Sabres-Flyers first round preview

by Brandt Corbin    
      Two key questions will be asked as the Flyers host the Buffalo Sabres in round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. 1>Is Sabres goalie Ryan Miller 100% healthy if not how close is he. 2> Do the Sabres want to use their speed against the Flyers or do they attempt to go toe to toe physically like they did last year against the Boston Bruins, in what turned out to be he most physical first round last year.
           The two teams split the season series, winning once each at home and on the road. The Sabres have won the last two games in the last month, but the Flyers outscored Buffalo 11-5 in their two wins.
Philadelphia has two huge advantages going into this series. Their overall depth up front, that includes 2 (30) goal scores, with 4 more (20) goal scorers, the Sabres on the other hand have 2 (30) goal scorers with only 1 other player with 20. The second edge the Flyers have is defense, led by Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timmonen. The one weak spot all year has been the Sabres backend, because of that advantage look for the Flyers to play a very up tempo 2 man forcheck.
            The Sabres have 1 step up, it will be goaltending, but only if Miller shows no side effects from his late season "lower body injury." And who starts for the Flyers? Sergei Bobrovsky got pulled Saturday night, they also have veterans Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton as options.
            Mentally the Flyers have the advantage, they made it within 2 wins of the Stanley Cup last year, while the Sabres choked late in round last year. From a matchup point of view, we all know Chris Pronger will go head to head versus Tomas Vanek, look for Tyler Myers to go head to head versus the Daniel Briere line.
             Not many of you will remeber Steve Webb formely of the New york Islanders, but in the 2003 playoff series versus Toronto, Webb averaged 5-6 huge hits a game, all of them just devastating. Well Patrick Kaleta #36 of the Sabres can make that impact on this series, if he is 100%. Now Kaleta's aggressivness can sometimes hurt the Sabres because he gets to wound up. Either way he'll be a factor some how in the next 2 weeks.
             Make no mistake, there are 2 keys for Buffalo in this series. They need to win the specialty team game both PK & PP, second key is keeping Miller as healthy as possible, you'll see Scotty Hartnell, Jeff Carter & Mike Richards try and make his life a living hell. Two keys for the Flyers, whomever you start in net for the series, be ready to rid out for the long haul, last thing they need is to play musicsal goaltenders. Second Key, take the first two games at home, the last thing the Flyers need nor want is to key back to the HSBC Arena in Buffalo tied 1-1.
            My personal belief is the Flyers have to much fire-power, Flyers in 6.