Philadelphia Flyers vs Boston Bruins: odds seem even but Bruins have higher stakes-NHL Preview
The Philadelphia Flyers will certainly be looking to consolidate their lead towards the top slot on the league’s points table from the Easter Conference when they meet the hosts, Boston Bruins, in their fourth and last game of the current National Hockey
League (NHL) regular season on Saturday, March 17, 2012.
Flyers are just six points behind the conference leaders, the New York Rangers, and with a dozen more games to play this season they are said to be aiming to beat Rangers on the points table well before then.
The right wing, Claude Giroux, has spoken of the team’s serious intent of finishing the season on top. He said:
"Our main goal is always to finish first. But at the same time, our main focus is ourselves. We can't really control what the Rangers and Pittsburgh do. I think it's important that we stay focused on what we have to do and don't worry about the other teams."
If they win on the weekend, they will go past the Pittsburgh Penguins (91) with score at 93 points. This will leave them only two points behind Rangers.
However, Bruins game might not be a free fall for them and the team must be mindful of the fact that the Boston Bruins have toppled them in two of last three games they have played between them this year.
Most importantly, both victories had come in Philadelphia, the team failing to capitalise on the home advantage.
Yet the edge of the favourable historical record can come to Flyers advantage and help them making the current season record to two wins each, by inflicting a defeat on the opposition.
Also, a notable problem for Bruins is their latest injury scares. As a result of this, they have lost some of their star players including their netminder.
Meanwhile, the centre, Rich Peverley, who managed to skate on his own on Friday, March 15, 2012 after returning from a sprained knee, will be the key to Bruins performance.
If the player is able to make it to the squad for the weekend game, as their coach expects, it will be a great boost to Bruins line-up, and will improve their chances for victory.
The coach, Claude Julien, said:
"He started skating Wednesday, so anybody who gets on the ice at this point is an encouraging sign. I don't know where he is, exactly, in his recovery, because I haven't been told by the trainers that he's close to coming back yet."
For Flyers, the goaltender, Ilya Bryzgalov’s role will assumes greater importance on the weekend. He might not be able to defend his shutout streak but will certainly prove worthy in overall form of the team.
So, by and large, odds seem to be even for Flyers-Bruins game, but the win is more important for Bruins, because they are just four points of ahead of the last/8th position holders, the Washington Capitals, in the Eastern Conference. A loss could
helped Capitals to catch up on with them.
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