Well rested Pens fly into town

Don't make the mistake of thinking the Flyers have the upper hand in tonight's matchup with their cross state rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins, because the flightless birds played last night, while the orange and black rested.

Judging by the stats and game recaps that I've seen, the Pens were at also off last night. Back-up goalie Brent Johnson recieved no support from the rest of his team, as they marched their way towards a 3-0 loss to the possibly homeless Phoenix Coyotes.

The Stanley Cup champs were outplayed from wire-to-wire last night, so there is really no reason at all that they shouldn't be fresh as a field of Gary Bettman-coddled daisies for tonight's contest against the orange and black in the Wachovia Center.

The Flyers will need to be smarter, MUCH smarter defensively if they intend on moving to 4-0 for the season. They are coming off an ugly 6-5 OT win over the Caps on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, for the Flyers it looks like they will be a bit shorthanded going into the game this evening.

Center Blair Betts will be sidelined for a month with a dislocated right shoulder, while rooked left wing James vanRiemsdyk will likely miss tonight's game as a precaution after a testing negative for a concussion.

This means Riley Cote and Arron Asham are likely to find themselves in the lineup tonight, playing on the fourth and third lines respectively. That said, here are three keys to a Flyers victory tonight:

1.) Play tighter defensively

2.) Continue to improve discipline

3.) Keep getting contributions from all four lines

That's all. Go Flyers and I'll be back later tonight with some thoughts on the game.