For the second and final time this season, the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers, will meet tonight in a highly physical matchup. Philadelphia remembers all too well the 7-2 beat down, Chicago put on them at the United Center in December.
Things are a little different though this time of year.
Chicago is coming off a much needed win against Detroit Sunday, while Philadelphia is in top gear, beating Pittsburgh this weekend in a home-home series.
Philadelphia has been hot as of late, going 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, and coming off a weekend sweep of the Penguins.
The Flyers are in a battle for one of the many playoff seeds up for grabs out east. They have 77 pts, which is second in the Metropolitian Division, but they are just one point ahead of the final playoff spot (76pts New York Rangers).
It does not help that they face one of the toughest schedules down the stretch, but make no mistake the Flyers are making no excuses.
“We don’t want to finish eighth or seventh,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux said after a 4-0 shutout win Saturday against the Penguins. “We want to finish higher. We want home-ice advantage. It’s there for us to take but we have to keep playing like this.”
They face their 2010 Stanley Cup opponent Blackhawks tonight at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly.
The Flyers will have to be careful with the Blackhawks tonight, captain Jonathan Towes has goals in two straight games and five goals in the past five games.
Ex-Blackhawk Ray Emery gets the nod in goal tonight for the Flyers. Expect Ray to be busy all night, as Chicago boasts one of the most powerful offenses in the league (3.32 goals/game).
Emery is returning from a lower-body injury, and is making his first appearance since February 27th.
At home down the stretch, the Flyers know that they can not afford to lose any games at home. Expect that trend hold, as Emery gets revenge against his former team.
12 of the Flyers’ final 15 games are against teams that started the week holding a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Their next five games are, Chicago, Dallas, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and @NYRangers. The flyers must break even at the very worst during that four game homestand.
Game Pick: Flyers (+1.5 to be safe, ML is my pick)
Photo Credits: Getty Images
