After almost a week of waiting around and drinking on week nights without a good reason, we finally celebrate the return of playoff hockey into our lives. The Flyers and Pens face off tonight in Pittsburgh, with the game getting underway at 7:30.
A win tonight would go a long way toward building the team's confidence over the course of what's bound to be a tough series, whereas a blowout neck-stepping will make leaving Pittsburgh with a split even more difficult. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for play to get chippy. Riley Cote won't be dressing, so Georges Laraque won't have a dance partner. But Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall are never shy, nor are Jason Smith and Derian Hatcher. Surely, Jarkko Ruutu will piss someone off tonight, it's just a matter of when.
We're without Kimmo Timonen, the club's best two-way defender, who is on the ice nearly half of every game. But John Stevens has had a day to shuffle pairings and establish a new gameplan to accommodate for the loss, and this young squad peppered with veterans should react to his absence with some fire rather than a wilt.
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