Joined
·
6,444 Posts
Coming off of a 3-game road trip that saw them hand the Buffalo Sabres their first regulation time loss of the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs return home to face the rival Philadelphia Flyers. (7:30PM ET)
Toronto goalie Andrew Raycroft stopped 29 shots in a 4-1 victory over Buffalo, and earned one of the NHL's 3 Stars of the week with his solid play, going 3-0-0 with a 1.67 Goals Against Average and a .943 Save Percentage.
He decided to downplay the honours:
Darcy Tucker continued to own the hot hands, scoring his 10th goals of the season, and team leading 8th on the Powerplay.
Captain Mats Sundin collected 3 points in the victory over the Sabres (2G, 1A), leading by example on the ice, and now on the points list. He now has 18 points in 16 games (8G, 10A).
The Leafs are 8-5-3 in their first 16 games, 2nd in their Division and 4th in the East.
Meanwhile, the Flyers are having the worst start to their season in a decade. A 1-6-1 record saw long time Flyer fan favourite, General Manager Bobby Clarke, stepping down, and the firing of Stanley Cup winning Head Coach Ken Hitchock along with it. Since then, new Head Coach John Stevens has taken over the reigns behind the bench, but the Flyers continue to struggle by going 2-3-0 since the management changes 5 games ago, and the team posts a total 3-9-1 record through their first 13 games.
Their last game saw them allowing 4 goals in the first period from the energized Washington Capitals, in a 5-3 loss. It was Washington's first win in Philadelphia in 16 visits.
Philly Captain, Peter Forsberg, has been criticized by some for some of the decisions that he has made so far this year, and he continues to vent in what is a frustrating time for the Flyers:
Goaltender, Antero Niittymaki decided not to have surgery on a hip that had been bothering him before the season. He is posting a bloated 3.03 Goals Against Average and an .888 Save Percentage in 10 games. The Flyers didn't think they could rely on Robert Esche to carry them until Niittymaki's return (which was originally scheduled for 4 months into the season), so the Flyers Goalie decided it in the best interest of the team to put it off until the end of the season.
With Niittymaki going in and out of the starting role, back-up goalie Robert Esche has so far been proving the Flyers right, allowing 9 goals in a 9-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres 2 weeks into the season after criticising then Coach, Ken Hichcock for not playing him. He's currently showing a 5.42 Goals Against Average and .814 Save Percentage through 5 games.
The Flyers are last in their division with 7 points, and last in the NHL.
There were rumours of a possible return from Maple Leafs Defenceman Pavel Kubina for tonight's game in Philly, but so far it seems more likely that he'll be a go against Boston on Thursday.
Toronto goalie Andrew Raycroft stopped 29 shots in a 4-1 victory over Buffalo, and earned one of the NHL's 3 Stars of the week with his solid play, going 3-0-0 with a 1.67 Goals Against Average and a .943 Save Percentage.
He decided to downplay the honours:
He has now dropped his Goals Against Average to 2.87 and has a .904 Save Percentage.Andrew Raycroft said:"It doesn't matter, this week would have been exactly the same if I had been the 50th star of the week. No big deal. It's a nice honour, it's cool to be recognized but it doesn't mean anything."
Darcy Tucker continued to own the hot hands, scoring his 10th goals of the season, and team leading 8th on the Powerplay.
Captain Mats Sundin collected 3 points in the victory over the Sabres (2G, 1A), leading by example on the ice, and now on the points list. He now has 18 points in 16 games (8G, 10A).
The Leafs are 8-5-3 in their first 16 games, 2nd in their Division and 4th in the East.
Meanwhile, the Flyers are having the worst start to their season in a decade. A 1-6-1 record saw long time Flyer fan favourite, General Manager Bobby Clarke, stepping down, and the firing of Stanley Cup winning Head Coach Ken Hitchock along with it. Since then, new Head Coach John Stevens has taken over the reigns behind the bench, but the Flyers continue to struggle by going 2-3-0 since the management changes 5 games ago, and the team posts a total 3-9-1 record through their first 13 games.
Their last game saw them allowing 4 goals in the first period from the energized Washington Capitals, in a 5-3 loss. It was Washington's first win in Philadelphia in 16 visits.
Philly Captain, Peter Forsberg, has been criticized by some for some of the decisions that he has made so far this year, and he continues to vent in what is a frustrating time for the Flyers:
Simon Hagne leads the team with 7 goals and 10 Points (4 in his last 3), while Defenceman Joni Pitkanen has 8 assists.Peter Forsberg said:''We talked about having a good start, and we came out down 4-1. To be honest, we aren't playing good enough to win any hockey games, either. Right now it's just a tough time and if you don't work hard, we're not going to get out of it.''
Goaltender, Antero Niittymaki decided not to have surgery on a hip that had been bothering him before the season. He is posting a bloated 3.03 Goals Against Average and an .888 Save Percentage in 10 games. The Flyers didn't think they could rely on Robert Esche to carry them until Niittymaki's return (which was originally scheduled for 4 months into the season), so the Flyers Goalie decided it in the best interest of the team to put it off until the end of the season.
With Niittymaki going in and out of the starting role, back-up goalie Robert Esche has so far been proving the Flyers right, allowing 9 goals in a 9-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres 2 weeks into the season after criticising then Coach, Ken Hichcock for not playing him. He's currently showing a 5.42 Goals Against Average and .814 Save Percentage through 5 games.
The Flyers are last in their division with 7 points, and last in the NHL.
There were rumours of a possible return from Maple Leafs Defenceman Pavel Kubina for tonight's game in Philly, but so far it seems more likely that he'll be a go against Boston on Thursday.