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Thursday, 08 December 2011 11:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Flyers.

When and where: 7 p.m. Wells Fargo Center.

TV: Root Sports, CSN Philadelphia, NHL Network (United States outside the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia markets).

Record: 16-7-3, 35 points. The Flyers are in fourth place of the Eastern Conference and second place in the Atlantic Division.

Leading Scorer: Claude Giroux, 36 points (16 goals, 10 assists).

Last Game: 5-4 overtime road win against the Sabres, last night. Giroux had a overtime goal and three assists for the Flyers.

Last Game against the Penguins: 5-2 road win, March 29, 2011. Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves for the Penguins.

Flyers Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Jaromir Jagr (right). The ex-Penguins captain enters the game on a five-game scoring streak against his former team in regular season games. The streak has been dormant for three seasons since Jagr was playing in Russia.

Ex-Penguins on the Flyers: Jaromir Jagr, RW; Joe Mullen, assistant coach; Simon Nolet, scout; Maxime Talbot, C.

Ex-Flyers on the Penguins: Arron Asham, RW; Richard Park, RW; Alexandre Picard, D.

Useless Flyers Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Jagr has 22 points in 22 games with the Flyers. No player of Czech descent has a higher points per game average in Flyers history (1.00). Yes, we know. That was a stretch.

Best Flyers Video We Could Find: This is more of a Penguins video, but its arguably the greatest regular season goal in Penguins history. Jagr beating Philadelphia's Ron Hextall from his left hip:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (14-5-2, 2.16 GAA, .921 SV%) for the Penguins. The Flyers have not announced if Sergei Bobrovsky (11-5-2, 2.89 GAA, .897 SV%) or Ilya Bryzgalov (11-5-2, 2.82 GAA, .905 SV%) will start.

Injuries: For the Penguins, defenseman Deryk Engelland ("lower body") and right wing Richard Park (undisclosed) are day to day. Center Sidney Crosby (head) and Zbynek Michalek (head) are out. Defensemen Kris Letang (head), Ben Lovejoy (left wrist), Brian Strait (elbow), center Dustin Jeffrey (knee) and left winger Steve MacIntyre (undisclosed) are on injured reserve. For the Flyers, center Luke Schenn ("upper-body") is questionable. Defensemen Erik Gustafsson (wrist), Andreas Lilja (high ankle sprain), Chris Pronger (left knee), center Blair Betts ("lower-body") and right winger Ian Laperriere (head) are on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: Given Crosby's recent injury, this is a complete guess at their lines and defensive pairings:

Steve Sullivan - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Chris Kunitz - Jordan Staal - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Joe Vitale - Pascal Dupuis
Arron Asham - Richard Park - Craig Adams

Brooks Orpik - Matt Niskanen
Simon Despres - Paul Martin
Alexandre Picard - Robert Bortuzzo

-The Flyers primary lines and defensive pairings against the Sabres last night were:

Scott Hartnell - Claude Giroux - Jaromir Jagr
James van Riemsdyk - Daniel Briere - Wayne Simmonds
Matt Read - Maxime Talbot - Jakub Voracek
Harry Zolnierczyk - Sean Couturier - Zac Rinaldo

Kimmo Timonen - Braydon Coburn
Matt Carle - Marc-Andre Bourdon
Andrej Meszaros - Kevin Marshall

Notes:

-Crosby will miss the next two games as a precaution.

-"There's no 'if' in life when you choose." - Jagr.

-The Flyers had to overcome a three-goal deficit to win last night.

-Talbot compares Giroux to Crosby (right).

-Van Riemsdyk returned to the lineup last night after being sidelined two weeks due to an abdominal injury.

-Orpik (532 games) needs one game to tie Ron Francis (533) for 10th-most games in franchise history (PG+).

-Engelland has appeared in 99 career games.

-Dupuis has 298 career points.

-Asham has 198 career points.

-Orpik has 97 career points.

-Park has 97 career goals.

-Martin has 196 career points.

-Picard has 46 career assists.

-Cooke has 998 career penalty minutes.

-Our live blog, direct from the worst place on earth the City of Brotherly Love, begins at approximately 6 p.m. Please tune in.

(Photos: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Comments (1)

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written by Hobbs5, December 08, 2011 - 06:10 PM

I have a strong feeling Crosby has an undiagnosed neck problem causing the head aches. I had the very same thing happen to me, actually, it still does even after having surgery to repair it. Every time I got hit a certain way playing sports, I would get these head aches. Sometimes when there is to much knowledge involved with decision making in the medical profession, professionals over look certain things. Who knows though, maybe he just got a head ache. Would have loved to see him tonight.

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