Flyers at Red Wings Preview

The Flyers were unable to take care of the Rangers on Sunday, allowing three power play goals to one of the league's worst power play units. While the officiating was questionable, the Flyers are going to have to get back to their more disciplined play very quickly if they want to have a chance against the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings boast the best power play in the league, so the Flyers will have to do everything they can to stay out of the box and when they do find themselves a man down, they must kill off the penalties effectively. It will be especially important not to take penalties in the beginning of the game.

For as good as the Detroit power play is, their penalty killing is the opposite. They have the 26th ranked penalty kill, which is surprising considering they have tremendous two way players in Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. The Flyers will have to cash in on their lately stagnant power play to give them a better chance at taking the game.

The Red Wings are good. They easily have the most potent offense in the league. The Flyers' starter, Martin Biron, is going to have to pick up where he left off with the Rangers. The Red Wings fire a lot of shots, so Biron will have to be on his toes the entire game. Marty may have to come up with a 40-save performance tonight.

Like their penalty kill, the Wings' defense isn't quite where the offense is. They're ranked in the lower half of the league in goals against per game. Chris Osgood looks like he'll be getting the start tonight, and although his record is excellent, his goals against average and save percentage are, well, pretty bad. He's got a GAA of 3.17 and a save percentage of .883. Despite this, he's had two shutouts in his last 4 starts...but he's also given up 7 goals in the game against the Blue Jackets in that time as well.

The last time the Flyers played the Red Wings, two years ago, they actually beat them down pretty well. That game was played in Philly. This game will be played at the Joe where the Flyers haven't won in almost forever. They'll have their work cut out for them. The Red Wings, though, have given up 8 goals in two separate games over the past few weeks, so it seems as though they're in a period where they'll lay an egg once in awhile. The Flyers have faired alright against the elite teams in the league this year, so I'll be very surprised if the Red Wings make a laugher out of this game.

The three players you have to watch tonight for the Flyers are Martin Biron, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter. We all know why Biron has to be on top of his game, but Richards and Carter are going to have to match up against Zetterberg and Datsyuk and contain them as best as they can. Maybe this will be the game where the line of Giroux, Carcillo, and Briere (and possibly Asham) will shine. They'll need the extra offense from the two lower lines.

Should be a great game and I'm anxious to see how the Flyers stack up against an elite team like the Red Wings.