Puck Previews: Devils seek road record against Flyers
(Ed. Note: Ye olde editing program crashed across the Y! blogs. Sorry this is late.)
Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.
Preview: New Jersey Devils at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m. EST. A win in Philly gives the Devils a 10-0-0 start on the road, tying a Buffalo Sabres‘ mark from 2006. Ah, the catch: Martin Brodeur(notes) has lost five of six starts against the Bullies and his last three at Wachovia Center. Should be a good one; enjoy it, everyone but DirecTV subscribers.
Preview: Anaheim Ducks at Pittsburgh Penguins, 7:30 p.m. EST. Due to injuries, the Penguins’ top defensive pairing right now is Mark Eaton(notes) and Jay McKee(notes), who aren’t exactly Lidstrom and Rafalski when it comes to puck-moving defensemen. Fed up by constant visitations by the injury bug, Pensburgh presents the Top 9 Penguins Injuries That Have Yet To Occur. J.S. Giguere gets the nod for the Ducks, and Kyle Calder(notes) is expected to be in the lineup.
Check out the Y! Sports scores and schedule page for previews of the other games tonight.
Evening Reading
• From Kevin Allen of USA Today: "Frightening stat of week: Hurricanes on pace for 43 points. We haven’t seen a NHL team under 52 since expansion Atlanta had 39 in 1999-00." [@kausatoday]
• One man’s take on the USA Hockey roster for 2010. [Pete Prose]
• Fantastic read by Eric Duhatschek on Wayne Gretzky and his sabbatical from hockey. [Globe & Mail]
• Could Jonathan Cheechoo(notes) of the Ottawa Senators be done at 29? [Kennedy]
• Tuukka Rask(notes) gets the start for the Boston Bruins against the New York Islanders. [NESN]
• Meanwhile, huge start tonight for Mike Smith(notes) as Antero Niittymaki(notes) rides the pine for the first time in six games for the Tampa Bay Lightning. [Bolts Report]
• Interesting marketing pitch from the Lightning, by the way, as they ask for photos from fans around the world. [Raw Charge]
Puck Buddy Comment of the Day: From Mat M., commenting on the "Toronto Maple Lefas" fan photo:
The Leafs spell their name wrong anyway. They should be the Leaves.
True dat.
Bold Prediction: There’s a shutout in the Oilers/Jackets game, and Nikolai Khabibulin(notes) pitches it. (Predicted before the game, we’ll have you know.)
