Flyers vs Pens: What to look for

After 140+ days of no hockey the boys are finally back in action today in Toronto to face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a scrimmage. What should we expect and what should we look for in this evenings game between two heated rivals?

I asked my fellow hosts at High and Wide what they wanted to see and here’s what they gave me.

Let’s start with Kyle first. Kyle brought up three solid keys (shout out to Kyle’s Keys). First was system play. After 4 months off it should be interesting to see just how quickly these guys can return to the form they had before stoppage. Second was solid goaltending, can Carter Hart and Brian Elliott pick up the slack? One would assume there will be sloppy play after such a layoff so good goaltending will be critical. Third is zone exits. Zone exits will be a huge factor in determining whether this team wins or not today and we’ll certainly have our eyes on this one.

Next we have what Jack will be looking for. Jack wants to see clean crisp passes, he realizes things could be a bit sloppy but wants to see as little of it as possible after such a layoff. Secondly he’ll be looking for players to stay out of the box, no dumb, lazy penalties and thirdly he wants to see the Penalty Kill pick up right where it left off, they were as solid as they were all season long and he wants to see that carry over. The Power play gets a clean slate but he’d still like to see some success and Power play goals are never a bad thing!

As for me? The 3 things I’m most looking for this evening are simple. I want the entire team to leave the game healthy and ready to play this weekend, I see no need for things to get physical or out of hand during a scrimmage, just play fast and be ready for the weekend. Having said that, with less physical play I imagine there will be more scoring opportunities so I’d like to see the goaltenders be sharp right out of the gates as I feel confidence heading into the weekend will be critical. Thirdly I’m just looking for these guys to have fun, it’s been a long 4 months for all of us and these guys are no different, teams always play better when they’re having fun and as a fan I always have more fun watching when the team is enjoying themselves.

Follow Jim on twitter @JimIkeHW

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