The Flyers will look to right the ship tonight against the Capitals. The Flyers are struggling and are coming off of a tough loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. The Rangers got at it quickly Tuesday as Michael Del Zotto beat Ilya Bryzgalov on a slap shot to put the Rangers up 1-0 just 1:57 into the game. The second period was similar to the first with a lot of back and forth action with significant time spent in the neutral zone. The Rangers went to work on the power play when a shot from the point was stopped by Bryzgalov who was screen but Rangers captain Ryan Callahan took the rebounded and punched it home to give New York a 2-0 lead. The third started off slow before the Rangers would be called for a bench minor penalty which put the Flyers on the power play. Just under a minute into the power play, Wayne Simmonds went into the corner and came away with the puck and found a wide open Kimmo Timonen who sniped a wrister over Lundqvist’s shoulder to cut New York’s lead in half. The Flyers would have other opportunities down the stretch but could not control the power play. The Flyers did not even get a shot on goal in the final 15 seconds with an extra attacker. The Rangers would hold on to win 2-1. In order to try and fix there early season struggled, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette shuffled the lines up for tonight’s game and has some interesting pairings.

The Flyers are looking to snap a two game losing streak tonight in the nation’s capital. Tonight is the first of three meetings between the Caps and Flyers. Former Capital and current Flyer Mike Knuble leads all Flyers with 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) against the Capitals. The Flyers are 100-66-19-6 but just 41-36-13-4 in D.C. One player to watch tonight is Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn who needs just two penalty minutes to get 400 PIM in the NFL. Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn had 270 hits last year with the Maple Leafs and is on pace for 269 hits for a full season.

Between the Pipes: Ilya Bryzgalov (2-4-0, 2.19 GAA, .924 SV%). Bryzgalov is playing extremely well early on this year and his get recognized for it. Laviolette said yesterday that Bryzgalov is like a pitcher who doesn’t get any run support. His 2.19 GAA ranked eight in the NHL among goaltenders who have made three or more starts. In six career games against the Capitals, Bryzgalov is 4-2-0 with a 1.98 GAA and a .937 SV% with one shutout.

The Capitals return home after a short two game road trip in which they dropped games to the Senators and Maple Leafs 3-2. The Capitals got their only win of the season in their last home game, a 3-2 win over the Sabres. The Capitals have had success against the Flyers going 7-2-4 over their last 13 matchups.

Between the Pipes: Braden Holtby (0-2-0, 5.03 GAA, .863 SV%). Holtby gets the start after sitting five straight games. The playoff sensation last year got off to a rough start going 0-2-0 with a 5.03 GAA and a .863 SV%. In his career against the Flyers, Holtby is 1-0-1 with a 1.44 GAA and a .943 SV %.

Puck drops at 7:00 pm. The game can be seen on Comcast Sportsnet and heard on 93.3 WMMR.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports

The Flyers and Capitals will battle tonight for last place in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals have just three points through their first seven games while the Flyers are not faring much better as they only have four points through the first seven games. For the first time in years, the problem is not the goaltending. In fact, the goaltending has been the strongest part for the Flyers through the early part of the season. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette compared Bryzgalov’s play to that of a pitcher who does not get any run support. If there is a city in the United States that can relate to that analogy, it is certainly Philadelphia.

The Flyers are not scoring and captain Claude Giroux is struggling early one. After scoring in each of the first two games Giroux has not found the back of the net in his last five games and has just four points after posting 93 points last season. Laviolette has tried a number of line combinations with Giroux but an injury to Scott Hartnell and some underwhelming play from Brayden Schenn has made it tough on the coach.

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi is reporting that tonight Laviolette will unveil some new line combinations to hopefully kick start the dormant offense. The top line will be Danny Briere and Wayne Simmonds on the wings with Giroux in the middle. Matt Read and Mike Knuble will be the wings on the second line with Sean Couturier centering them. Schenn will center Tye McGinn and Jake Voracek. On the fourth line it will be Max Talbot in the middle with Ruslan Fedotenko and Zac Rinaldo on either side of him.

The Flyers, and their fans, hope that these new combinations will get the team back on the winning track tonight in Washington.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports

Could the Flyers be in need of a new assistant coach this summer? If the Capitals coaching search involves current Flyers assistant coach Craig Berube, then the answer to that question is “yes.” Just days after being eliminated from the playoffs, Capitals head coach Dale Hunter notified the team that he would not be returning for next season as he cited that his family was the reason for his decision. CSNWashington hockey insider Chuck Gormley is reporting that Berube would be interested if the Capitals were to contact him about the head coaching position.

"‘Any time you get an opportunity to be a head coach, you’re interested,’ Berube told CSNWashington.com on Tuesday. ‘My situation is good here. No one has contacted me about it. We’ll see what happens.’
Berube was elevated to head coach of the Phantoms in 2006, but when Ken Hitchcock was fired as the Flyers’ head coach early that season, Berube stepped in as a new assistant coach of the Flyers. The following season Berube again was named head coach of the Phantoms and compiled a 46-27-7 record in his only full season behind the bench.
Berube returned to the Flyers as an assistant coach in 2008 and has spent the past three seasons under head coach Peter Laviolette."

Berube, 46, played for the Capitals from 1993-1999 then again in 2000-01. He is one of Peter Laviolette’s top assistant coaches. He has one year remaining on his contract with the Flyers.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports

Good morning! Welcome to The Morning Beat. This is our new morning update similar to that of Steak and Eggs. We will take you through some of the top storylines from the night before along with some other things to get your day started off the right way! Today’s high in Philadelphia is supposed to be 85 degrees with an afternoon thunderstorm. Last night was a late night for local fans.

Yesterday, the National Football League lost one of its all time greats. Former Chargers, Dolphins, and Patriots linebacker Junior Seau was found yesterday morning unresponsive in his California home. He suffered what is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. He was 43 years old. More here.

With Phillies ace Roy Halladay and Braves ace Tommy Hanson on the mound, last night’s Phillies-Braves game seemed to set up as a pitchers’ duel. The Phillies had a six run lead then fell behind 8-6 behind a 6 run fourth inning from the Braves. Then the Phillies took a 12-8 lead before the Braves scored five in the eighth to take the lead before the Phillies tied it in the ninth. Both teams had 13 runs on 17 hits entering extra innings. Brian McCann who hit a grand slam off of Halladay earlier was shown up by Chipper Jones who ended the game in the 11th with a two run home run to center. More here.

The Washington Capitals and New York Rangers put on an entertaining show last night in the third game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. With the series tied at one game apiece, the Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the second when captain Ryan Callahan beat Braden Holtby on the power play. The Capitals responded less than five minutes later when John Carlson beat Henrik Lundqvist to tie the game at 1. It would take extra hockey to decide the winner. In triple overtime, Marian Gaborik beat Braden Holtby right in front of the net on a nice pass from Brad Richards behind the net. More here.

The Phillies play this afternoon at 12:10 pm and Game 3 for the Flyers is tonight as they take on the Devils in Newark at 7:30 pm. We will have your previews right here.