossed the line. The crowd was still cheering at the apparent save, and Quick subsequently made an unbelievable blocker save on Doan while prone, until video replay revealed that Halpern's shot was a goal. Phoenix tied it 3-3 with 10:16 left on an unassisted goal by Yandle, who ripped a slap shot from the blue line that went in off goalie Quick's glove. The comeback embodied the urgency shown by the Coyotes (33-25-11), who have won six of eight to move two points ahead of Dallas, which has two games in hand. "We were in dire straits going into the third," Doan said. "And the fact that you've got to find points every night. You're down to 13-14 games left. It was big." The Kings erased a 2-0 deficit, had killed two penalties and were trying to close out the win after Marian Gaborik scored on a snap shot from the slot that ramped off the stick of Coyotes defenseman Derek Morris at 18:19 of the second period. Instead, Los Angeles (38-25-6) has lost three consecutive one-goal games. The Kings are third in the Pacific Division, five points ahead of the Coyotes "I thought they were desperate the whole game," Quick said. "That's the time of year it is. Everybody's playing desperate. I thought we played well enough. I don't think I played well enough. You give up four goals, you're going to lose games. I've got to be better."

Defenseman Alec Martinez made it 2-2 with a shot from the left side that found the upper right corner at 6:50 of the second to erase the 2-0 deficit. Martinez, who had seven points in his first 40 games, has seven points in his past eight. Los Angeles forced Phoenix to spend a lot of time in its own end in the second period, when the Kings had a 15-3 shot advantage and did not allow the Coyotes a shot in the final 15:25. Phoenix goalie Mike Smith, in his ninth straight start, looked sharp at the beginning, but then became flustered at times. But Smith kept the Coyotes in the game early and finished with 36 saves. Smith was somewhat questionable and reportedly felt "down" at the morning skate. He was 3-6-0 in his previous 10 starts against Los Angeles, including the postseason. "Once you get into the game, I think the adrenaline kind of takes over," Smith said. "I lacked a little bit of energy tonight. But there is no time for feeling down and being sick right now. It was good to get back in there." The Kings pointed to not putting in more pucks at the start of the game. "It comes down to having to play a full 60 minutes," Martinez said. "We didn't do that. We had a few breakdowns. We can't have that, especially in the third period against a hockey club like that, so this is a battle here in the West to make the playoffs. Everyone is jockeying for spots. We've got to sharpen up. "They were a desperate hockey team tonight and we didn't match them." The Kings' comeback erased an ideal road start for Phoenix, which scored two goals in 63 seconds for a 2-0 lead against a Los Angeles team that looked disorganized at the start. Mikkel Boedker was left completely free in the slot to lift a backhand into the left side of the net for a power-play goal at 7:36 in the first. Rob Klinkhammer knocked down Radim Vrbata's shot and swiped the puck through the feet of Kings defenseman Robyn Regehr at 6:33. Los Angeles salvaged the opening period on a terrific play in transition by rookie Tanner Pearson, who sped down the left wing and beat Smith with a wrist shot at 17:02 for his second NHL goal. Kings captain Dustin Brown missed a second game because of a lower-body injury. Phoenix center Martin Hanzal returned to the lineup from a lower-body injury. 5. NHL.com – Daily Primer March 18

NHL Insider

He helped the Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup in 1986 and 1993. Now, former goalie Patrick Roy will try to beat the Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday. Roy, now the coach of the Colorado Avalanche, will face the Canadiens as a competitor for the first time since Nov. 6, 2001 when Montreal hosts Colorado (7:30 p.m. ET, TSN, RDS, ALT). "I learned a lot from this franchise," Roy said of the Canadiens on Monday. "It helped me to become the person I am. Not only the person I am, but also the player I was." Here's a closer look at the action Tuesday:

Boston Bruins at New Jersey Devils -- The Bruins will look to continue their winning ways, having won a season-high nine straight while allowing one or no goals six times over that stretch. Boston extended the win streak Monday in a 4-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild at TD Garden. After winning once on a three-game road trip, the Devils begin a five-game homestand and close out the regular season with 10 of their final 14 games at Prudential Center. New Jersey enters Tuesday five points out of a Stanley Cup Playoff spot. Minnesota Wild at New York Islanders -- Left wing Matt Moulson returns to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the first time since the Islanders traded him to the Buffalo Sabres in October. Moulson was on the move again at the NHL Trade Deadline, when the Sabres sent him to Minnesota. The Wild opened a three-game road trip with a 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Monday. The Islanders will play the third of a four-game homestand; they earned a 4-1 win against the Sabres on Saturday. Dallas Stars at Pittsburgh Penguins -- Dallas entered MTS Centre on Sunday 3-0-1 in its previous four games and winners of eight of its past 12, allowed six unanswered goals in a 7-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. The Penguins, currently second in the Eastern Conference, will look to get back on the winning track after losing two straight weekend games to the Philadelphia Flyers. Pittsburgh could have forward James Neal (concussion) in the lineup for the first time in a week. Carolina Hurricanes at Columbus Blue Jackets -- The Hurricanes continue to struggle with losses in nine of their past 12. Carolina seeks to avoid a three-game losing streak after being defeated by the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1, at PNC Arena on Sunday. The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, are in the thick of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference with points in seven of its past eight games (6-1-1). Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is 3-0-1 in his past four starts with a 1.25 goals-against average and 0.958 save percentage. Colorado Avalanche at Montreal Canadiens -- The Avalanche are coming off a 3-1 win against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday in the first of three straight games on the road against Canadian teams. Colorado has a one-point lead on the Chicago Blackhawks for second place in the Central Division standings. Montreal erased a three-goal deficit in the final four minutes of regulation to win 5-4 in overtime against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday and followed that up a day later with a 2-0 on the road against the Buffalo Sabres. The Canadiens are in a three-way race for the final two guaranteed playoff spots in the Atlantic Division, with one point separating them, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs. New York Rangers at Ottawa Senators -- New York came up short for the third time in its past four games in a 1-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. It wasn't for a lack of trying, though; the Rangers fired 41 shots on goal, only to be denied each time by Sharks goalie Antti Niemi. The Senators gave away a three-goal lead with 3:22 remaining in regulation against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday and went on to lose in overtime. They then fell behind 3-0 at home Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche before Mika Zibanejad scored with six seconds remaining in the game. Ottawa has lost five of its past six games. Toronto Maple Leafs at Detroit Red Wings -- It's the first game between these teams since the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, which the Maple Leafs won 3-2 in a shootout at Michigan Stadium. Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said Monday that goalie Jonathan Bernier is day-to-day with a low-grade groin muscle strain, which means James Reimer will likely get the start. The injury-plagued Red Wings are still fighting for a playoff spot. If forwards Todd Bertuzzi (lower body) and Justin Abdelkader (lower body) can't play against Toronto, the Red Wings will be without 11 players. Forward Landon Ferraro was recalled from the American Hockey League on Monday and could make his NHL debut. Chicago Blackhawks at Philadelphia Flyers -- Chicago center Teuvo Teravainen could soon make his NHL debut. Teravainen, a first-round pick in 2012, has wrapped up his season in Finland's top professional league and could provide the Blackhawks with a late-season boost. Chicago will be without forward Brandon Saad, who sustained an upper-body injury during a 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. The Flyers are

coming off a home-and-home series sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend. Twelve of Philadelphia's final 15 games are against teams that started the week holding a playoff spot. Buffalo Sabres at Calgary Flames -- This is the start of a five-game road trip for Buffalo, which is looking to snap a six-game losing streak. The lowest-scoring offense in the NHL (1.85 goals per game) has produced five goals during the current skid. Buffalo will be without goalie Jhonas Enroth, who sustained a leg injury during a 2-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday. Flames forward Matt Stajan returned to practice Monday after having been away in recent weeks due to the death of his newborn son following childbirth. Forward Kenny Agostino, acquired last season from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Jarome Iginla trade, signed a two-year contract Monday. Nashville Predators at Edmonton Oilers -- Nashville saw a three-game winning streak snapped Saturday when the Predators lost to the St. Louis Blues, 4-1, at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville now opens a four-game road trip that also features stops against the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks. Edmonton, which is opening a six-game homestand, will play 10 of its final 13 games at Rexall Place. The Oilers are 9-4-3 in their past 16 games. Washington Capitals at Anaheim Ducks -- After winning back-to-back home games this weekend, Washington will look to continue its playoff push. The Capitals begin a difficult three-game swing through California on Tuesday; Washington, which is two points shy of postseason position (74 points, ninth place), will face Anaheim, the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks over the course of five days. After a four-game losing streak, the Ducks will be seeking their third straight victory. Forward Kyle Palmieri has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past two games. Florida Panthers at San Jose Sharks -- It's the start of a tough stretch for the Panthers, who head west for four games against the top four teams in the Pacific Division. Forward Brandon Pirri, recently acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks, has two goals and three assists in his past four games. Winners of eight of their past 10 games, the Sharks have tied the Anaheim Ducks atop the Pacific Division with 97 points. The Sharks are 21-6-3 against Eastern Conference teams, and Tuesday marks their 12th straight game against Eastern teams (9-1-1). 6. NHL.com – Capitals F Brooks Laich expected to miss rest of regular season after groin muscle surgery

The Canadian Press

Washington Capitals forward Brooks Laich is expected to miss the rest of the regular season after having an operation on a groin muscle. The Capitals announced Monday on Twitter that Laich "underwent a successful procedure to release a tight adductor," which is part of the groin. The team said a full recovery usually takes four to six weeks. Washington's last regular-season game is April 13. Laich missed two of the past three games for Washington, which entered Monday ninth in the Eastern Conference, one spot out of a playoff berth. He has eight goals and seven assists this season. Hampered by a groin injury, Laich only played in nine games last season. The Capitals play Tuesday at the Anaheim Ducks.

7. NHL.com – Leafs say goalie Bernier has groin strain, believed to be day-to-day

The Canadian Press

Toronto goaltender Jonathan Bernier has a groin strain and is "believed to be day-to-day," the Maple Leafs said Monday. The team posted an update on Bernier from head coach Randy Carlyle on its Twitter account. The injury was revealed when Bernier underwent an MRI earlier Monday. Bernier left Thursday's game against the Kings and was replaced by James Reimer, who stopped every shot he faced to pick up the 3-2 victory. Bernier has a 25-16-7 record with a 2.64 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and a shutout in his first season with Toronto. 8. NHL.com – Penguins' Letang back at practice after stroke

Wes Crosby

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang returned to practice Monday less than two months after having a stroke. After his latest battery of tests doctors cleared Letang, the 26-year-old defenseman was not limited in any way throughout the session and spent multiple drills alongside defenseman Rob Scuderi, who he has been paired with when healthy. Two weeks ago, Letang said he was unsure if he would be able to return this season, saying he is targeting "day by day" as opposed to a specific return date. It's still not clear if he'll return this season, but his tune has changed concerning that possibility. "There's no doubt in my mind [his goal is to return his season]," Letang said. "Even the day I got the stroke, I asked the doctor when I'm going to be able to play again. So there's no doubt about it. If I'm on the ice today, it's because I want to return." Letang said he was tired after the hour-long practice but felt good on the ice. He said doctors did not determine if the hole in his heart found after he had the stroke was its cause. Letang was taken off blood thinners after a test determined it was safe to do so last week. He said his teammates were hesitant to be physical with him Monday, but he urged them to hit him because he wanted the contact. Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said he didn't think there was any risk of Letang further harming himself during practice. He also said the level Letang practiced at surprised him. "I'm barely capable of understanding what [the doctors] tell me, let alone trying to make decisions. So I'm not really a part of it," Bylsma said. "To see him back out there … we did a drill and I'm offering resistance and to see Kris Letang coming with that speed, I was like 'Wow, haven't seen that in a lot of cases from our team.' "So to see him back out there and skating and playing like he can, that's where my mind was [Monday]. Not any trepidation about things I don't know that much about." The Penguins have gone 7-5-2 in 14 games since Letang left the lineup.

Letang, a 2013 Norris Trophy finalist, has 10 goals and 18 points in 34 games, but has missed 33 due to various injuries. Scuderi, who was paired with defenseman Deryk Engelland in Pittsburgh's 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, said he was glad to see Letang back on the ice. He also said that although six weeks seems like a short time to recover from a stroke, he was not surprised by Letang's return. "It was unfortunate because we were really just starting to get a chemistry there," Scuderi said. "We played two or three real good games in a row, and you start to feel like things are going to turn and the team is going to be healthy and we can get this thing going, but obviously it's a pretty serious thing that happened to him. "You want to make sure his health is the focal point, but at the same time it would be nice if we could get more time together. So if he returns soon I think there's plenty of time." Forwards Chris Kunitz (lower body) and James Neal (concussion) also practiced Monday after missing Pittsburgh's weekend losses to the Flyers, but it has not been announced if they will play against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Forward Beau Bennett (wrist/hand), who had been limited in recent practices, also was cleared for full practice starting Monday. The Penguins, who have lost 413 man games to injury, could benefit from some key players getting healthy. Neal said it was a boost just to have some practice. "Getting [Kunitz] back and Beau and [Letang], it feels a lot better out there," Neal said. "Those are big guys that are a big part of our team. So get them back and we'll be feeling good." Bennett, who has missed 55 games in his second NHL season, said he has seen Letang around the Penguins' facilities over the past month more than most other players since both are injured. "He's great to have around in the dressing room," Bennett said. "It's great having him around and I'm glad to see he's doing well. I think [several players returning] is good for the coaches. It's fun to be a part of and hopefully we're at full strength pretty soon here." Doctors told Letang the chance of him sustaining a second stroke is 0.01 percent, he said. Letang said that possibility does not worry him. "I was not worried when it happened. It never crossed my mind I could have a stroke at 26," Letang said. "But if I'm worried, I'm going to step out there and it's going to happen. I'm not going to worry about that." 9. NHL.com – Stars' Lehtonen appears set for return from concussion as team sends Nilstorp back to

minors

The Canadian Press

The Dallas Stars have sent goaltender Cristopher Nilstorp back to the Texas Stars of the AHL, a sign that starter Kari Lehtonen is ready to return from a concussion. Lehtonen was injured in a 4-3 win over Minnesota on March 8 when Erik Haula ran him over and knocked off his helmet. He went through his first full practice Friday.

Tim Thomas made four starts in Lehtonen's place, including a game against Columbus that was postponed when Stars forward Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench in the first period. Thomas was acquired from Florida a day before the trading deadline. Thomas was pulled from Sunday's 7-2 loss at Winnipeg after allowing his fourth goal on 17 shots just 29 seconds into the second period. Nilstorp finished the game. 10. NHL.com – Bobrovsky, Okposo, Niemi named 'Stars' of week

NHL.com

Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, New York Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo and San Jose Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi have been named the NHL's "Three Stars" for the week ending March 16. FIRST STAR – SERGEI BOBROVSKY, G, COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS Bobrovsky posted a 2-0-1 record with a 1.58 goals-against average and .950 save percentage to help the Blue Jackets (35-26-6, 76 points) gain five of a possible six points and move into third place in the Metropolitan Division. He began the week by making 39 saves in a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings March 11. Bobrovsky then turned aside 24 shots and denied 1-of-2 shootout attempts in a 4-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks March 13. He capped the week by making 32 saves and stopping 2-of-4 shootout attempts in a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild March 15. The 25-year-old native of Novokuznetsk, Russia, is 26-16-4 with a 2.46 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and three shutouts in 46 appearances this season, including an 18-5-2 mark with a 2.13 goals-against average, .932 save percentage and two shutouts in his last 25 outings dating to Nov. 29. SECOND STAR – KYLE OKPOSO, RW, NEW YORK ISLANDERS Okposo led all players with seven points (1-6—7), including three consecutive multi-point performances, to power the Islanders (26-34-9, 61 points) to a pair of wins in three outings. He matched a career high with three assists in a 7-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks March 10. Okposo then added two helpers in a 4-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks March 14 before capping the week with 1-1—2, his 21st multi-point performance of the season, in a 4-1 triumph over the Buffalo Sabres March 15. The 25-year-old native of St. Paul, Minn., is tied for fourth in the NHL with 69 points in 68 games this season, and has already established single-season career highs in goals (27), assists (42) and points while leading the Islanders in each category. THIRD STAR – ANTTI NIEMI, G, SAN JOSE SHARKS Niemi picked up three wins in three starts, posting a 1.67 goals-against average, .950 save percentage and one shutout to help the Sharks (45-17-7, 97 points) extend their winning streak to six games and keep pace with the Ducks (45-16-7, 97 points) in the race for the Pacific Division crown. He began the week by making 19 saves in a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs March 11. After posting 35 saves in a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders March 14, Niemi then stopped all 41 shots he faced in recording his 27th career shutout in a 1-0 triumph over the New York Rangers March 16. The 30-year-old native of Vantaa, Finland, is tied for the League lead with 34 victories this season and has compiled a 2.33 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and four shutouts in 54 appearances. 11. CBCsports.ca – 30 Thoughts: Changing odds in NHL draft lottery

Elliotte Friedman

The NHL is considering two intriguing changes to its draft lottery.

Last season, the league opened up winning the No. 1 pick to all 14 non-playoff teams. Previously, only the five-worst teams had a shot. But no one feared moving down more than one position, meaning the 30th-place club could select no lower than second. That protection is in peril. As we head towards a 2015 draft with two talents that have scouts drooling -- Jack Eichel and Connor McDavid -- the NHL is considering a system that could see the lottery going beyond just the No. 1 overall choice. There are discussions about having the top three picks, or even the top five, selected this way. Although odds would continue to favour those teams with the fewest points, a decision to go in this direction would mean the worst team could potentially pick fourth -- or sixth. Currently, the last-place squad gets a 25 per cent chance of snaring the top choice, with the best non-playoff finisher at 0.5 per cent. That may be different, too. What we're looking at here is a system where the odds would be weighted by how positions 17 through 30 in the NHL standings finish over a five-year period relative to the final playoff qualifier. The exact formula is not yet determined. But one of the potential scenarios is something like this: If you go back over the last five seasons (2008-09 to 2012-13), you can easily check how close those teams ranked 17-30 came to making the playoffs. The 30th-place finishers (Edmonton Oilers twice, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, New York Islanders) were a combined 131 points out. Overall, the 70 non-playoff teams totalled 693 points behind during that span. I assume the NHL would want to use the current season to make each year's lottery as relevant as possible. So if this were the league's method of choice, it can only be used as a comparison to the 2013 odds. Anyway, 131 is 18.9 per cent of 693. That would give the 30th-place team an 18.9 per cent shot at the top selection, down from the current 25 per cent. It would be a "rolling" five-year period. As you moved into the next season, the oldest would be dropped. However, there is one pothole. In 2011, the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames, who missed the playoffs, finished ahead of the New York Rangers, who made it. In 2010, the St. Louis Blues, Flames and Anaheim Ducks were above the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens. And in 2009, the Florida Panthers beat out St. Louis, Columbus and Anaheim. Therefore, the teams who finished 17th overall were actually four points better than the last playoff team. That would have to be addressed. It's interesting stuff. No one wanted to use the word "tanking." But there is concern about how competitive things will be with McDavid and Eichel available next summer. If you're an owner or a general manager, would the adoption of this policy change the way you approach the 2014-15 season? 30 THOUGHTS 1. Some other tidbits from the GM meetings. As Glenn Healy reported on Hockey Night Hotstove, there may be no more "lists" of shooters at the start of shootouts. For one thing, it will make things faster. A second benefit is coaches won't be locked in if they want to change strategy, depending on what happens with each team's first attempt. 2. The proposed fine for NHL teams who illegally test draft-eligible prospects is $250,000.

3. One tweeter asked if a top prospect could refuse to attend the combine and solely work out for a particular team or two. This is similar to the NBA process in which a player who knows he is going to be drafted high may refuse to work out for teams picking too low. The answer is no. If a player is invited to the NHL event and refuses to work out, teams cannot do their own physical testing and on-ice work. 4. Of the proposed changes being sent to the competition committee, the one I can see having trouble with the players is moving the centres back 12-18 inches after the first violation on a faceoff. Currently, the offender is kicked out of the circle and replaced with someone else. There's already grumbling and it's likely good faceoff teams (eg. San Jose Sharks, one of the teams targeted by this proposal) would wish to protect the advantage. There's also concern about adding another subjective call to the rulebook while changing hashmarks and switching ends in overtime are much more black and white. 5. Check out Alex Galchenyuk's goal from Montreal's 2-0 win over the Rangers on Oct. 28. NHL senior vice-president Colin Campbell sent video of it to 11 GMs the next day and the vote came back 6-5 on whether or not it should have counted. What the league is looking for is a way to make it so that the rule is clearer, that we can all look at it and know the answer -- without, of course, guys recklessly swinging their skate blades. 6. There is a pretty interesting difference of opinion on expanded video review and/or coach's challenges. Some GMs believe we're a year away, wanting to make sure the process is fully prepared to prevent embarrassment. Others are really against it. One of the problems is the lack of consensus on who should make the final call: the referees with a monitor in the penalty box or the war room with better technology. 7. There's a second problem, too, and it has to do with the idea of video review on a judgment call like goalie interference. Take all of the referees and all of the league's hockey operations people and say, "Here's an example. What's your thinking?" How many different interpretations do you get? Five? 10? 50? One GM said it came up in the meeting that, if the NHL goes this route, maybe only one or two people are allowed to make this type of ruling for consistency's sake. 8. On controversial and confusing nights like last Saturday, when the Ottawa Senators lost 5-4 in OT at Montreal, I wish the referees could agree to speak to a pool reporter (like Major League Baseball allows with umpires) to explain their thought process. If I was in their skates, I would want the opportunity if there was a perfectly legitimate reason why things unfolded as they did. If not, ask Jim Joyce how much perception of him changed for the better when he stood up and admitted an error. 9. Now that the Buffalo Sabres have collected prospects and draft picks, look for them to start building some professional blocks. GM Tim Murray said the team will begin conversations with potential restricted free agents Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno, gauging their interest in signing long-term. 10. Asked about other teams being interested in Tyler Myers, Murray said there was no offer remotely close enough to make him consider dealing either Myers or Christian Ehrhoff. The GM added the "cap recapture" possibilities at the end of Ehrhoff's contract (eg., a $10-million penalty if he retires with one year remaining) are a concern and affect trade scenarios. 11. One of the reasons Nicklas Jensen is suddenly hot? He was recently moved back to his off-wing at AHL Utica. Jensen's a lefty shot yet his three NHL goals all came from the centre-to-right side of the offensive zone. That's where he played overseas. Jensen started on his strong side this season. Good call to put him back. 12. I covered Markus Naslund's reaction to the rumours involving Vancouver here. If Canucks GM Mike Gillis wants Naslund and Naslund wants to commit full-time, here's a way to do it: Naslund becomes GM and the face of the franchise; Gillis and his braintrust (Laurence Gilman, Lorne Henning, Stan Smyl) teach him how to do the job; Naslund's role evolves as he gains experience. It could work.

13. As Patrick Roy prepares for another emotional return to Montreal, here is Matt Duchene when asked to compare him with Mike Babcock: "Everything they do is about winning. [Babcock] is more serious during practices ... Roy jokes a little. He'll skate in, laugh and score on the rebounds during drills. But during games, they're all business. Two of the best coaches I've ever played for." Duchene, by the way, also mentioned his junior coach, Stan Butler. 14. Duchene's story about Roy in practice reminded me of a favourite moment. I was in Ottawa years ago and the Senators were doing a fun shootout competition. Brian McGrattan was stopped initially by Dominik Hasek a couple of times but shot the rebounds, which didn't count. Hasek got mad and said something to him. I asked another player about it, who checked and came back laughing. He said Hasek asked McGrattan not to do it and, when it continued, told the forward he would not get another goal in practice all year. 15. For all the criticism the Flyers take about contract decisions, remember this: Sean Couturier and Matt Read manhandled the Pittsburgh Penguins' best players twice in 24 hours. The duo is signed for the next two years at a combined salary-cap hit of $5.375 million. 16. The story's been in this blog before, but approximately five years ago, Philly wanted Jay Bouwmeester from Florida and the Panthers asked for Claude Giroux -- before the current Flyers captain was an established player. Paul Holmgren said no, a franchise-altering move. Someday, we're going to find out how many times he said no about Couturier. The Los Angeles Kings asked for sure last summer, when Jonathan Bernier was on the move, but the Flyers said no dice. I don't know how much Couturier will score, but he's an elite shutdown player. 17. A scout on Evgeny Kuznetsov's first week: "Two years ago, I thought he was the best player outside the NHL. He was a hard competitor, wanted the puck and you knew he wouldn't shy away from a North American game. Hadn't seen him in awhile, so you wonder if he lost that. The answer sure appears to be no." 18. A GM who watched Kuznetsov at the world juniors in 2012, when he was named tournament MVP, was asked what he'd be looking for: "The talent is there. He is a premier prospect. He got away with doing things on his own ... so my question was about sharing the puck at the next level. You need the hockey sense to do it. He didn't have to, he was so much better than anyone else. You can't carry the puck from one end to the other every night in NHL." Kuznetsov shared nicely last Friday, earning three assists as the Washington Capitals edged Vancouver, 4-3. 19. As for Corban Knight, who scored the shootout winner in Calgary's 4-3 victory at Dallas last Friday, the Flames feel a fight really jumpstarted his season in AHL Abbotsford. Knight was working hard. But he was a touch tentative and unsure when the scrap happened towards the end of January. I don't think they want him doing it too often. But after that, it was, like, "OK, that's over with and not so bad. Let's go." The Flames were worried about rushing him. But as his play improved and so many were getting called up due to injury, they felt he deserved a taste of the NHL. 20. The Phoenix Coyotes, too, have a good one in Brandon Gormley. He played 13 minutes his NHL debut at Tampa Bay on March 10, then he got a key shift late to help close a 3-1 victory over Florida. Against the Lightning, he saw Steven Stamkos come on the ice and thought, "Bet coach is going to take me off." But Dave Tippett left him out there. 21. Truth is, Gormley was probably ready for the NHL earlier than last week. But Phoenix, with an excess of blue-line contracts, had to keep him in the AHL. Gormley said it allowed him to wean some bad habits from his game: "Things you could get away with in junior ... letting guys go down the boards, stick position. Can't always hurt you there. But you can't do it here." 22. For a long time, the Coyotes' trade target was a centre. But with Martin Hanzal, Mike Ribeiro and Antoine Vermette all under contract for at least another year -- and Max Domi coming -- that may not be priority No. 1.

They've had some weird games (for them), struggling to lock down the kinds of leads smothered for years. They've got a talented blue-line (and Gormley isn't the only one coming), but feel they're missing another Adrian Aucoin or Michal Rozsival-type defender. 23. About any potential Nail Yakupov trade: What does Oilers owner Daryl Katz think? It's believed he was the driving force behind the decision to draft Yakupov ahead of Ryan Murray. When things looked bleak earlier this season, there were rumours Katz wasn't thrilled about trading him. 24. Watch Carey Price last Saturday, I was reminded of an old Marc Bergevin story. He was playing for Tampa Bay when Wayne Gretzky returned to L.A.'s lineup after an injury. The Lightning won because the other Kings relaxed, expecting Gretzky to win it. Montreal snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with that wild 5-4 comeback against Ottawa, then was much more disciplined in shutting out Buffalo on a magical night for Dustin Tokarski. Price is superb, but you've got to be good in front of him, too. 25. It's interesting to watch Michel Therrien and J.J. Daigneault deploy ice-time among Canadiens defencemen since Josh Gorges' injury. Francis Bouillon, who hadn't played in a month, is four minutes 27 seconds over his season average of 17:26 in those games. Alexei Emelin is up 2:18 and Jarred Tinordi up 1:42, while Andrei Markov is down 15 seconds. P.K. Subban was down 1:31 before playing 28:55 on Saturday and 26:41 on Sunday, including a shift that lasted 3:19. He's now up 10 seconds. 26. A scout on the Chicago Blackhawks prior to Sunday's 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings: "There's a bit of boredom there. They've been through this before." No doubt Blackhawks head coach Joe Quenneville will try to beat that out of them. 27. Earlier this season, Rob Blake told Hockey Night After Hours that he feels Drew Doughty's candidacy for the Norris Trophy as top defenceman is hurt by playing in the Western Conference. Does Doughty feel he is undiscovered? "I do," he said during the Olympics. "People don't see what I do night in and night out in L.A. ... It's my job on that team to be the best defenceman on the ice every night ... I can't control if I get noticed and put up for the Norris Trophy and things like that. I just go out there and play my game and whatever happens happens from there." 28. Is the Norris Trophy important to Doughty? "Yeah, it is," he said. "I do want to win that. I had a little taste my second year in the league, I think I came third or something like that. Duncan Keith actually won it that year ... Last couple of years, I haven't really been in the talk for it ... It doesn't make me mad. But it makes me hungry and makes me want to get back in the mix, [to] be talked about as one of the top defencemen in the league." Mission accomplished. 29. Doughty is a fiercely competitive guy. Asked to pick the most competitive person on a Canadian Olympic team full of alpha males, he chose himself. 30. Last tidbit from my Sochi notebook (yes, I just finished unpacking). I asked Ilya Kovalchuk if he'll ever return to the NHL. He laughed, said his KHL contract is up in three years and we'll see. He'll be 33 years old then.

– FLYERS –