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Philadelphia Flyers Daily Clips – April 20, 2011 FLYERS Headlines 1. Philadelphia Inquirer- In Pronger's absence, other defensemen have accepted the challenge for Flyers 2. Philadelphia Inquirer- Briere makes the Flyers go while raising the ire of Sabres fans 3. Philadelphia Inquirer- Game 4: Flyers at Sabres 4. Philadelphia Inquirer- Flyers Notes: Confidence guiding van Riemsdyk's physical play 5. Philadelphia Daily News- Hartnell, Flyers keeping retaliatory ways in check 6. Philadelphia Daily News- Zherdev shows up in Nik of time for Flyers 7. Philadelphia Daily News- Carle is a huge plus for Flyers 8. Philadelphia Daily News- Flyers' Hartnell part of annual charity Beard-a-thon 9. CSNPhilly.com- Sabres' goalie Miller takes verbal jab at Briere 10. CSNPhilly.com- Flyers' defense thriving in Pronger's absence 11. CSNPhilly.com- Physical Sabres trying to hit their way past Flyers 12. CSNPhilly.com- Jackson's Five: Chapter 3 in Flyers-Sabres 13. CSNPhilly.com- Flyers notes: Did the Flyers slow down the pace? 14. Delaware County Times- Sabres just can't match Flyers' talent 15. Delaware County Times- Hartnell seems to be thinking outside the box 16. Delaware County Times- Another sick Richards report is valid concern 17. Delaware County Times- Briere is the one smiling in Buffalo 18. Delaware County Times- Briere leading Flyers charge against former team 19. Bucks County Courier-Times- Hartnell does it all for Flyers 20. Camden Courier-Post- Briere sparking Flyers 21. Philadelphiaflyers.com- Boucher, Flyers go for third straight over Sabres Buffalo Sabres Headlines (FLYERS Next Opponent) 1. Buffalo News- Sabres find themselves in a familiar spot 2. Buffalo News- In a series this close, sit back and enjoy the ride 3. Buffalo News- Kaleta vows he will face Flyers in Game Four 4. Buffalo News- Game Four Scouting Report 5. Orlean Times Herald- Deficit doesn't phase battled-tested Sabres 6. Orlean Times Herald- Did Miller jab old friend Briere? Adirondack Phantoms Headlines 1. Glens Falls Post Star- Tuesday notebook — Allentown story, Holmstrom practices NHL Headlines 1. TSN.ca- NHL announces 10-year TV deal with NBC and Versus 2. TSN.ca- McKenzie: Blackhawks' Keith showing he's a leader 3. TSN.ca- Cullen: Blackhawks stay alive; Sharks rally for OT win 4. TSN.ca- Penguins' Kunitz, Tampa's Downie suspended one game FLYERS Articles

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Page 1: Philadelphia Flyers Daily Clips – April 20, 2011 FLYERS ...flyers.nhl.com/v2/ext/clips 4-20.pdf · Philadelphia Flyers Daily Clips – April 20, 2011 FLYERS Headlines 1. Philadelphia

Philadelphia Flyers Daily Clips – April 20, 2011 FLYERS Headlines 1. Philadelphia Inquirer- In Pronger's absence, other defensemen have accepted the challenge for Flyers 2. Philadelphia Inquirer- Briere makes the Flyers go while raising the ire of Sabres fans 3. Philadelphia Inquirer- Game 4: Flyers at Sabres 4. Philadelphia Inquirer- Flyers Notes: Confidence guiding van Riemsdyk's physical play 5. Philadelphia Daily News- Hartnell, Flyers keeping retaliatory ways in check 6. Philadelphia Daily News- Zherdev shows up in Nik of time for Flyers 7. Philadelphia Daily News- Carle is a huge plus for Flyers 8. Philadelphia Daily News- Flyers' Hartnell part of annual charity Beard-a-thon 9. CSNPhilly.com- Sabres' goalie Miller takes verbal jab at Briere 10. CSNPhilly.com- Flyers' defense thriving in Pronger's absence 11. CSNPhilly.com- Physical Sabres trying to hit their way past Flyers 12. CSNPhilly.com- Jackson's Five: Chapter 3 in Flyers-Sabres 13. CSNPhilly.com- Flyers notes: Did the Flyers slow down the pace? 14. Delaware County Times- Sabres just can't match Flyers' talent 15. Delaware County Times- Hartnell seems to be thinking outside the box 16. Delaware County Times- Another sick Richards report is valid concern 17. Delaware County Times- Briere is the one smiling in Buffalo 18. Delaware County Times- Briere leading Flyers charge against former team 19. Bucks County Courier-Times- Hartnell does it all for Flyers 20. Camden Courier-Post- Briere sparking Flyers 21. Philadelphiaflyers.com- Boucher, Flyers go for third straight over Sabres Buffalo Sabres Headlines (FLYERS Next Opponent) 1. Buffalo News- Sabres find themselves in a familiar spot 2. Buffalo News- In a series this close, sit back and enjoy the ride 3. Buffalo News- Kaleta vows he will face Flyers in Game Four 4. Buffalo News- Game Four Scouting Report 5. Orlean Times Herald- Deficit doesn't phase battled-tested Sabres 6. Orlean Times Herald- Did Miller jab old friend Briere? Adirondack Phantoms Headlines 1. Glens Falls Post Star- Tuesday notebook — Allentown story, Holmstrom practices NHL Headlines 1. TSN.ca- NHL announces 10-year TV deal with NBC and Versus 2. TSN.ca- McKenzie: Blackhawks' Keith showing he's a leader 3. TSN.ca- Cullen: Blackhawks stay alive; Sharks rally for OT win 4. TSN.ca- Penguins' Kunitz, Tampa's Downie suspended one game FLYERS Articles

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1. Philadelphia Inquirer- In Pronger's absence, other defensemen have accepted the challenge for Flyers Sam Carchidi There are a couple of ways to look at Chris Pronger's absence and how it has affected the Flyers' blueliners. Glass half-empty: Having Pronger sidelined for the last five weeks has increased the other defensemen's minutes and left them gassed and susceptible to mistakes. Glass half-full: The added ice time has gotten the defensemen into a rhythm and helped them play better. The Flyers, who obviously will welcome Pronger back with open arms, subscribe to the second theory, especially defensemen Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, Andrej Meszaros, and Matt Carle - the players whose playing time has risen the most because of the absence of No. 20. "It's playoff time, and as many minutes as you get, you're going to feel better," Timonen said after Tuesday's practice in Buffalo. The Flyers lead the best-of-seven series, two games to one, with Game 4 in Buffalo on Wednesday night. Timonen, who had 24 minutes, 1 second of action in Game 3, and defensive partner Coburn, who played for 23:15, were dominant in the Flyers' 4-2 win Monday. Each was plus-3, and they were on the ice for a bulk of the Flyers' key five-on-three penalty kill in the third period, the game's most pivotal sequence. "I've always been really open to the challenge of playing more minutes," said Coburn, who had four blocked shots on Monday. "You kind of get into a groove when you play more minutes. You get into a flow because you're going out there every other shift and getting lots of minutes. Sometimes when you get breaks between shifts, you get a little cooler, and it's a little harder to stay in the game that way. When you're playing a lot, your adrenaline's flowing all the time." Meszaros, who played a game-high 24:42 on Monday, and Carle agreed. "It's helping me, definitely," Meszaros said of the added minutes. "The more you're on the ice, the more chances you have to do something. We don't want to have a guy like Prongs out of the lineup. But I'm just trying to play as hard as I can and as long as I can so coaches can put me in in any situation. It's been working so far pretty good."

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"When I first came into the league, I was a five or six guy," said Carle, meaning he was on the last defensive pairing. "And when you're playing 12, 15 minutes, you're sitting on the bench a long time and your legs stiffen up a bit." Playing more minutes "makes it easier to get your heart rate up and keep it there. And you certainly feel the game and get into the flow a lot easier." The Flyers know they can put a stranglehold on the series with a win Wednesday. They also know Buffalo will be playing with a lot of desperation. "They're down in the series now, and we know how we played the next game when we were down in the series, so we expect them to play even harder than [Monday]," Meszaros said. "We just have to focus and get ready." "We have to be better than we were in the first three," Coburn said. "We want to keep building." Carle pointed to the Flyers' ability to put teams away in last season's run to the Stanley Cup Finals. "I think that was one of the keys to last year," he said. "When we had teams down, we didn't let them back up. When you have a team on the ropes, you kind of want to finish them off. There's still a long way to go, but [Wednesday] would be a huge step in that direction." 2. Philadelphia Inquirer- Briere makes the Flyers go while raising the ire of Sabres fans Phil Sheridan It is quite a culture shock, coming from a cheery, friendly place like Philadelphia to a hard-bitten metropolis like Buffalo. But there it was. Danny Briere, who scored one of the most memorable goals in Sabres history, was shown on the big scoreboard screen at HSBCDEFG Arena Monday night. And rather than get the supportive ovation an expatriate player would surely get from Philadelphians, Briere was rather loudly booed. The horror, the horror. "They booed a few times," Briere said after the Flyers' brief Tuesday practice at HSMSCL Arena. "It's part of the game. I think it's totally normal. They're cheering for their team. If they're booing, that means I'm doing something right. I'm doing something to get under their skin. It's my job to do that."

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He's an unlikely villain - the Flyers' smallest player and very possibly the nicest man in hockey. But Briere, 33, has been a target for special attention throughout his playoff runs with the Flyers. In 2008 and 2010 series, he heard it from Montreal fans who resent the French-Canadian's decision to turn down an offer from Les Canadiens to play in Philadelphia. It is different here. The Sabres are a bit like hockey's version of the Florida Marlins. They have scouted and developed good players who often then move on to bigger markets for bigger dollars. Briere, acquired in a trade with Phoenix, was with the Sabres coming out of the 2004-05 lockout and into the salary-cap era. That team rekindled this city's love for hockey by reaching the Eastern Conference finals, a run that began with a first-round victory over a slow-moving Flyers team. Briere scored the game-winning goal that eliminated the Flyers as well as the overtime goal that forced a Game 7 against Carolina in the conference finals. The Sabres returned to the conference finals the following year. Briere left that summer, and the Sabres haven't won a playoff series since. With Briere, the Flyers reached the conference finals in 2008 and the Stanley Cup Finals last year. Maybe those boos make a little more sense. That 2006 Carolina team was coached by a guy named Peter Laviolette, incidentally. "This is my second playoff run with Danny," Laviolette said. "There's an elevation in his game when the playoffs come around. He's a big-time player." That is the other contradiction. Briere's boyish appearance - his is not an intimidating playoff beard - and good nature mask a fiercely competitive streak. This is a guy who, at 5-foot-8ish and 175 pounds, used to work out with Canada's No. 1 strongman competitor, Hugo Girard. The training improved Briere's core strength and helped him survive on the ice with much larger players. You see it on the ice, too. Briere plays with an edge, especially in the playoffs. He has two goals already in this series. Last year, he led the team with 30 playoff points (seven more than Mike Richards' 23). Briere led the team in postseason points in '08, as well. If you're keeping track, then, he has been to the conference finals four times in the past five years and to the finals once. That is a testament to Briere's impact but also explains his desperation level. "My dream is to win the Stanley Cup," Briere said. "I really believe with the team we have this year, we have a shot at it. You don't know how many chances you're going to get. I'm not getting any younger. I don't know how many chances I'll get, so I'll do anything possible to get as far as we can."

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One reason the Sabres let him walk as a free agent was their belief that younger players like Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville would be able to fill the void. A few years later, that group is indeed coming into its own. But here is old pal Briere, poised to knock them out in the first round again. "It's not always easy when you're facing some of the teammates you battled hard with," Briere said, "but it is what it is. You have to put that behind you." In a lot of ways, that's easier for players than for fans. Briere said before the series that he enjoyed playing in Buffalo. He said it was a true hockey city, like Philadelphia or Boston or the Canadian cities. It is also a city that has never experienced a Super Bowl or a Stanley Cup championship. Hence the booing. "I think they like Danny," Laviolette said. "He's a good guy, and he did well here in Buffalo. Things change." Briere and the Flyers will no doubt hear more booing in HCKS Arena in Game 4. If they take care of business, though, it just might be directed at the home team. 3. Philadelphia Inquirer- Game 4: Flyers at Sabres Sam Carchidi Who is that masked man? For the second consecutive postseason, the Flyers' Brian Boucher, a career journeyman, is outplaying an opposing goalie who has an eye-opening resumé. "He has a veteran presence," Flyers center Danny Briere said. "He's been around a long time. There's no stress. He's relaxed back there and confident in what he does." In two games, Boucher is 2-0 with a 1.68 goals-against average and .948 save percentage. His numbers are much better than those of Buffalo's Ryan Miller (1-2, 2.70 GAA, .915 save percentage), who won the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goalie last year and also led the United States to a silver medal in the Vancouver Olympics. A year ago, Boucher outplayed New Jersey legend Martin Brodeur in the conference quarterfinals. Attention stat geeks When leading a series by two games to one, the Flyers have a 14-7 record in Game 4.

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The Sabres are 0-15 in playoff series they have trailed by 2-1. James van Riemsdyk leads the Flyers with 14 shots in the first three games. Buffalo right winger Brad Boyes, acquired from St. Louis in late February for a second-round pick in this year's draft, has not scored a goal in 14 straight games. Since Lindy Ruff was named Buffalo's coach before the 1997-98 season, there have been 162 coaching changes in the NHL, including six with the Flyers. Jason Pominville, one of Buffalo's top players, has no goals and is minus-2 in the series. Pronger a target? Because of his nasty demeanor on the ice, Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger figures to be a target when he returns from a surgically repaired right hand. "He's such a well-liked guy around the league," defenseman Sean O'Donnell said with a smirk. "There are some guys who are going to try to take some shots when he does come back, so you want to make sure he's passing, shooting, stick-handling, and making sure he can do those things before he's back." Pronger skated but did not take any slapshots during Tuesday's practice and is not expected to play Wednesday. Carter responds After struggling in the series' first two games, Jeff Carter had a goal, an assist, and nine shots (four on net) in the Flyers' 4-2 win Monday. Coach Peter Laviolette said Carter had "a quicker step and was "quicker to an area" than he had been in Games 1 and 2. "He had an extra gear in his step; he was physical," Laviolette said. "To me, when you're physical, it puts you on the puck. It puts you in the play. It puts you in front of the net. Physicality brings a lot other than the aggression you see. You're involved in the play." 4. Philadelphia Inquirer- Flyers Notes: Confidence guiding van Riemsdyk's physical play Sam Carchidi James van Riemsdyk's dominating play has been a surprising development in the first three games of the Flyers' Eastern Conference quarterfinals against Buffalo.

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The second-year winger has a goal, a plus-3 rating, and a team-high 14 shots for the Flyers, who have a two-games-to-one lead heading into Game 4 Wednesday night in Buffalo. Van Riemsdyk, 21, whose physicality has intensified, credits last year's playoff run for preparing him for this spring's tournament. "I think the experience gives you confidence in knowing how you have to play to have success," he said after Tuesday's practice at HSBC Arena. "I think going through that experience, the ups and downs, helps you with the confidence level this year." Van Riemsdyk has been on a line with Claude Giroux and Jeff Carter. "There's some good chemistry out there, and we seem to be getting some good chances," he said. The Sabres view Wednesday as a "must" win. "They're going to come out with that extra desperation, knowing it's two to one, and we're going to have to be ready to match that," van Riemsdyk said. "It's probably the biggest game of the series right now," goalie Brian Boucher said. "They've got a good team over there. They've got good speed, they've got strong goaltending, and we don't expect it to be easy by any stretch." Pronger update Defenseman Chris Pronger practiced with the team again and took some wrist shots for the second straight day, but he is not expected to play Wednesday. Pronger still has not taken any slapshots, a sign that his surgically repaired right hand isn't quite ready for game conditions. If the Flyers lose Wednesday, Pronger may play in Game 5 on Friday. Sabres' D struggling Buffalo's youngest-in-the-league defense has been exposed in the last two games. "I thought our defense struggled" in Game 3, Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "We turned the puck over too many times." Buffalo had a 37-26 edge in shots and a 26-14 advantage in hits in Game 3 but lost, 4-2.

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"I know we outshot them, but we didn't out-chance them in the quality-chances department," Ruff said. "Because we were so aggressive, we gave up some pretty big opportunities. But all of the mistakes we made were because we were on our toes. We need to make some subtle adjustments - getting our defensemen to think a little bit more on the defensive side, getting our forwards sometimes to be just a little more responsible where they can help our 'D' out." Ruff said he "doesn't even look" at the hits and instead focuses on giveaways and takeaways. "The difference [between the teams] is this much right now," he said, a few inches apart. "Like I told the team today, we're right where we were four months ago." He meant the Sabres were in desperation mode. Breakaways Center Mike Richards had a maintenance day - just like he had before the loss in Game 1 - and did not practice, but the Flyers said he would be in Wednesday's lineup. Winger Andreas Nodl (facial injury) also missed practice. Nik Zherdev, who had the game-winning goal Monday, is again expected to replace him in the lineup. . . . In Game 3, the Flyers blocked 17 shots - eight more than Buffalo. . . . The Sabres' Patrick Kaleta, sidelined with an unspecified first-period injury Monday, is expected to play Wednesday. . . . Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller said his friend and ex-teammate, Danny Briere, tries to get under his skin on the ice. "But it's all fluff coming from him after the amount of years we've known each other," Miller said. 5. Philadelphia Daily News- Hartnell, Flyers keeping retaliatory ways in check Sam Donnellon Sometimes, reputation precedes you. Sometimes any aggression, even when it involves being on all fours and on the receiving end of an unforgiving piece of lumber, gets you implicated. Scott Hartnell embodies the first three games of this playoff series, which is another way of saying expectations should have expiration dates. The Buffalo Sabres are outhitting the Flyers, out-chippying the Flyers, getting in the better shots after the whistle. They also trail this series, two games-to-one, entering tonight's game at the HSBC Center, and, as Ruff said yesterday, "I wouldn't trade outscoring for outhitting." So far, there is no talk on Buffalo airwaves of matching the Flyers' goonery, no plea to the NHL from local media to rein in those animals from Philadelphia for the sanctity of the game. These Flyers are not ruining the game, making a mockery of it, yada, yada, yada. And Hartnell on all fours Monday night is Exhibit A as to why.

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This was during the second period, in between the goal that put the Flyers ahead and the one that gave them some control. With the Flyers on a power play, Hartnell was crosschecked to the ice by Buffalo defenseman Mike Weber, who then landed repeated shots to Hartnell's back and neck in full view of the officials. Hartnell eventually found his feet, but did nothing to earn the matching minor he received. The penalty was issued on reputation, plain and simple. And when Hartnell didn't draw a penalty for a punch to his neck after the whistle in the third, that, too, was about reputation. "Maturity, age - I've learned a lot of lessons over the years," he said yesterday. "Had a lot of meetings after I've taken some penalties in the past. "You guys have made it easy, too, reading some of your comments." Yeah, I know, he took an after-the-whistle penalty in Game 2. And Hartnell's double minor at the end of the first period Monday night created havoc for his team. But his intentions then were neither retaliatory nor necessarily wrong. He received the first penalty for tying up Drew Stafford as he crashed the net. With the Flyers in disarray and the Sabres still in control of the puck, knocking the net off its moorings stopped play, got a faceoff, wasn't the dumbest of plays. Even with his MO, he couldn't have anticipated a double minor there. Point is, there was no dumb punch after the play, no ill-placed act of aggression. Ruff actually praised Hartnell yesterday for his hustle setting up the Flyers' second goal, lifting the stick of Buffalo defenseman Chris Butler as he emerged from behind his net and fed Danny Briere. "A helluva play," the Sabres coach said. "I think Scott is playing really hard right now," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. " . . . You see him in a lot of scrums out there. He's done a pretty good job with his discipline in those scrums. He hasn't reacted. It would have been easy after he got crosschecked seven, eight times in a row and punched someone in the head, and he didn't. "There's no question, from when I first got here, I think we're more disciplined in what we do. We still take penalties, and there's still penalties I wish we didn't take. But there were a lot of individual penalties going on when I first got here. Slashing or punching or getting up and punching someone in the head . . . Every time you do something and you're on your way to the box, you should probably think to yourself, 'Should I have done that? Is there something else I could have done?' " The change in playoff personalities, especially for those of us who recall Ruff's purported outrage back in 2006, is both shocking and amusing. Now it is Ruff trying to find the

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balance between aggression and overexuberance, especially with his young and playoff- inexperienced team. "It's plays that make a difference," he said yesterday. "Maybe in some cases hitting makes a difference. If you want to hit somebody and get the puck back? That's a good hit. If you want to backcheck and break up a play, good. If it's 2 seconds after a play? That's not a difference-maker to me. "Sometimes, hitting can take away the will of the other team. I don't think we're going to take the will away from the Flyers. I think maybe they're surprised that we keep coming all the time." Well, maybe at first. But Game 1 cured them of that. And maybe the experience of last year's run is kicking in some, too. The Flyers blocked 17 shots Monday night, almost twice as many as Buffalo. They absorbed 26 hits, not quite double what they dished. Time and again, they have turned the other cheek. And in doing so, have turned this series around. * 6. Philadelphia Daily News- Zherdev shows up in Nik of time for Flyers Rich Hofmann Nine goals, eight goal scorers - that has been the Flyers' way so far in the playoffs, the best way to win games in the springtime. Eight goal scorers, from Danny B to the guy they call Z, each with his own story and his own set of motivations. Take Z. (Also known as Nikolay Zherdev.) "I don't think [talent evaluation] was ever the difficult part with him," general manager Paul Holmgren said. "The question was always how he was going to fit in." Zherdev - playing only because Andreas Nodl suffered an undisclosed injury in Game 2 of the Flyers-Sabres series, getting only about 8 minutes of ice time on a line with Mike Richards and Kris Versteeg - scored a tap-in goal Monday night that gave the Flyers a two-goal lead on the way to a 4-2 victory. It was not a great individual play - the goal was made by a fine pass from Richards - but it was another demonstration of Zherdev's knack around the net. He is a talented, mystifying package and has been for his entire career. Other teams have thrown up their hands and given up. Holmgren, who rescued Zherdev from the Russian professional league, waived him in the middle of the season and then took him back when nobody claimed him.

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He is so enticing a talent. He scored 16 goals this season in only 720 minutes of playing time. Nobody in the NHL this season was more productive in fewer minutes - and only about four players in the last 10 seasons have managed to score that often in such little time. You can never be sure with Zherdev - a Ukrainian who is uncomfortable enough speaking English during interviews that his teammates sometimes come over and get a kick out of listening to him struggle. So this is a story that will be told by others. "Z has been a guy who has always stepped up and seemed to score big goals," Richards said. "He did it again [Monday] night. Whenever he's in the lineup, he always seems to do so. He's just a skilled player. He knows where to be on the ice. He's very smart with the puck, offensively gifted. When you add a guy like that to the lineup, I think he just adds that other threat that we need." Still, there was a point when the Flyers were willing to cut him and cut their losses. Holmgren uses the term "went astray" when he describes Zherdev's decline in play and effort. "You kind of look around and see before you put a guy on waivers," he said. "I didn't get a sense anybody would claim him. After that, we didn't know what was going to happen. There was a period of time where we weren't even sure what we were going to do with him. We could have loaned him to the American league team [in Adirondack]. We decided to have a sit-down with him and express our thoughts. Both Peter [Laviolette] and I sat with him for pretty close to an hour one day and expressed what we saw, and how he was really in the most control of what might happen in the future. "From there, to his credit, Nikolay has been great. He's done extra work after practice. His attitude has been good. I don't want to say he's an antisocial guy but he doesn't mix, other than with a few guys. He's with Richie a lot, which is probably a good thing. "But he's worked," Holmgren said. "He's showed up early and done what he needs to do upstairs in our training room. He's been great with the assistant coaches and the work after practice. He's just one of those guys. He's got unbelievable ability and, given the opportunity and the right mindset, he can help." Danny Briere, one of Zherdev's teammates, is an elite player and a guy with a great reputation for turning it up in the postseason. He has never had to live the kind of drama that has accompanied Zherdev everywhere, it seems. But Briere is in the same business, and he can imagine what this one must have been like. Several teams were interested in Zherdev during the offseason - as Holmgren said, "He has skill, speed and the ability to score, and we took a swing, and when he chose us, I thought it was kind of a coup at the time" - and now he was in the process of throwing it all away again.

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"When you clear waivers and you realize that nobody wants you, you start to realize that the problem is yourself," Briere said. "But to his credit, he went back and he's been working hard in practice, off the ice as well, to stay ready, not complaining. He got rewarded [Monday] night, and I hope it keeps going for him." Nothing is guaranteed for Zherdev. He is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. "He's making $2 million now," Holmgren said. "Is that a bargain? It's probably lower than he would warrant on the open market. It's hard to say what will happen. He scored 16 goals in the regular season with limited ice time and hardly any power-play time. Somebody's going to look at that this summer and say it might be worth taking a shot. "Would it be us? I wouldn't rule it out. I like Nik. He's different, but it's not like he's been a bad guy. He's been a good teammate." And he has a chance again - and, in the process, an opportunity to add another element to the balanced arsenal the Flyers already present. * 7. Philadelphia Daily News- Carle is a huge plus for Flyers Frank Seravalli Matt Carle shrugged. With his locker stall deep inside Buffalo's HSBC Arena mashed in between that of Kimmo Timonen, Andrej Meszaros and Braydon Coburn, Carle may have been a little bit embarrassed. After all, Meszaros and the always-steady Timonen have largely been the players credited with keeping the Flyers' ship afloat without Chris Pronger for the past 19 games. The statistics - and we're not talking about the goals and assists - have painted a different picture. "I think people underestimate the player that he is defensively," assistant coach Kevin McCarthy said. "Sometimes, too, when people think you play in the shadow of your partner [Pronger], those things go unnoticed. "When we lost 'Prongs' this year, people couldn't use that as an excuse anymore. Matt's game really stepped it up. He took the bull by the horns and took on some big minutes." Even though advanced statistics in the hockey world, as in any sport, can be mind-numbing, a glimpse at the basics paints a clear enough picture. No defenseman has meant more to the Flyers this season than Carle.

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Coincidentally, the stats that we're using - as published on BehindTheNet.ca - were pioneered by the Buffalo Sabres and their goaltending coach, Jim Corsi. Rather than use basic plus/minus statistics to explain a player's output, which rely on goals scored for and against and are subject to factors out of a player's control, the "Corsi number" is a shot differential while a player is on the ice. This stat includes not only goals and shots on goal, but shots that miss the net and blocked shots - any attempt that is recorded. In a nutshell, it is a plus/minus-type ratio statistic that measures shots at five-on-five, per 60 minutes. With Carle, the Flyers get an extra 6.0 shot attempts per 60 minutes when he is on the ice than when he is off. The Flyers' next best defenseman, Timonen, is at 3.2. Carle, one of the Flyers' most well-read players with interests in politics and business, wasn't aware of the advanced statistics. The Alaska native also likes to hunt and fish in the offseason. But his coaches are starting to take notice on the ice of what the statistics explain. Among defensemen who played at least 60 games this season, Carle is 33rd in the NHL in Corsi's rankings. And if you adjust that for the fact that he has a tendency to start his shift in the defensive zone, he moves up to 22nd. No other Flyer is close. Put simply, Carle starts in his own zone more often, limits his opponents' chances when on the ice, and starts to create offensive opportunities with strong breakouts and outlet passes. That University of Denver-educated brain works well under pressure on the ice. "He's such a smart player that he never really seems to get himself into trouble," said McCarthy, who handles the Flyers' defensive duties. "He's got great puck skills and he's a great skater, but he's got this ability to read plays. He's really good at figuring out that first pass to come out of the zone. "Because he sees the play so well and makes such a good first pass, you tend to spend less time in your zone when that happens. The other thing that Matt brings is that innate ability to join the rush; that's why he creates a lot of chances." Carle said his ability to read a play comes from more experience in the NHL. Carle, 26, already has played in 389 regular-season games and another 65 in the playoffs.

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He already has three assists in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against Buffalo, which the Flyers lead, 2-1, heading into Game 4 tonight. Carle's points per 60 minutes led the Flyers' defense this season. "When I first came into the league, things were happening so fast," Carle said. "You're just worried about getting to the puck. Now, I've been able to slow things down a little bit and read where guys are coming from. I try to do a good job of reading forechecks and being aware." His awareness has allowed McCarthy to stick Carle with whomever is ready on the bench, which includes not just Meszaros but Danny Syvret or Nick Boynton, depending on the lineup. Despite what Carle has said feels like "a revolving door" of partners, the fluctuation hasn't negatively impacted his statistics. "He's a smart player," Syvret said yesterday. "He's never really out of position. I think anyone who plays with him will find it's easy, because he's consistent. He's in the right spot and always making the smart play. He's pretty calm back there." Numbers, in the end, are just numbers. Results are what matter. But studies show that the Corsi numbers have the highest predictive value for goal differential. They correlate exactly with zone time, puck possession and goal-scoring. Carle does not have the veteran reputation of Timonen, the speed of Coburn or the Barry Ashbee Trophy for best defenseman, like Meszaros. But he is the Flyers' best-kept secret. "He's turned himself into an all-around defenseman," McCarthy said. "I think sometimes where you're in the position with the five defensemen that we have, you get lost in the shuffle. But if you look at his stats, and you look at what he's done, he's certainly a lot better player than people think." 8. Philadelphia Daily News- Flyers' Hartnell part of annual charity Beard-a-thon Frank Seravalli Only a few weeks ago, an unforgettable sign in Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center caught our attention: "Don't feed the Hartnells," it read, with two pictures, comparing Flyers forward Scott Hartnell, with his shaggy mop, might play like an animal in front of the opposition's net and in the corners. And if the Flyers' run in the Stanley Cup playoffs goes on long enough, Hartnell might actually look like an animal, with a thick playoff beard.

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But it's all for a good cause. Hartnell is serving as the "Chairman of the Beard" for the NHL Players Association's annual playoff Beard-a-thon. It is a charitable endeavor to help the Heart and Stroke Foundation purchase automated external defibrilators for local hockey rinks across Canada. "They asked me to do it and I was really glad to, it's something that's very special to me," said Hartnell, whose mother survived a stroke in 2001. "This is a foundation that is near and dear to my heart, I know how important getting more AEDs out there will be. "I can't wait to grow the best beard and raise money. And, I happen to think I look pretty good with a mean beard." Fans can contribute in one of three ways on beardathon.com: by growing a beard and seeking donations, pledging to donate to a friend, or pledging to donate to their favorite NHL player. Claude Giroux is another Flyer involved in the Beard-a-thon. Hartnell shaved the day after the Flyers' final regular-season game and will not trim again until the Flyers are eliminated from the playoffs . . . or win the Stanley Cup. All Pronger, all day Chris Pronger skated with his teammates for 30 minutes yesterday, then spent an extra 30 minutes on the ice at HSBC Arena with the Flyers' other scratches. Pronger, who will not speak to the media until after his first game back, seems to be making progress daily with his passing and shooting. The defenseman had successful surgery on March 15 to repair a small fracture in his hand and has missed the Flyers' last 19 games. While he probably is getting close to the point at which coach Peter Laviolette could use him in a pinch, the Flyers' 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series might have bought him a few extra days of rest. Andreas Nodl sat out the Flyers' practice yesterday, and he remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury, according to general manager Paul Holmgren. Nik Zherdev replaced Nodl in the lineup on Monday and scored the Flyers' game-winning goal. Captain Mike Richards was the only Flyers regular to miss yesterday's brief skate, which the Flyers said was a "maintenance" day. No ROY for 'Bob'

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The NHL announced the three finalists for the Calder Trophy, which will be awarded to the league's Rookie of the Year on June 22 in Las Vegas, and Flyers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was not among them. San Jose's Logan Couture, the Islanders' Michael Grabner and Carolina's Jeff Skinner are the three finalists. Couture, 22, ranked second on the Sharks in goals with 32. Grabner, 23, led all rookies and the Islanders with 34 goals. And Skinner, 18, led all rookies in points with 63. Any votes for Bobrovsky, with a 28-13-8 record and .915 save percentage, were likely canceled out by those for Chicago rookie Corey Crawford, who had similar statistics. Sabres' edge Sabres coach Lindy Ruff stressed yesterday that his team needs to cut down on turnovers in the defensive zone, which led to two of the Flyers' three goals in Game 3. "There were a lot of turnovers," Ruff said. "When you do that against the likes of [Jeff] Carter and [Danny Briere], you're putting yourself in a tough spot. But we made mistakes pushing forward and not sitting back." Ruff then compared the Sabres' 2-1 deficit in this series to when they were 13 points out of a playoff spot in mid-January. "To me, we're in the same position as we were 4 months ago," Ruff said. "We're a young team getting on-the-job training, so it's something you have to sit and wrap your arms around. Mistakes will be made. I'm in their corner." Philly fan heaven No Philly sports team had a monopoly on Monday, with Joe Blanton battling the Brewers, the Flyers facing off against the Sabres in Buffalo and the Sixers getting shellacked in South Beach, all simultaneously. So fans, glued to your couch, what did you watch? Turns out, Philly is still a baseball town - even in April, even with the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs in full bloom. More than 653,000 households tuned in to watch the games. The Phillies won the ratings war with a 12.9 rating (392,000 households) on Channel 17; the Flyers collected a 5.6 rating (170,000 households) on Comcast SportsNet, and the Sixers netted a 3.0 rating (91,000 households) on the Comcast Network and TNT.

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Saturday, the Sixers slightly edged the Flyers with their afternoon game in Miami on Channel 6, with a 7.0 rating, compared to the Flyers' 6.6 on Comcast SportsNet. * 9. CSNPhilly.com- Sabres' goalie Miller takes verbal jab at Briere Tim Panaccio The war of words between friends may have begun on Tuesday afternoon in cold, chilly, rainy Buffalo. Sabres goalie Ryan Miller had some things to say about his buddy Danny Briere and it certainly caught the Flyers’ center off guard. Things began innocently enough when Miller talked about Briere’s sweet spot on the ice. “He likes to be around the net,” Miller said. “He’s on the right team for it. They get pucks to the net, they allow him to kind of find situations where he can get open and sniff around and hang around and play to some of his strengths.” Then it got interesting when Miller relayed that Briere was chirping at him on the ice, trying to get into his head. “Yeah, because it’s all fluff coming from him after the amount of years we’ve known each other. You can’t automatically hit a light switch and be a hard ass to me. It’s not going to do anything. “I respect his talent and I respect what he wants I try to do out there, and if you try to get the better of each other, and when he gets the better you know it’s the headline. Even though he gets however many chances, if one goes in, it’s a headline.” Briere was caught off-guard late Tuesday by the remark when CSNPhilly.com caught up with him. “Wow,” Briere texted CSNPhilly.com. “He’s definitely getting wrong info. First, I haven’t said a word to him on the ice and off the ice, I’ve only had good things to say about him because of the respect I have for him. So, I’m not gonna play that game with him.” 10. CSNPhilly.com- Flyers' defense thriving in Pronger's absence Sarah Baicker Chris Pronger still walks the halls of the HSBC Center with his right hand purposefully held out of view – in his pocket sometimes, other times wrapped up in a towel.

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He won’t discuss the status of the hand with the media, but there’s been consistent evidence of progress. For the second day in a row, he joined his teammates for a full practice Tuesday afternoon, and on Monday, he took shots for the first time since his injury. That’s good news for the Flyers, of course. Pronger is, after all, their No. 1 defenseman, despite missing about a third of the season. Pronger, though, is still out for Game 4 but may be available for Game 5 in Philadelphia. But the better news is that the team has taken a 2-1 lead over the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals without him. A return for the big blueliner is possible in this series, but even if he remains out of the lineup, the remaining defenders have proven they can help win games without him. That success has not come as a surprise to Pronger’s teammates. “Unfortunately we’ve had to play a lot this year without Chris,” Brian Boucher said. “Obviously he’s a big hole on our defense, we’d love to have him back there. But I think we’ve done a pretty good job without him, so I think we have full confidence in one another. And they’ve done a great job. I’m not overly surprised by that.” Particularly noticeable in Game 3’s 4-2 Flyer win was that, though the Sabres led in shots, 37-26, the vast majority were kept to the perimeter. Thanks in great part to the Flyers’ defensive corps, fewer quality shots lessened the pressure placed on Boucher. Close to half of the Sabres’ shots came on the power play in Game 3, coach Peter Laviolette noted. Elevated chances on the man advantage are to be expected, but that the Flyers managed to keep even-strength opportunities for Buffalo to a relative low speaks volumes about what their defense has been able to accomplish against a speedy team that often capitalizes on transition. The defense has also helped the Flyers cling to one-goal leads, something they struggled with at times this season. In Game 2, they defeated the Sabres 5-4. In Game 3, the score remained 3-2 until Kimmo Timonen knocked home an empty-net goal in the closing seconds of regulation. “I think our defense has been good,” Laviolette said. “Even last night, there was a lot of shots and there was a lot of opportunities, but an awful lot on the power play, and they had enough opportunities on it. … It’s been a good team concept on defense that has kept the even-strength chances low for us at this point.” Danny Briere stepped the praise up a notch. “It’s been amazing,” Briere said, of the team’s defense in Pronger’s absence. “I thought just the 5 on 3 [Monday], defensively, we did a great job. A lot of guys have had to play a

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lot more minutes than they probably have the first half of the year with everybody playing almost the same amount of minutes, trying to keep everybody fresh. “But with Chris out of the lineup, a few guys have had to step up and play a major role, or have more responsibilities, and everybody has stepped up their games in the playoffs.” And one of those guys, according to Laviolette, is Matt Carle. Carle, who plays in a pair with Pronger when Pronger is healthy, has recently spent most of his ice time partnered up with Andrej Meszaros (he’s averaging about 21 minutes per game so far in the postseason). But he’s seen substantial time on the penalty kill, power play and even strength. “All year long, he turns in consistent performances night after night,” Laviolette said. “He plays in all situations for us against other teams – when he’s with Chris, and when he’s without Chris. He quietly goes about his business, he’s had a very strong year for us and has continued on to help yield more minutes and responsibility now that Chris is out of the lineup.” Pronger is expected to remain out of the lineup when the two teams meet Wednesday night for Game 4, though reports suggest he could return for Game 5 if the Flyers feel they’ll need him. Although, chances are, anyone in their locker room will tell you they can continue to win without No. 20 – just look at what they’ve done so far. 11. CSNPhilly.com- Physical Sabres trying to hit their way past Flyers Tim Panaccio The Sabres' “Smurfs” had rolled up the score 8-1 on Ken Hitchcock’s Flyers in Game 2 of the 2006 quarterfinals. Lindy Ruff was steaming at how many Flyers had taken runs at his guys afterward. “Tell Lindy to (bleep) off,” Hitchcock said as he ended his press conference down 0-2 to Buffalo in that 2006 playoff series, which started here at HSBC Arena. So much has changed for Ruff’s group from the small band of skilled “Smurfs” to a team with an abundance of both skill, true grit and even size. Ruff’s current “Roughhouse Bunch” seems to enjoy it. “I’m not familiar with those [Hitchcock] wars you’re talking about,” Laviolette said. “Buffalo … doesn’t surprise me that they’re skating, that they’re physical.”

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For three games now, the Sabres have brought the physical game to the Flyers and guess what? Ruff ain’t carping about his guys getting beaten up, even though Buffalo is down in this Eastern Conference first round series, 2-1, with Game 4 set for Wednesday. “I would trade outscoring for outhitting,” said Ruff, whose club outhit the Flyers 26-14 in Game 3. “I don’t even look. It’s plays that make a difference. I don’t think in some cases hitting makes a difference. “If you want to hit somebody and get the puck back, that’s a good hit. Sometimes hitting can take the will away from another team. I don’t think we’re going to take the will away from the Flyers. I think maybe they’re surprised we keep coming all the time.” Mike Richards was on that ’06 playoff team with Hitchcock. Danny Briere was on the other side. Both see the difference in the Sabres’ makeup then versus now. Buffalo is trying to wear the Flyers down. “They play hard, they got some physical players and big players,” Richards says. “They want to try and take some of heat off some of their skilled players.” Back in ’06, the Flyers did all they could to rough up Briere – when they could catch him on the ice. Now, the Sabres are trying punish every Flyer they see. Nathan Gerbe, the reigning “Briere” of this Sabres’ generation, at 5-foot-5, is a physical player in this series. He had three hits in Game 3. “Even their smaller guys, like [Tyler Ennis] and [Nathan] Gerbe, they’re playing hard and fighting for their space,” Briere said. “You need that. Their big guys are physical. “That was always a question when I was here. Are the Sabres too small to win it all? Need some grit, need some physical players. “It now seems their third and fourth line are built more around that. When I here, it was more like three scoring lines. It’s a fine line now with the rules. You can bring the physical but you need skill to win. It’s a tough line to tip toe.” Especially, for a guy like the Flyers’ Scott Hartnell, who tended to be a lunkhead when he first came here. He’d lose his discipline when a guy hit him from behind. Sabres’ defenseman Mike Weber cross-checked Hartnell from behind five times in Game 3 during a Flyer power play. And that was after Weber drilled Hartnell to the ice. It wasn’t until a shot to the throat that Hartnell finally reacted. That was discipline on his part.

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“I’ve gotten to a point where I control myself, especially after the whistles,” Hartnell said. “It’s no good for myself or the team to be in the box after a tight game like [Monday] and it’s 3-2. If I take a stupid penalty, it’s 3-3 and going into overtime … Maturity. I’ve learned a lot over the years. Meetings after taking a bad penalty.” The Sabres would love to get the Flyers to take bad penalties. Sean O’Donnell has been around for 16 years in the NHL and says the change in the how the Sabres are constructed is very obvious in this series. “The Sabres look at [us] and realize this is a year where they can physically take it to the Flyers,” O’Donnell said. “They seem to be trying. They have guys who can hit and take the body. [Patrick] Kaleta is their most physical guy. “[Cody] McCormick hits hard, [Mike] Grier hits hard, [Paul] Gaustad. They have guys who can finish, even guys like Gerbe. They finish their hits. With the offense we have and forwards we have, Buffalo probably feels they can grind us. “And they have had success on us down low. They feel if they’re going to win this series, they need to pound us and grind us down and finish every check down low to get this to a seven-game series. I think -- I don’t know -- that’s their game plan.” Laviolette wasn’t around for those Flyers-Sabres series of past, but his 2006 Carolina squad that eventually won the Stanley Cup were pushed into a seventh game by Ruff’s “Smurfs” during the Eastern Conference final. “It’s really difficult to compare teams and that team has turned over 90-95 percent,” Laviolette said. “Buffalo gained a lot of respect from everybody for going where they went in that playoff run and especially that series because of the depth of defense they had lost because of injury.” "The Roughhouse Bunch" is earning some respect in this series, as well, against a Flyers club many people pegged as a legit threat to return to the Stanley Cup Final this year. Kaleta has what some think is a broken nose after Braydon Coburn threw him to the ice in the first period. Kaleta, who didn’t return to the game, wore a full cage at Tuesday’s practice. He says he wants another shot at the Flyers in Game 4. “Pumped up actually,” Kaleta said. “I didn’t get to waste too much energy yesterday, so it’s all built up and ready to get back right on the right path.” Yeah, the nasty, physical one. 12. CSNPhilly.com- Jackson's Five: Chapter 3 in Flyers-Sabres

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Jim Jackson Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff has been around a long time. He has been behind the Sabres’ bench for 13 years. There have been 162 coaching changes throughout the NHL during his tenure in Buffalo. Perhaps, we should listen, then, when he offers up his perspective on this first round series between the Flyers and Sabres. When asked what he expected in Game 3 after what he saw in the first two games of the series, Ruff admitted he had no idea. He said he believes each game in this series will take on its own identity and personality. With Game 3 now in the books, his point appears to be right on the money. There have been three games and little similarity among any of them. The Flyers had the better of the play in Game 1 and lost. The Sabres had the better of the play for stretches of Game 3, and lost. In between, a wild second contest that featured 18 powerplays, and craziness at virtually every turn. As we get set for Chapter Four of this drama on Wednesday night at HSBC Arena, here are some observations: BOOOOOOSH Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that Brian Boucher has stepped into the breach and stopped 55 of 58 shots fired his way thus far in the series. After all, he does own the fifth best postseason goals against average among all active NHL goalies. Thinking back to his contributions to the Flyers’ run to the Conference Finals as a rookie in 2000 and then to the Stanley Cup Finals last year (before getting injured), the veteran goalie has been clutch. He was especially good down low and in tight in Game 3. The Sabres seemed intent on scoring some goals from those areas, but Boucher closed the door. He probably would have liked to have had the second Sabres’ goal back as he directed the rebound out into a dangerous area. However, in general, he provided stability between the pipes and that was essential to the Flyer’s victory on Monday night. Suddenly, the goaltending situation doesn’t look so questionable. There’s playoff tested Boucher playing well, his co-author from last year’s run, Michael Leighton standing by, and who knows if the talented Sergei Bobrovsky -- after time with goaltending coach Jeff Reese and away from the spotlight -- makes contributions somewhere down the line. Never say never. Richards and Carter

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Ever since they arrived after being first round picks in the 2003 draft, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter have been the faces of the Flyers’. Richards has become the captain while Carter has been the teams’ perennial top goal scorer. They are the team’s leaders in length of continuous service. They have both signed lengthy and lucrative contracts. But during the course of the last two seasons, there was a perceptible shift. Chris Pronger’s arrival and Claude Giroux’s emergence brought the focus to other players. It was no longer, how Richards and Carter go, so go the Flyers. Still, these two players are important to any success this team will have. It’s difficult to imagine a deep Flyers’ run in these playoffs without Richards and Carter playing significant roles. So, when they were both without points through the first two games of this series, there was some concern. It wasn’t as if they had played poorly. Richards had been involved in slowing down what had been the red hot Tim Connolly line and Carter had several scoring chances. Still, it’s about results this time of year and they had both been held without a point. Until Game 3, that is. Carter got the Flyers off to a good start with his first goal of the postseason and Richards made a beautiful pass to set up Nikolay Zherdev for what turned out to be the decisive goal. They are on the board and if it is the sign of further contributions, the Flyers are all the better for it. Zherdev emerges So often in the playoffs, the phrase “one man’s misfortune is another’s opportunity” rings true. Andreas Nodl’s upper body injury created an opening for Nikolay Zherdev in the lineup and what does he do? Of course, in his first playoff game as a Flyer, he scores the game winning goal, his first ever postseason tally. The Flyers have to hope he seizes this chance and maintains his focus and intensity because the supremely talented Zherdev could be like found money on any run the Flyers go on. Defensemen on the mend While the media seems transfixed on Chris Pronger’s every move as he tries to return from a broken hand, the Sabres returned defenseman Jordan Leopold to the lineup under the radar in Game 3. He was expected to be out until at least Game 6, but there he was Monday night garnering 14 minutes, 48 seconds of ice-time. Leopold also suffered a broken hand, but it did not require surgery. While he is not in Pronger’s league in terms of his potential impact on the series, he was Buffalo’s best defenseman for segments of the season and adds a veteran presence to a very young Sabres’ blue line corps.

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As for Pronger, he skated with the team on Monday for the first time in quite a while. He actually took some shots, as well. With the Flyers now leading the series, there’s no pressure to push him back earlier than absolutely necessary. When that will be remains a mystery. The Stanley Cup playoff party Flyer fans take a back seat to no one when it comes to creating a spectacular atmosphere for the playoffs. From the block parties outside the Wells Fargo Center to the Orange Crush appearance in the seats and the ear splitting volume they produce, it is electrifying. However, I have to give credit to the fans of the Sabres too. The HSBC Arena was hopping for Game 3. The sight of all of those fans outside the arena watching the game on a big screen in chilly temperatures was a reminder of how each market cherishes an appearance by their team in the Stanley Cup tournament. It never gets old! 13. CSNPhilly.com- Flyers notes: Did the Flyers slow down the pace? Tim Panaccio and Sarah Baicker It looked a lot like the Flyers slowed the game down in the second and third periods on Monday. The Buffalo Sabres are most dangerous in transition, and the Flyers, who like a fast pace, seemed to reduced it to control the Sabres’ speed. It worked. “The first period, we were trying to run for our lives a bit and it wasn’t too pretty,” Danny Briere said. “In the second, especially, when we scored that second goal, we felt we were gaining control. “After that, we never felt we were under pressure. We kept them to the outside most of the time. They had to press in the second half of the third period and I thought we did a great job to keep them to the outside. “ Defenseman Sean O’Donnell would agree – to an extent. “I don’t think [slowing down] was a conscious thing,” he said. “We didn’t change anything. It wasn’t part of the game plan. That first period there was a lot of up and down and physicality and I don’t think you can play three periods like that.” Richards not on ice Mike Richards did not practice Tuesday. He was given the day off according to general manager Paul Holmgren, who called the absence, a "maintenance day." Richards is still suffering a severe head cold and was coughing during interviews after Game 3. He'll play in Game 4. Answering the call

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It can’t be stressed enough that coach Peter Laviolette seems to know when to push the right buttons with Nikolay Zherdev. Of course, this time, the button was easy to push, considering Andreas Nodl went out of Game 2 early with an eye injury and was unavailable for Game 3. Laviolette either had to put Zherdev in the lineup Monday night, or one of his untested rookie prospects from the Phantoms. Zherdev got the call. He answered with a game-winning goal, his first-ever playoff goal. “That was a big goal for him, and what a play by Mike Richards,” Danny Briere said. “That’s what [Zherdev] does. He’s good around the net. “He’s got quick hands. That was a huge goal. To get up two goal in the second period was huge. Just the way we felt after that first period.” Costly mistake On Zherdev’s game-winning goal, Sabres goalie Ryan Miller was calling for defensive help at the net when he saw Zherdev sneak behind Jason Pominville into the crease. Jordan Leopold, a surprise starter coming back unexpectedly from a broken finger, stayed in the high slot. “I made a couple of mental mistakes on the third goal,” Leopold said. “I can take responsibility for that. That’s part of hockey.” So did his partner, Steve Montador, who also stayed up high. “He’s made some mistakes and he’s caught in between right now,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff about Montador. “He doesn’t want to quite commit on some plays, and some plays he’s a little hesitant gapping up, which has led to some opportunities. It’s a tough time of year right now.” Must win? Montador feels that Game 4 is a must-win for the Sabres. Then again, give how Buffalo played down the stretch, having to win almost every night to gain a playoff berth, it’s nothing new. “We’ve been hearing it for quite a while and I think we realized it long before we were ever getting credit for it, dating back to November and December,” Montador said. “Everyone knows the story from there.

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“We’re okay having to face some adversity. We’re okay with knowing we have to come out and put our best effort out there. In a way, that’s encouraging for us. We’ve built our season on that platform. And given our situation, I think we answered quite well.” 14. Delaware County Times- Sabres just can't match Flyers' talent Jack McCaffery A day later, the whiteboard in the Buffalo Sabres’ dressing room still told the story, the story of why Game 2 of their playoff series was lost, the story of why their season will not last much longer. Not that it was filled with scripts for tricky hockey maneuvers, or deciphered play calls, or inspirational messages. No, it simply listed the Flyers’ lines, all of them, all strong. Hartnell, Briere, Leino. Zherdev, Richards, Versteeg. Van Riemsdyk, Giroux, Carter. Carcillo, Betts, Powe. And that said plenty. So there it hung, taunting and haunting … and inviting this meaningful question: If all the forwards on both teams were dumped into a draft, exactly which healthy Sabres would crack that list? The answer: Far, far too few to matter. Thomas Vanek would worm onto a line. Drew Stafford would make the Flyers substantially better. Jason Pominville would work. Paul Gausted’s name arose in one flash debate among hockey writers, but was quickly shouted down. That was about it. And so it was in a room where the Sabres all preached about doing the right hockey things that the chatter began to come through scrambled. For none of that will matter in a series that in many ways is the NHL’s response to Sixers-Heat. One of the sides simply can’t dance with the other in a talent show. Not that it is stunning news that one of the teams in the 2-vs.-7 series has the better players. But when Nikolay Zherdev, of all immensely talented if enigmatic hockey players, can be fished out of reserve, play with jump, score a goal and even create a shorthanded chance in 8:14 of Game 2 ice time, it brings this clarity: The Flyers might have more skill camouflaged in civilian clothes than the Sabres have gracing their marketing fliers.

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“I think it’s been one of our strengths all year, and why we’ve been successful on the road,” Danny Briere said Tuesday after a brief practice at the HSBC Arena. “It’s because we can come at you in different ways. There’s not some one player, or some one line, that you can say, ‘We have to key on to stop them.’” The Flyers have won two of the three games in the series. In their loss, they had 79 documented scoring chances. They have been, and should continue to be, too versatile for the Sabres to control. Yet if the Flyers can dominate a game and lose in a shutout, as they did in Game 1, then it can happen to them again. That’s because no talent-for-talent analysis can exclude the defense, the goaltending included. Ryan Miller is a better goaltender than any of the three the Flyers will use to try and steal a championship. And 6-foot-8, 21-year-old Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers is projected as the next Chris Pronger … and has used the first three games to show why. The Sabres are in the playoffs, have won a game, can tie a first-round series Wednesday and have the goaltending to concoct an upset. But they spoke mostly hockey-ese Tuesday, suggesting that if they just stick to their plan, they can advance. But there was no reason for them to try the standard one-shift-at-a-time rationalization. Because shift for shift, they will not have enough accumulated talent to win a lengthy series --- not as long as the Flyers do those rudimentary hockey tasks themselves. And they are doing them for Peter Laviolette, who won on Stanley Cup as a head coach and had the Flyers playing for one last spring. Kimmo Timonen announced before the series that this team was the best since he’d become a Flyer in 2007. Surely, he was including Pronger, who has yet to play in the postseason with a broken hand, but is skating to exhaustion and has resumed shooting pucks. In Pronger’s absence, Timonen and Braydon Coburn, followed by Matt Carle and Andrej Meszaros have ably handled the top of the defense rotation. Sean O’Donnell and Danny Syvret have mixed high competence in, too. At some point in this tournament, the Flyers will need all available help --- something that has evaded them so often since 1975 at this time of year, with one star or more typically injured. That means Pronger must eventually contribute. But as for this series, approximately $71 million worth of Flyers has been noticeably better every rush than about $64 million in Sabres. Money talks? “All of our four lines can score goals,” Claude Giroux said. “If your line has an off night, which it sometimes will, the other lines can pick you up. And that’s good to have.” The Flyers have that.

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And the Sabres needed only to look at that wall at the far end of their room to realize as much. 15. Delaware County Times- Hartnell seems to be thinking outside the box Anthony San Filippo There was a time when Scott Hartnell was a bit reckless. There was a time where he took the role of being an agitator a bit too far. It was March 2008. The Flyers were in Florida for a team-bonding experience and they had just come back to their resort after a day out. Then-coach John Stevens stopped for an interview and was being asked about his team’s discipline problem – at the time the Flyers were No. 1 in the league in penalty minutes per game. While the coach was answering questions, Hartnell walked by and jokingly poked his head into the interview to ask about the topic of the day. “We’re talking about penalties,” Stevens said at the time. “And I was just about to tell the reporters how you lead the league in minor penalties taken.” Hartnell was surprised, but put this little fact into a different statistical light. “Hey,” he said, “it’s cool to lead the league in something.” It was good enough for a chuckle at the time, but it’s been frustrating to watch Hartnell take one bad penalty after another and put his team in a pickle. He was sixth in 2008 with 47 minors, led the league with 54 in 2009 and in 2010 he was having his worst year as a pro and still taking a mess of penalties until talking with new coach Peter Laviolette. A line switch helped, too. Hartnell became the physical hammer on the Flyers’ most prolific scoring line for one postseason with Danny Briere and Ville Leino, a three-headed catalyst on offense that got the Flyers within two wins of a Stanley Cup. This season has been a world of difference for Hartnell. His minors reduced greatly to 35 — his fewest as a Flyer. His total penalty minutes dropped to 142 — also fewest as a Flyer. “I think Scott is playing really hard right now,” Laviolette said on an offday with his club up 2-1 in games in a conference quarterfinal series that resumes tonight in Buffalo.

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“On his line, I think he does a lot of good things for Danny,” he added. “He gives it something different —- physicality, forechecking. You see him in a lot of scrums out there. He is doing a good job with his discipline. He hasn’t reacted. It would have been easy for him last night when he got crosschecked in the back. But he used caution, used his head and was disciplined.” While Hartnell is still one of the most penalized players in the NHL, that is more so out of reputation than anything else. “There was some chintzy stuff after the whistles (in Game 3),” Hartnell said. “I got crosschecked six or seven times and I didn’t even do anything and I got two minutes. “He had to take someone off, so it might as well be me.” While Hartnell has taken four minor penalties so far these playoffs, he has been a far more disciplined player than before and it’s paying dividends for the Flyers. Rather than let his emotions get the better of him, Hartnell is turning the other cheek. He’s drawing penalties now, not taking as many — and it’s helping the Flyers. Of course, he was in the box three times Monday — four minutes at the end of the first period and beginning of the second for two indiscretions on the same play that Hartnell isn’t sure he deserved one or both penalties. And then the coincidental minor when he was being bludgeoned from behind and not retaliating. “Part of it is the Flyers’ reputation. Every time there’s a scrum we’re looked at first,” Briere said. “That’s the way it is. It’s been like that for a while. We’re used to it. I didn’t believe it (when I was in Buffalo) but it’s a different story when you wear this jersey. You learn to live with it.” Hartnell is doing just that. It’s been a long process, but one that he understands a lot more now that he’s an older, more experienced player. “I’ve controlled myself more to a point after the whistles,” Hartnell said. “There’s no good for me or the team to sit in the box in a tight game. Definitely maturity, age and having a lot of meetings after taking bad penalties in the past.” How many meetings have there been lately? “None,” Hartnell said. And that’s why he’s such an integral part to the team’s success at this point in these playoffs. 16. Delaware County Times- Another sick Richards report is valid concern

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Anthony San Filippo Mike Richards missed practice Tuesday with what the team called a “maintenance day.” While those words, considering they came from the Flyers, could be presumed to be a conspiratorial cover for something bigger – like a nasty injury or some other juvenile hockey thing – this time, it wasn’t. Yes, they were being truthful. Hello ... Liars? Not this time. Richards indeed is attempting to maintain his health well enough to continue to play. He hasn’t been able to shake the head cold he’s had for the past week or so, and the team decided that a day off the ice would be the best medicine. Richards was in the arena Tuesday, and did do a light off-ice workout, but didn’t make it onto the ice. He spoke to the media after practice, but not about his condition, although his voice was a little gravelly and he was a bit stuffed up. He will be in the lineup for Game 4 tonight. It’s weird when a pre-game video montage designed to incite the home crowd instead illicits boos, but that’s what the Buffalo Sabres got from their blue- and gold clad faithful in Game 3. It was because at one point in the pre-game pump-up movie, they showed a playoff overtime game-winning goal by Danny Briere. Of course, Briere is now playing for the enemy, so they booed lustily. The question is, was it done intentionally, or did the video backfire because of the fan reaction? “It’s part of the game,” Briere said. “It’s normal. If they’re booing, that means I’m doing something right and getting under their skin. It’s my job to do that. I’m sure they (included it) for a reason — to get the crowd up and going.” Whether the Sabres video staff did or not is a mystery, but what isn’t is the fact that Briere has been dominating the Sabres in Buffalo since arriving in Philadelphia. In seven trips back to Buffalo, Briere has had nine points. He has five goals and four assists — and also has a game-winning shootout goal. So it makes sense for the Buffalo fans to feel spurned because Briere isn’t still playing for their team.

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When talking about his return to Buffalo last week, Briere said he felt the negative reception he got from the Sabres faithful was more polite than, say, Montreal, where the hooligans who fill the Bell Centre wanted to lynch Briere for turning down the Canadiens in favor of signing with the Flyers. But he felt the Sabres fans were booing the fact that he’s not there not because they don’t like him – but because the Sabres let him get away. “Any time you go into your old building and start to have success, there is going to be (a reaction),” coach Peter Laviolette said. “But I think they like Danny. He is a good guy and did well in Buffalo. Things change from year to year, but he is a productive player. “He is a good playoff player. Since I have been here, and this is only my second playoff run working with Danny, there is another dimension to his game.” NOTES: Brian Boucher will start again in Game 4 and Michael Leighton will again be his backup. … Nik Zherdev, who scored in his first playoff game as a Flyer, will also be back in the lineup as Andreas Nodl isn’t in Buffalo, but is listed as day-to-day …. Chris Pronger (also day-to-day) practiced again with the team, but again didn’t try taking any shots of substance on goalies. He will not play in Game 4 and is questionable for Game 5 Friday. 17. Delaware County Times- Briere is the one smiling in Buffalo Anthony San Filippo It’s weird when a pre-game video montage designed to incite the home crowd instead illicit boos, but that’s what the Buffalo Sabres got from their blue and gold clad faithful in Game 3. It was because at one point in the pre-game pump-up movie, they showed a playoff overtime game-winning goal by Danny Briere. Of course, Briere is now playing for the enemy, so they booed lustily. The question is, was it done intentionally, or did the video backfire because of the fan reaction? “It’s part of the game,” Briere said. “It’s normal. If they’re booing, that means I’m doing something right and getting other their skin. It’s my job to do that. I’m sure they (included it) for a reason – to get the crowd up and going.” Whether the Sabres video staff did or not is a mystery, but what isn’t is the fact that Briere has been dominating the Sabres in Buffalo ever since arriving in Philadelphia. In seven trips back to Buffalo, Briere has nine points. He has five goals and four assists – and also has a game-winning shootout goal.

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So, it makes sense for the Buffalo fans to feel spurned because Briere isn’t still playing for their team. When talking about his return to Buffalo last week, Briere said he felt the negative reception he got from the Sabres faithful was more polite than, say, Montreal, where the hooligans who fill the Bell Centre wanted to lynch Briere for turning down the Canadiens in favor of signing with the Flyers. But, he felt that the Sabres fans were booing the fact that he’s not there not because they don’t like him – but because the Sabres let him get away. “Any time you go into your old building and start to have success, there is going to be (a reaction),” coach Peter Laviolette said. “But I think they like Danny. He is a good guy and did well in Buffalo. Things change from year to year, but he is a productive player. “He is a good playoff player. Since I have been here, and I this is only my second playoff run working with Danny, there is another dimension to his game.” 18. Delaware County Times- Briere leading Flyers charge against former team John Wawrow Philadelphia Flyers center Danny Briere is getting a big kick out of being booed in Buffalo. If the fans are booing him, then the Sabres former co-captain figures he must be doing something right in helping the Flyers win two straight to secure a 2-1 lead in their NHL first-round playoff series. Four years after leaving the Sabres to sign with the Flyers in free agency, Briere has become the focus again in Buffalo for his ability to score clutch goals. After scoring the decisive goal in a 5-4 victory in Game 2 last weekend, Briere sparked a two-goal second period in the Flyers' 4-2 victory Monday. Game 4 is at Buffalo on Wednesday. 19. Bucks County Courier-Times- Hartnell does it all for Flyers Wayne Fish Scott Hartnell can defeat an opponent with his stick, his mouth or his gloves. Take your pick. Did we leave anything out?

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Heading into tonight's all-important Game 4 of the Eastern Conference best-of-seven quarterfinals - which the Flyers lead 2-1 - one could make a case that Hartnell is the most all-purpose player on the Philadelphia roster. He scores, assists, hits, trash talks, baits opponents into penalties, fights and, in general, makes life miserable for everyone on the other side of the ice. And, as hard as it is to believe, this is the more "mature" Hartnell. When he isn't busy riding shotgun on the Daniel Briere stagecoach, he's acting like a general pest. The difference now, then say, a year ago, is that he's getting better at picking his spots. "I think he does a lot of good things for Danny. + the physicality of it (his play), the forechecking, you see him in a lot of scrums out there," coach Peter Laviolette said after Tuesday's practice. "He's done a pretty good job with his discipline in those scrums. He hasn't reacted - (like) last night (Monday in a 4-2 win in Game 3), he got cross-checked seven or eight times. He could have punched somebody in the head and he didn't. He's getting to the front of the net and he's making things happen." Don't think Buffalo hasn't noticed. In Game 3, Hartnell started off by taking a double-minor penalty for interference and delay of game late in the first period. But he atoned for his error by getting the jump on Buffalo's defense and setting up Briere's goal at 2:44 of the second. That gave the Flyers a lead they never relinquished. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff saw it. "You have to give them credit, give Hartnell credit to get that jump off the faceoff," Ruff said. "That was a hell of a play." Hartnell says he's doing a better job of being more selective with his antics. The numbers back him up. After leading the NHL in 2008-09 in minor penalties (54), he got that ranking down to No. 2 in 2009-10 and down again to No. 7 in 2010-11. "I think we've done a pretty good job of staying out of the stuff after the whistles in Game 2," he said. "On that (play), I know I got cross-checked six or seven times and, darned if I didn't do anything, I got two minutes. "I think I'm at a point where I've learned to control myself, especially after the whistles. It's no good for myself or the team to sit in the box in a tight game like yesterday's. If I

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take a stupid penalty, it's 3-3 going into overtime. Definitely maturity, age. I've had a lot of meetings (with coaches over the years) after I've taken bad penalties." As for the game itself, the Sabres know they have to get a win or basically call it a day. Already, alltime, they are 0-15 in series they trail by a 2-1 margin. Overall, they're 3-28 in any series where they have trailed at any time. Buffalo defenseman Steve Montador says the Sabres don't have to change much. Just keep playing responsible hockey, tidy up some areas and good things might happen. "Given our situation now, I think we recognize the areas where we want to improve (on defense), and we want to show our aggression and our energies," he said. "You can look at the series and see they're up 2-1 but the reality is you want to stay on an even keel, keep working your butt off no matter what the situation. "As it is, it's going to get tougher. You have to show as an individual that you're getting better every game." Ruff says there's a fine line between success and failure when it comes to these two teams. "We've played them five times in the last month (including the regular season) and they've all been one-goal games," he said. "Every game has been tight. I thought our defense struggled (in Game 3). We didn't take care of the puck very well." The Flyers are 18-3 all-time when leading a series 2-1 and they look forward to another road game since they broke the franchise record for road wins with 25 during the regular season. "We've been a great road team," Hartnell commented. "We pride ourselves on being simple, making smart plays on the road. "Game 4, we can take a commanding lead in the series and definitely take some wind out of their sails." Earlier, Briere said the Flyers were preparing for the toughest game of the series. "I think back to how we felt after Game 1 (a 1-0 Buffalo win)," Laviolette said. "We lost in our building and the series kind of switched to their favor. (For Game 2) the energy was high, we were desperate to win that game. Same in this building (for Buffalo). + it's going to take a special effort (for the Flyers) to get it done here." Short shots: Chris Pronger (hand injury) skated but did not take slap shots and remains day-to-day. + Andreas Nodl (upper body injury) remains out and Nik Zherdev, who scored the winner in Game 3, will be back in the lineup again.

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20. Camden Courier-Post- Briere sparking Flyers John Wawrow In a city where he was once revered, Flyers center Danny Briere is getting a big kick out of being booed in Buffalo. "I think it's totally normal. They're cheering for their team," Briere said Tuesday, referring to the welcome he's received from Sabres fans. "And if they're booing me, that means I'm doing something right to get under their skin." In other words, the louder, the better. Four years after the Sabres' former co-captain left Buffalo to sign with the Flyers as a free agent, Briere is showing he hasn't lost his touch in scoring clutch playoff goals. The only difference is he's now doing it for the Flyers, helping them win two straight to secure a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series that resumes today in Buffalo. After scoring the decisive goal in a 5-4 victory in Game 2 last weekend, Briere sparked a two-goal second period in the Flyers' 4-2 victory Monday. Briere's performance is no surprise and comes after a season in which he scored a career-best 34 goals. He led the Flyers with 12 goals and 30 points in last year's run to the Stanley Cup finals, which they lost in seven games to Chicago. And Briere played a key role in helping the Sabres make consecutive appearances in the Eastern Conference finals in 2006 and '07. Of Briere's 25 career playoff goals, 12 have been game-winners. "It's the playoffs. My dream is still to win the Stanley Cup, and I really believe that with the team we have this year, we have a shot at it," Briere said. "And I'm not getting any younger." The 33-year-old Briere and the veteran-laden Atlantic Division champion Flyers have suddenly grabbed the momentum in what's been a hard-hitting and entertaining series that opened with Buffalo's 1-0 victory. The Sabres are all too aware of what Briere can do. "Opportunistic, that's what Danny is, and that's what we've got to take away from them," Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller said. "I've been trying to hold my ground. That's what you have to do with Danny." Easier said than done.

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In order to bounce back, the Sabres need to find a way to contain Briere and a potent offense that led the East with 259 goals. To do that, the Sabres are going to have to clean up their defensive miscues after giveaways led directly to Briere and Nikolay Zherdev scoring second-period goals Monday. They must also find a way to solve goalie Brian Boucher, who has stopped 55 of 58 shots he's faced since replacing rookie Sergei Bobrovsky in the first period of Game 2. "We've found different ways to lose these last two games, and not by much," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "The only feeling I have right now is that we believe we're a good enough team to come back and win this series." The Sabres have been resilient. After getting off to a dreadful start to their campaign, Buffalo finished 29-11-6 to clinch seventh place on the final weekend of the regular season. Buffalo has lost two straight games for the first time since losing three in a row in February. "It's playoff hockey," Miller said. "Just shake it off and move forward. There's going to be ups and downs. And the downs sometime make you feel kind of low. You just have to regroup." The Flyers have finally showed signs of regaining their form following a late-season skid that cost them the top spot in the East, all the while continuing to play without defensive leader Chris Pronger, who has missed 19 games since having surgery to repair a broken right hand. Listed as day to day, Pronger has resumed practicing, but there's still no timetable for his return. On the bright side, their two-game win streak is their first since Pronger's injury. And they continue their dominance in Buffalo, improving to 6-0-2 in their past eight trips. They haven't lost in regulation in Buffalo since Dec. 21, 2007. This is no time for a letdown, cautioned Flyers coach Peter Laviolette. "I think about how we felt after Game 1, and the series switched in their favor," Laviolette said. "We were desperate to win (Game 2). And that desperation, you've got to watch out for." At least, Laviolette knows he can rely on Briere -- and maybe hearing a few more boos from Sabres fans.

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"I think they like Danny," Laviolette said, referring to the reception Briere has received in Buffalo. "He's a good guy, and he did well here in Buffalo. He's a productive player. And you usually draw a little bit more attention because of it." Notes Sabres RW Patrick Kaleta wore a cage on his helmet to protect an undisclosed injury that forced him to miss the final two periods of Game 3. Kaleta said he'll play today. . . . Flyers captain Mike Richards did not practice but was in the locker room after getting what the team called "a maintenance day." . . . Sabres forwards Tyler Ennis and Mike Grier did not practice after getting rest days. 21. Philadelphiaflyers.com- Boucher, Flyers go for third straight over Sabres Adam Kimelman Big story: Brian Boucher followed his strong relief effort in Game 2 by stopping 35 shots to backstop the Flyers to a 4-2 win in Game 3. Nikolay Zherdev, a healthy scratch for the first two games of the series, scored the game-winning goal late in the second period. Team Scope: Flyers: Much of the news surrounding Philadelphia has been the absence of All-Star defenseman Chris Pronger while he recovers from a broken hand. However coach Peter Laviolette repeatedly has said he's happy with the way his team is playing defensively. He called the Flyers' 1-0 loss in Game 1 the tightest defensively his team has played all season, and was just as complimentary of the effort in Game 3. Despite allowing 37 shots in the 4-2 victory, the majority were from the perimeter, and 11 came on the power play. "I think our defense has been good," Laviolette said. "Even (Wednesday), there was a lot of shots and there was a lot of opportunities, but an awful lot on the power play, and they had enough opportunities on it. … It's been a good team concept on defense that has kept the even-strength chances low for us at this point." A key performer in that group has been Matt Carle. Carle led all blueliners in even-strength points during the regular season and has played more than 21 minutes per game in the first three games of the series. He has played with Pronger when Pronger has been healthy, but also has performed well with Andrej Meszaros. "All year long, he turns in consistent performances night after night," Laviolette said. "He plays in all situations for us against other teams, when he's with Chris and when he's without Chris. He quietly goes about his business, he's had a very strong year for us and has continued on to help yield more minutes and responsibility now that Chris is out of the lineup."

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Sabres: Brad Boyes was added in hope he would add offense to the Sabres' lineup. But Buffalo's 4-2 loss in Game 3 to the Flyers marked the 14th straight game he's gone without a goal. Boyes has three shots in Game 3, but that came after he had one shot each in the first two games of the series. "I'm banging my head against the wall and still looking for answers," Boyes told the Buffalo News. "I've been through ups and downs before. It's a matter of keep putting pucks on net. Keep shooting and keep getting into certain areas." He said he felt better about his Game 3 effort, but knows there's more he can give. "You hopefully keep playing to get those chances," Boyes said. "I have to keep getting to the net more and bouncing something in, whatever it is, just throw pucks on net. I feel like I did that more. But it's about results." Who's hot: Flyers forward Danny Briere has goals in each of the last two games. He had 3 goals in four regular-season games against the Sabres. … Defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani leads the Sabres with 4 points -- all assists -- in the first three games of the series. He led just 3 points in nine regular-season games; he led all AHL defensemen in scoring this season with 60 points in 63 games. Injury report: Pronger (hand) and Flyers forward Andreas Nodl (upper body) are day-to-day. Forward Mike Richards missed practice for what the team called a maintenance day. CSNPhilly.com is reporting he's fighting a serious head cold but will play in Game 4. … Sabres forwards Tyler Ennis and Mike Grier both missed practice Tuesday for what the team called maintenance days. Defensemen Andrej Sekera and Shaone Morrisonn also missed practice due to upper-body injuries that kept them out of Game 3. They are questionable for Game 4. Stat pack: During the regular season, the Flyers were 10th in the League with 1,905 hits and the Sabres were 30th with 1,505 hits. Through the first three games of their playoff series, however, the Sabres have out-hit the Flyers 93-88. Puck drop: Patrick Kaleta played just five shifts totaling 2:26 in Game 3, due to an upper-body injury. He was skating with a full cage on his helmet during Tuesday's practice, but wouldn't go into detail why. "Just battling a cold, with a runny nose and sore throat," he joked. He did say, however, he would be playing in Game 4.

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"I'm back today so I feel a lot better today," he said. "Pumped up, actually. I didn't get to waste too much energy (Monday) so it's all built up and I'm ready to get back on the right path." Buffalo Sabres Articles (FLYERS Next Opponent) 1. Buffalo News- Sabres find themselves in a familiar spot Bob DiCesare The National Hockey League playoffs are a time when unexpected heroes emerge from unlikely places. Just look at Philadelphia winger Nikolay Zherdev. Zherdev dangled unclaimed on the waiver wire in February. He was a healthy scratch for the first two games of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. The Flyers reinserted him in the lineup for Game Three Monday night and were rewarded with a goal, the game-winner nonetheless, while playing him just 16 shifts covering a tad more than eight minutes. Zherdev's contribution to Philly's 2-1 lead in the series amounted to a quick strike, a case of being in the right place at the right time. The pinpoint pass from Mike Richards that found Zherdev alone to the left of goaltender Ryan Miller was the integral part of the scoring play. To find a peripheral player who has made perhaps even a more significant impact on the series look to Sabres defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani, the late-season callup who has been the rock on Buffalo's backline after appearing in just nine regular-season games. Gragnani topped the Sabres by playing a career-high 23 minutes, 51 seconds in Monday's 4-2 loss at HSBC Arena. He tied for the team lead with two blocked shots. He assisted on both Buffalo goals, giving him four assists for the postseason, which tied him for the league postseason lead through Monday's games. Who could have envisioned Gragnani hoarding time as he has with a career base of just 15 NHL games heading into the playoffs? "He's one guy that didn't struggle," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said of the 24-year-old Gragnani in assessing the defensive corps. "I thought Marc really, really played well. I'm delighted. I guess you could say I'm surprised but he's really shown a lot of composure and done a lot of nice things on the ice, and shown no lack of composure." Gragnani's friends and family have taken notice. They've communicated with texts and voicemails noting his increased ice time, his place among the league's assist leaders. And maybe sometime over the summer he'll reflect on personal accomplishment and appreciate the huge and rapid strides he's made in a matter of weeks since his late March recall from Portland. But the minutes logged and assists gathered mean little to him at the moment.

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"Most of them don't really get it," Gragnani said of the stat-watching well-wishers. "They're happy for me, that I'm playing well and everything. But at the end of the day it's not about me. It's about the team and about winning." It'll take improved play on the backline if the Sabres are going to turn the series around and buck historical trends. Buffalo is 0-5 all-time after losing Game Three at home in a 1-1 series. The Flyers are 18-3 all-time after winning Game Three of a 1-1 series. More relevant to this series has been Philadelphia's ability to gain an edge with its transition game and its forechecking. "I thought our defense struggled last night," Ruff said. "We turned the puck over too many times. We didn't take care of the puck real well. I got to give them some credit ... but we didn't take care of the puck real well, and we had some defensemen that struggled out there. When you struggle against good players, against Carter and Briere ... you're putting yourself in a tough spot." The Flyers entered the series with their own concerns, notably the continued absence of standout defenseman Chris Pronger. His recovery from a hand injury adds to the burden on a blue line without a rock-solid No. 1 goaltender to atone for its mistakes. Philly opened the series with Sergei Bobrovsky in goal but switched to Brian Boucher during Game Two. Boucher produced 35 saves in Game Three and Philly's defense exceled in killing a 5-on-3 disadvantage nearing the midway mark of the third period. "Unfortunately we've had to play a lot this year without Chris," Boucher said. "Obviously he's a big hole in our defense, we'd love to have him back there. But I think we've done a pretty good job without him, so I think we have full confidence in one another. They've done a great job and I'm not overly surprised by that." The Sabres head into Game Four in the familiar position of having to make up ground. Their regular-season was a six-month struggle with adversity. Must-wins abounded over the final 20 games. Current circumstances demand they respond again after losing consecutive games for the first time in two months. "It's playoff hockey, shake it off and move forward," Miller said. "There's going to be ups and downs, and the downs sometimes they feel kind of low, and you just have to regroup and understand maybe where the game got away from you and address it and see if altering the game plan a little bit or a little bit more attention is going to help fix that." "We've played them five times now in the last couple months," Ruff said. "They've all been one-goal games [minus the empty-netter in Game Three]. Every game has been tight." 2. Buffalo News- In a series this close, sit back and enjoy the ride Bucky Gleason

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Lindy Ruff placed his index finger and thumb about a half-inch apart Tuesday in attempt to define the distance between the Sabres and Flyers through three games of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Use whatever word you please. Only a hair, a sliver, a smidgen has separated the two teams. At risk of sounding like a homer, the Sabres remain plenty capable of knocking off the Flyers. They have been more aggressive and more desperate leading into Game Four. They have stood up to playoff pressure for months. A win tonight sends the two teams back to 0-0, with the Flyers having home-ice advantage and nothing more. Heck, yeah, Buffalo can win the series. You gotta believe. Not to come off like a Flyers cheerleader, but Philadelphia is the better team. The Flyers are deeper, more explosive and far more dangerous in transition. Their defense is more experienced and has been more dependable, and veteran beast Chris Pronger could help them in both departments if he returns in the series. Yes, Philly should win. Buffalo is just a pit stop. Goaltending, when it's all added up, has been a push. Ryan Miller hasn't been spectacular. He owned up to a few mistakes Tuesday. Brian Boucher played well in Game Three but gave up several juicy rebounds. The difference through three games is two goals, including the Flyers' empty netter in Game Three. Really, it's one goal. A bounce here, a bounce there and ... "The difference is this much," Ruff said, using his thumb and finger. Actually, it's thismuch. History shows the team winning the first playoff game between Buffalo and Philadelphia has an 8-0 record in the series. The Sabres are 0-5 when losing Game Three at home in a 1-1 series. The Flyers are 18-3 when winning Game Three when the series is tied. Buffalo won the first game but trails going into Game Four. Something must give. The Sabres lost two in a row for the first time under new owner Terry Pegula. Does that mean, uh oh, they're finally sliding backward going into what could be their final home game? Or does it mean, yahoo, they're bound to bounce back in Game Four, see you back in HSBC Arena for Game Six? It depends on your viewpoint. Here's my advice: Kick back and enjoy whatever remains in the season without getting wrapped up in how it shakes out. The Sabres are playing with house money considering how far they traveled to reach this point. Treat the playoffs like a bonus.

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Understand that they're not good enough to win the Stanley Cup. They might not have the talent or depth to survive against the Flyers, let alone three more rounds that follow. This isn't their year, OK? It belongs to Vancouver or Washington or San Jose or Boston or another team that has the necessities in place. By no means -- allow me to repeat -- BY NO MEANS should the Sabres be satisfied with standing up to the Flyers, putting up a good fight in an entertaining series and calling it a season. They should be hungry and confident and loose heading into Game Four knowing they can advance if they can clean up their mistakes and play to their potential. Thomas Vanek has two goals, neither at even strength. Tim Connolly hasn't scored a playoff goal since 2005-06, a span of 26 postseason games. Jason Pominville has made little impact. Same goes with Brad Boyes. Paul Gaustad has played hard, but he has no goals in 34 career playoff games. It's not a good sign when Marc-Andre Gragnani, who played six NHL games and none in the playoffs before this season, had the same number of postseason points (four) as Boyes, Connolly, Pominville, Tyler Ennis and Tyler Myers combined. Or maybe it's a great sign. Gragnani has been terrific in the playoffs, a pleasant surprise and perhaps their best defenseman. His development is accelerated with every postseason game. Chris Butler has gained valuable experience along with Ennis, Myers, Nathan Gerbe and Mike Weber. The Sabres have stayed with the Flyers with their kiddie corps and the lowest-paid defense unit in the league, an accomplishment. They are headed for better days no matter what happens. And they can still win this series. Whenever the season ends, the most anticipated offseason in recent memory begins. Any and every free agent will be in play. Pegula already has changed the culture of the franchise. His mission is to win a Stanley Cup, and he has the passion and money to make it happen. The Sabres aren't there yet, but they aren't that far away. My advice is to stick to the theme. And believe. 3. Buffalo News- Kaleta vows he will face Flyers in Game Four Bob DiCesare Patrick Kaleta was back on the ice Tuesday wearing a cage to protect his face area. Which means what? That he sprained a big toe? That his shoulder aches? That he's borrowing a page from the Jordan Leopold book on postseason deception?

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Kaleta crashed into the boards and left Game Three for good in the first period Monday night with what the team termed the old and nebulous "upper-body injury." "Nothing happened to my face," Kaleta laughed. "Just battling that cold with that runny nose and that sore throat. You know?" And to think some people resort to over-the-counter medication. Kaleta vowed he'll be back in the lineup for Game Four tonight although the Sabres have recalled Mark Mancari, who also practiced Tuesday. "Pumped up, actually," Kaleta said. "I didn't get to waste too much energy yesterday so it's all built up and I'm ready to get back right on the right path." How did he feel Tuesday night? "Well, did I come back? No? Well I'm back today so I feel a lot better today." And will he wear the cage tonight? "I don't know. We'll see." What ails Kaleta? Who knows? Nothing is as it's made to seem in the playoffs. Leopold said on Sunday that he wasn't close to returning from a hand fracture ... and then dressed Monday. Meanwhile, neither Mike Grier nor Tyler Ennis practiced. Coach Lindy Ruff said they received a "maintenance day." Mike Richards was given the day off by the Flyers. . . . . Sabres goalie Ryan Miller on his play in the series and Monday's goals by Jeff Carter, Danny Briere and Nikolay Zherdev: "I've made my mistakes. It's been good and bad I guess. I haven't felt too far off on the games we've lost. I've gotten scored on a few times where I'd like to make adjustments. But even last night, a shot goes off a stick, it's really tough to catch up to that one. You got to shake it off and move forward. "The next two, yeah, I can make some adjustments. I can maybe go harder on Hartnell so he doesn't get to the front of the net and get an opportunity to get it to Danny. And the next one I could have sat back and been a little more patient and sat back knowing Richards has options."

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Trash talking between former teammates Miller and Briere? Ha! "It's all fluff coming from him after the amount of years that we've known each other," Miller said. "You can't automatically hit a light switch and be a hard-ass to me. I respect his talent and he respects what I try and do out there and we try to get the better of each other. When he gets the better of me though it's the headline." Briere on being macho: "I never pretend to be anyways. There hasn't been much discussion out there. We're competitors that are trying to let our play do the talking more than anything." It used to be easy to coax Scott Hartnell, the Flyers hulking winger, into a retaliatory penalty or two. It's no longer quite that simple. For instance, Hartnell showed admirable restraint when he was repeatedly cross-checked by Mike Weber while on his knees covering the puck in Game Three. "I think Scott's playing really hard right now," said Flyer coach Peter Laviolette. "I like his line. I think he does good things for Danny and that line. Everybody brings a little bit something different and his is the physicality of it, and the forechecking... "You see him in a lot of scrums out there. He's done a pretty good job with his discipline in his scrums. He hasn't reacted. It would have been easy last night to get up after he got cross-checked in the back seven or eight times in a row and punched somebody in the head and he didn't. I think he's done a good job with his discipline." Laviolette on the boos that still shadow Briere at HSBC Arena: "Anytime you go into an old building and you start to have success there's always a ... I think they like Danny. He's a good guy and he did well in Buffalo for them. But things change from year to year and he's a productive player so you usually draw a little more attention because of it." 4. Buffalo News- Game Four Scouting Report Bob DiCesare Thumbs up -- Marc-Andre Gragnani (above). Add him to the list of potential fixtures on the Buffalo defense through 2020. Played almost 24 minutes in Game Three. -- Braydon Coburn. Philly blueliner was plus-3 in more than 23 minutes Monday and approached six minutes on penalty-kill. Four blocks. Just a great game.

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-- Jeff Carter. Quiet start to postseason ended with goal, assist in Game Three. Thumbs down -- Thomas Vanek. Two-goal surge of Game Two a distant memory. One of only three Sabres without a hit in Game Three. Proof he played? A minus-2. -- Tyler Myers. He's better than this. Agreed? -- Terry Pegula. Winless on home ice in postseason. Don't want Golisano thinking new owner's getting preferential treatment. Keys for the Sabres -- Miller time. One more save a game can make difference for team with little margin for error. -- Clean up zone. Flyers forecheck is causing them grief. -- Fire away. There's a reason Boucher was Flyers No. 2 to start series. Keys for the Flyers -- Match Buffalo's intensity. Sabres didn't come out desperate in Game Three. Tonight will be different. -- Force mistakes. Pressure on young defense has produced opportunities. Defend slot. Sabres crash net and Boucher prone to rebounds. 5. Orlean Times Herald- Deficit doesn't phase battled-tested Sabres Bill Hoppe BUFFALO – The Sabres feel an odd comfort in their current predicament. They’ve experienced much worse, after all. A one-game Eastern Conference quarterfinal deficit? No biggie. They ranked dead last overall in November. They erased a 10-point playoff deficit in weeks during the winter. Trailing 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, with the prospect of going back to Philadelphia facing elimination if they don’t win tonight at HSBC Arena, is nothing. Heck, the Sabres just spent five months battling for survival. “We’re OK with having to face some adversity,” defenseman Steve Montador said Tuesday after the Sabres prepared for their tilt with the Flyers. “We’re OK with knowing that we just got to come out and put our best effort out there.

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“In a way,” he said, “that’s encouraging for us because we’ve certainly had that experience. We’ve built our season on that platform. … This scenario is just a smaller version of the playoffs as the season.” If Game 4 follows the first three contests, tonight will be a tight, edge-of-your-seat affair with little margin for error. Following their 1-0 win in the opener, the Sabres lost 5-4 and 4-2, playing well for much of both defeats. One fewer mistake, one more buried opportunity and the series could be flipped in the Sabres’ favor. “I look at it this way,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “We’ve played them five times in the last couple months. They’ve all been one-goal games. Throw the empty-netters out. Every game has been tight.” The urgency the Sabres feel is similar to what the Flyers experienced after their Game 1 home loss Thursday. “I think about how we felt after Game 1,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. “We’re in our building. We just lost Game 1, and the series kind of switched to their favor after Game 1. The energy was high. We came out, we were desperate to win that hockey game. “That desperation, you got to watch out for it,” he said. “It’s going to be in their building. It’s going to take a special effort to make sure we’re ready to play and get this thing done with.” While the Sabres narrowly lost Monday, the quick-strike Flyers pounced on several miscues, getting key scores from Daniel Briere and Nikolay Zherdev. Both teams showcase slick offenses. Getting into a shootout probably doesn’t favor the Sabres, though. “It’s going to have to be a chess match,” Sabres goalie Ryan Miller said. “You just can’t go punch-for-punch with these guys. It’s kind of what they want. It’s kind of what they’re built for. … They know that if they get a few of those they can sit back and make you open up more. “We just have to be trusting in our system and know what it takes to beat Philly,” he said. “I think we have a game plan. I think execution is where it needs to be.” The execution was way off at times in Game 3, with the blue line bearing much of the blame. Turnovers and poor coverage resulted in two goals. “I thought our defense struggled (Monday),” Ruff said. “We turned the puck over too many times. We didn’t take care of the puck very well.”

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Montador endured the roughest night, adding to what has quickly become a rough series for the veteran. “He’s made some mistakes and he’s caught in between right now,” Ruff said. “He doesn’t want to quite commit on some plays, and some plays he’s a little hesitant gapping up, which has led to some opportunities. It’s a tough time of year right now.” Montador, a great talker and a deep thinker, often becomes curt when questioned about his struggles. He was again Tuesday, saying only, “I don’t feel any level of frustration.” He’s incredibly inconsistent, though, sometimes morphing from the Sabres’ best defender to their worst. There’s some Dmitri Kalinin in him, for sure. The Sabres received some splendid play from rookie defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani, though. The 24-year-old, the AHL’s top blue liner this year, played a team-high 23:51 in his third playoff contest and just 18th NHL tilt overall. He joined the Sabres in late March. With four assists, Gragnani leads all Sabres in points. Five players have two points each. Gragnani had 60 points in 63 games with Portland this season. “He’s the one guy that didn’t struggle,” Ruff said. “I thought Marc really played well. I’m delighted. I guess you could say I’m surprised, but he’s really showed a lot of composure, did a lot of really nice things on the ice, and has showed no lack of composure, which a little bit was evident in our back end last night, which we need to clean up.” One month ago, could Gragnani have imagined playing more minutes than any other Sabre? “I’m surprised, I’m happy,” Gragnani said. “Obviously, it means I’m doing something good if I’m playing those minutes.” 6. Orlean Times Herald- Did Miller jab old friend Briere? Bill Hoppe BUFFALO – Buddies or foes? Sabres goalie Ryan Miller and former teammate Daniel Briere, now the Philadelphia Flyers’ ace scorer, have never hidden their friendship or mutual respect for each other. Is the current Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, which the Flyers lead 2-1 heading into Game 4 tonight at HSBC Arena, chilling their relationship, though? Miller, who hardly sounded angry, alleged Tuesday that Briere has chirped at him on the ice.

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“Yeah, because it’s all fluff coming from him after the amount of years we’ve known each other,” Miller said inside HSBC Arena after the Sabres prepared for tonight’s Game 4. “You can’t automatically hit a light switch and be a hard ass to me.” Miller added: “It’s not going to do anything. I respect his talent and he respects what I try to do out there, and if you try to get the better of each other, and when he gets the better, you know it’s the headline. Even though he gets however many chances, if one goes in it’s a headline.” When informed of the comments in the visiting dressing room, Briere couldn’t recall saying anything to Miller. “Both of us are competitors that are trying to let our play do the talking more than anything,” Briere said. But in a text later in the afternoon to CSNPhilly.com, Briere seemed surprised at Miller’s words. “Wow, he’s definitely getting wrong info,” Briere wrote. “First, I haven’t said a word to him on the ice and off the ice. I’ve only had good things to say about him because of the respect I have for him. So I’m not gonna play that game with him.” Briere, a dynamic postseason performer, has already beaten Miller twice this series, including the go-ahead score in the Flyers’ 4-2 triumph Monday. “He likes to be around the net,” Miller said. “He’s on the right team for it. They get pucks to the net. They allow him to kind of find situations where he can get open and sniff around and hang around and play to some of his strengths.” Briere left the Sabres as a free agent in 2007. The 33-year-old has 37 goals and 89 points in 89 career playoff games. xxx Sabres winger Patrick Kaleta, knocked out of Monday’s tilt when Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn flung him into the end boards in the first period, practiced Tuesday wearing a full metal cage. Kaleta said he felt “a lot better” and plans to play tonight. The agitator sported no visible cuts or scrapes. Why the facial protection then? “Nothing happened to my face,” Kaleta said. “I’m battling that cold with that running nose and that sore throat.”

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OK, Pat. The Sabres’ most ferocious hitter said he’s “pumped up” to play. “I didn’t get to waste too much energy (Monday), so it’s all built up and ready to get back on the right path,” Kaleta said. Meanwhile, winger Tyler Ennis and Mike Grier both sat out practice for maintenance days, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. Defensemen Andrej Sekera (upper body) and Shaone Morrisonn (undisclosed) also missed the session. In other injury news, center Derek Roy (torn quadriceps) has been practicing but still has no firm return date. When he was injured Dec. 23, the Sabres said he would miss four to six months. Roy isn’t ready for contact and acknowledged he still thinks about his leg on the ice. Watching the Sabres’ recent success has been difficult. “At the same time,” Roy said, “these guys are putting in the effort and working hard. All I can do is sit there and give positive encouragement and just be there for whatever they need.” On the other side, franchise defenseman Chris Pronger (broken right hand) practiced with the Flyers again, while captain Mike Richards (maintenance) sat. To the surprise of many, the Sabres are outhitting the Flyers, a team historically known for its toughness, 100-81 in the series. Ruff wasn’t aware of the stat. He doesn’t care, either. “I would trade outhitting for outscoring,” Ruff said. “I don’t even look. It’s plays that make a difference. I don’t think in some cases hitting makes a difference. … “Sometimes hitting can take the will away from another team,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to take the will away from the Flyers. I think maybe they’re surprised we keep coming all the time.” According to statician Mike Haim, the Sabres are 0-13 in playoffs series when trailing 2-1, 0-12 when down 3-1 and 4-12 when the series is tied at 2. Adirondack Phantoms Articles

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1. Glens Falls Post Star- Tuesday notebook — Allentown story, Holmstrom practices Tim McManus Just a couple of minor notes Tuesday that I thought were worth bringing up: – The Allentown Morning-Call had an interesting article Tuesday on business owners who are unhappy with the money they’re being offered to sell and make room for the proposed Phantoms arena. It’s not a particularly surprising story, and one I’m sure you’re going to see more of as property owners try to negotiate the best deal for themselves. It’s not an immovable obstacle — everyone has a price — but it nonetheless underscores how difficult and protracted a process it is to build arenas in downtown areas and why I always view deadlines as malleable until shovels go in the ground. – Flyers captain Mike Richards missed practice on Tuesday for the second time this week. Officially, it was a maintenance day. Unofficially, he likely has some minor ailment. Either way, it gave Ben Holmstrom some practice time with the big club as he centered a line of Kris Versteeg and Nikolay Zherdev, according to PhillySportsDaily.com. Richards is expected to play when the series with Buffalo resumes Wednesday night. They Flyers lead 2-1. – No official word yet, but after Brian Boucher’s strong game Monday, I assume the Flyers keep their current goaltender configuration with Michael Leighton backing him up. Of course, it’s the Flyers and goalies, so you never really know. NHL Articles 1. TSN.ca- NHL announces 10-year TV deal with NBC and Versus Canadian Press The National Hockey League has opted to stick with NBC and Versus as its U.S. broadcasters in a 10-year deal reportedly worth about US$2 billion. Neither commissioner Gary Bettman nor NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol gave financial terms of the contract, but various reports said it would bring in about $200 million per season. Bettman called it "the most significant U.S. media rights partnership in the league's history." Versus currently pays about $75 million per year while NBC pays no rights fees but has a revenue sharing arrangement with the NHL.

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"Our wonderful run of not paying anything for a number of years is over with this deal," said Ebersol. He added that the Versus name will be changed within three months to one that will include NBC. The NHL took some heat when it left ESPN in 2004 to sign with OLN, later was renamed Versus, which reaches far fewer homes and had far less cachet among sports fans than the top all-sports network in the U.S. Just having NHL highlights and news featured on ESPN's Sportscenter news show is considered a boost for any league looking to reach the American mainstream. Versus averaged only 353,00 viewers for games, but that is up 19 per cent from last season. Bettman said he had "no regrets" about going with NBC and Versus. "When we looked at the entire package and the relationship it was clear to us we were going to be with the incumbent," said Bettman. "Everyone has enormous respect for ESPN. "Six years ago we chose to go in a different direction for a variety of reasons and we believe it's worked out well for us. Versus' coverage of our game has been extraordinary and hockey fans and sports fans have found it and actually have been telling us they think the coverage is terrific. And I think it's only going to get better." The NHL still lags far behind other team sports in TV revenue. The NFL takes in more than $2 billion per year, while the NBA gets about $930 million per season. Bettman said the league will benefit from the "synergies" offered by the recent acquisition of NBC Universal by cable company Comcast. The group now has 20 networks and more than 40 "digital platforms" that can either broadcast or promote hockey. They include the main NBC network, Versus and other channels that include regional sports networks. The deal will see games on Versus jump from 50 to 90 per season. Versus will also exclusively air all conference final games, while for the final, NBC will have five games and Versus will show Games 3 and 4. NBC will continue to show a game of the week as well as the annual Winter Classic and Hockey Day in America. It will introduce a national game on U.S. Thanksgiving Friday. Versus will have a game of the week, the all-star game and will show any Heritage Classic games held in Canada.

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Ebersol said hockey attracts a young, male demographic many advertisers want. "We're delighted," he said. "There is nothing that fits the NBC Sports Group better on all platforms than the NHL. "Between the national cable rights, the broadcast rights, the digital rights, and the fact that the NHL is a significant part of some of our strongest RSNs, it brings a strength to that entire platform that nothing else can. "It just means we have a commitment to hockey all year that we can sell across all these platforms. And after six years of experimentation, our free time is over and I'm happy it's over because we've learned together." 2. TSN.ca- McKenzie: Blackhawks' Keith showing he's a leader Bob McKenzie If you're a fan of the Vancouver Canucks you aren't going to be inspired at all, but if you are a fan of playoff hockey you can't help but be inspired by what Duncan Keith did in Tuesday's game. At the 5:37 mark of the first period he had a shift where he kind of lost his mind. He interfered with Raffi Torres and could have received a minor penalty on that play, followed that up by taking a cross checking penalty, and, based on his actions, could have received six minutes in total. He goes to the penalty box and everyone is talking about how undisciplined he was and with your head you can agree with that thought. It's more of a Braveheart moment if you look at it with your heart or you're a fan of the Blackhawks. He was so intent to go after Torres and send the message that his team is mad and they aren't going to take what he did to Brent Seabrook lying down. It could have blown up in their face with a bunch of penalties and a powerplay goal, but it didn't, and when he scored and did the triple whirl on the fist pump it was a great playoff moment. Keith is a leader. Sharks a much deeper team this year 4-0 lead for the Los Angeles Kings in Game Three, and the San Jose Sharks are nowhere to be found. They're saying 'Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Dan Boyle have zero points in the series and are minus players. Dany Heatley hasn't scored since the first minute of the first game. Same old Sharks, they're not going to get it done.'

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But then they get a goal: Thornton wins the faceoff, Boyle gets a nice slap pass, puts it over to Marleau, and the next thing you know they are on the board. But the reason these Sharks are different is what we saw the rest of the way. And that is Ryane Clowe with two goals, that is Logan Couture, that is Joe Pavelski. They've got so many more weapons now that they're not a one-dimensional team. But when things are going bad, there isn't anybody in the world who doesn't look right away and say 'What does Thornton have, what does Heatley have, what does Marleau have and what does Boyle have' and until that goal, they had nothing. The little things that win hockey games Faceoffs. Heading into overtime they were decidedly in favour of the San Jose Sharks. In fact they've been killing the Los Angeles Kings at the faceoff circle for most of this game. Offensive zone, defensive zone, it doesn't matter. Joe Pavelski is 78 percent in the offensive zone, 75 percent in the neutral zone. Joe Thornton 57 percent in the offensive zone, 90 percent in the neutral zone. All the way down the line they are a much better faceoff team than the Kings. They're deeper at centre. 3. TSN.ca- Cullen: Blackhawks stay alive; Sharks rally for OT win Scott Cullen The message that came out of Tuesday night's games was: don't give up. For the Chicago Blackhawks, they played their most inspired game of the playoffs (if not the entire season) to avoid a sweep and the San Jose Sharks rallied from a 4-0 deficit to win 6-5 in overtime. VANCOUVER-CHICAGO The return of David Bolland might have been expected to give the Chicago Blackhawks a boost, but a career night from Bolland (four points, plus-4) propelled the Blackhawks to a one-sided victory, keeping them alive for at least one more game. Bolland hadn't played since suffering a concussion March 9, making his performance -- after a five-week layoff -- all the more impressive. That he made a difference in the game shouldn't come as a surprise. In last year's six-game series against Vancouver, Bolland registered five points while his frequent assignment, Henrik Sedin, had six points, but was also minus-4. Sedin matched that minus total last night, taking a minus-4, the first time in Henrik's career that he's been saddled with a minus-4 in a single game.

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While Roberto Luongo doesn't think Bolland is the kind of player who can affect the outcome of the series, he certainly did for one night. The line of the Sedin Twins and Alex Burrows was limited to a total of four shots on goal and credit for that must go to Bolland's line, who locked them down in 5-on-5 situations. Going back to Vancouver is important, as it may provide an opportunity for the Canucks to get more advantageous matchups. Coming back from a 3-0 series deficit is a tall order, no doubt, but the Blackhawks can be encouraged by the Game Four result because it wasn't even the Blackhawks stars leading the way. Bolland's line, with wingers Bryan Bickell and Michael Frolik (who added a goal and two assists), dominated play and the defence pairing of Brian Campbell and Niklas Hjalmarsson rounded out a five-man unit in which each member was plus-4. Patrick Sharp added a couple of third-period goals, Patrick Kane had a pair of assists and Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa chipped in assists as well, so the stars got involved, but mostly after the outcome was no longer in doubt. After two, the Blackhawks had built a 5-1 lead, outshooting Vancouver 26-13. Surely, facing elimination brought out some desperation in the Blackhawks, but they also seemed to be riled up by the lack of a suspension for Vancouver winger Raffi Torres, after he blew up Blackhawks defenceman Brent Seabrook (who, incidentally, didn't have the puck) and it brought out a physical side that has been lacking from the Blackhawks, even as Seabrook was forced to sit out with an upper body injury that everyone assumes is a concussion. So, if the Blackhawks have any hope of getting off the mat and making this a series, they'll need to follow Tuesday's blueprint, hitting the Canucks at every turn and being aggressive right off the bat. At this point, what do they have to lose? SAN JOSE-LOS ANGELES Coming home with a split in San Jose was a great opportunity for a Los Angeles Kings team that is vastly overmatched on paper, yet has given the San Jose Sharks all they could handle early in the series. When the Kings built an early 4-0 lead, it looked like they were on the way to taking a lead in the series and San Jose was going to be exposed like so many other Sharks teams in so many playoffs before. But a funny thing happened on the way to the Kings' coronation, apparently the 80s called. The game turned into a wide open affair, with defensive gaffes aplenty, and San Jose stormed back in the second period, scoring five times on 18 shots, while the Kings

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somehow didn't see a need to call a timeout to try and break the momentum as their lead slipped away. Naturally, the teams tightened up defensively in the third and the game went to overtime tied at five, setting the stage for Devin Setoguchi to give the Sharks their second overtime win of the series. Dan Boyle was a force for San Jose, playing 28:00 and getting a couple of assists to ignite the second period comeback. Ryane Clowe notched a pair of goals, while Ian White (returning after missing Game Two), Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture and Niclas Wallin each contributed a couple of points as well. The Sharks' fourth line of Scott Nichol, Jamal Mayers and Ben Eager got benched early after going down minus-2 apiece. The trio combined for less than seven minutes of ice time total. After his super fantastic Game Two performance, Kings blueliner Drew Doughty logged a game-high 28:30, but was a game-low minus-3 in the process. The Kings' best player in Game One, Justin Williams, has struggled to get on track since, recording just one shot on goal in the last two games, but Los Angeles' hopes were buoyed by the performances of their depth forwards. Brad Richardson had a couple of points, Kyle Clifford scored his second goal of the series and Willie Mitchell's opening goal was assisted by Trevor Lewis and Kevin Westgarth. It was Westgarth's first point since December 29 and Richardson's third multi-point game of the entire season. The Sharks' lacklustre play has given the Kings hope in this series, only to have San Jose escape with a pair of overtime wins to somehow lead two games to one. Given the talent deficit they're facing, the Kings should be credited for making this such a competitive and compelling series, but it's going to be awfully difficult to pull off an upset when the favourite already has a pair of overtime wins. Presumably, the Sharks might show up for a full game at some point and finally take control, but if they don't do it in Game Four, and the series returns to San Jose tied, it's really not going to be such a surprise considering the inconsistent play that has occurred through the first three games. 4. TSN.ca- Penguins' Kunitz, Tampa's Downie suspended one game TSN.ca Staff Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steve Downie and Pittsburgh Penguins forward Chris Kunitz were each handed one-game suspensions by the NHL on Tuesday after separate incidents that took place during Game 3 of their series on Monday night.

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Downie got the single-game ban for leaping at his opponent during a check on Pittsburgh forward Ben Lovejoy at the end boards. Prior to the hit, Lovejoy was able to advance the puck down the ice leading to an early goal for Pittsburgh. The goal negated the penalty Downie was set to receive. "Downie left his feet and launched himself at the head of his opponent and he came from a considerable distance, with speed and force, to deliver the check," explained NHL Senior Executive Vice President Colin Campbell in a statement. Kunitz was suspended for an elbow to the head of Tampa Bay forward Simon Gagne, which sent the Lightning player to the ice in front of the Penguins net. Kunitz was assessed an elbowing minor on the play. Pittsburgh leads the series 2-1, and both players will miss Game 4 on Wednesday night. Downie and Kunitz are eligible to return for Game 5 on Saturday in Pittsburgh.

-FLYERS-