Broad Street Return – Jets v Flyers

 

Tonight the Jets are back in action after a couple of days of playing the Philadelphia Flyers in Philly. Once again the Jets face a team playing the second game of a back to back. Last Saturday they faced the Hurricanes in the same scenario and took it to Carolina. Tonight will be a much tougher test.

The Flyers come into this game after being pummeled by Montreal in shocking fashion last night. Ilya Bryzgalov took the loss and suddenly he has a 3-3-1 record with a bloated 3.16 GAA and .884 SV%. Jaromir Jagr has found instant chemistry with center Claude Giroux and now has 8 points in 9 games with 3 goals in the last two games. Giroux leads the team in scoring with 10 points.

Philadelphia and top defenseman Chris Pronger narrowly avoided a tragedy recently against Toronto when he was accidentally high sticked by Mikhail Grabovsky on Saturday. The news is surprisingly good considering how ugly it looked. Pronger is expected to be back in two-three weeks and must be thanking his lucky stars. His presence will be certainly be missed by the Flyers and is a bonus for a Jets team desperate for a road win.

 

Andrej Pavelec will get the start tonight after 5 periods off while Chris Mason played some excellent hockey. It will be interesting to see if Pavelec responds to the challenge, as Mason’s numbers are now far superior; admittedly with a smaller sample size. Pavelec was not to blame for the two quick goals Carolina scored against him but the team rebounded with Mason once he was pulled.

 

Alex Burmistrov continues to be the best forward on the Jets and leads the team in scoring with 7 points in 8 games. His line has been juggled but he is still playing with Nik Antropov who is second on the team in scoring. Tobias Enstrom leads the blue liners with 4 points in 8 games and is a respectable +1. Expect a big game tonight from Dustin Byfuglien. Philly are not the bruisers that their reputation suggests, but they do love to get in the on fore check and cause problems for the opposition.

 

The Jets are still in the basement in the East but could move to 12^th tonight with a win. In fact, despite their slow start, the Jets are only 4 points out of 8^th place so all is not lost for hopeful Jets fans. That being said they are starting a nasty road trip that spans 7 games and they have to come home with 6 points or more or they will be behind the eight ball.

 

Game tonight goes at 6.00 CST and will be on TSN