Flyers Notes | Knuble's hot hand on power plays
Flyers Notes SUNRISE, Fla. - Mike Knuble is developing a reputation as the Flyers' designated power-play man. Of his 11 goals this season, nine have come with the man advantage.
Flyers Notes
SUNRISE, Fla. -
Mike Knuble
is developing a reputation as the Flyers' designated power-play man. Of his 11 goals this season, nine have come with the man advantage.
Ten of his 24 goals last season came on the power play, too.
"I don't want it to turn into me being just a power-play-only guy," Knuble said. "That's a rut a player can get into if you just play the game and keep waiting for power plays and say, 'OK, now I am going to do something.'
"That's a tough way to go. But at the same time, I'm proud of what I have been able to accomplish on the power play. It's a big part of our record right now."
Knuble is getting chances with both the first and second power-play units. He plays mostly on the second unit with
Jeff Carter
.
"I guess you look for something: You see the positive things and build on them," Knuble said. "I got a lot of power-play [goals] even though five-on-five hasn't been there. It's a source of frustration. I don't know why. I've been hanging around the net."
Loose pucks
Defenseman
Jason Smith
missed last night's game against the Florida Panthers because of a deeply bruised right shin. The defenseman suffered the injury on a blocked shot. His consecutive-games streak ended at 141. "I was moving a guy from in front of the net and it hit me in the leg," he said. "I didn't lay out in front of it. I'm not feeling good enough to go out there." Smith is second in the NHL with 108 blocked shots. . . .
Rory Fitzpatrick,
a healthy scratch for seven games, replaced Smith last night. . . .
Scottie Upshall
did not play because of a sprained right ankle suffered in a 4-2 win at Tampa on Saturday afternoon. "Just a mild sprain," he said. "I twisted it in front of the net catching a pass. I caught the puck with my skate and as I went to turn and shoot, I caught a rut. It folded over. It felt sore, but it's fine. X-rays were negative." . . .
Randy Jones
(inflamed right knee),
Kimmo Timonen
(stiff back),
Lasse Kukkonen
(bruised left foot),
Derian Hatcher
(swollen right knee), and Smith are all receiving medical treatment. The defense is truly hurting. "It's part of the game," general manager
Paul Holmgren
said. "It doesn't make me cringe anymore. It's not happening to me."
- Tim Panaccio