Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette has tried all season to get the right forward combinations so he can create some stability on the top three scoring lines.
Daniel Briere, Ville Leino and Scott Hartnell, aptly named “The Redemption Line,” were kept together after last season’s fantastic playoff run, but the other two scoring lines have had players moving around just about every game.
Recently, Laviolette put together the combination of Jeff Carter centering Nikolay Zherdev and James van Riemsdyk and the results have been outstanding. In the last two games they have combined for 6 goals, 4 assists, 28 shots and a plus/minus rating of plus-6.
Both Zherdev and van Riemsdyk have been healthy scratches multiple times this season and, even when they dress, have been given limited ice time for many of the games they do play. Although, now that they are with Carter, it appears they could go from the detention hall to being the teacher’s pet.
Now one could argue that Jeff Carter has never been in Laviolette’s doghouse, therefore, the moniker that I chose does not hold true. He consistently gets 18 ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mike Pascale
Carter, Zherdev, Van Riemsdyk Make Up the Philadelphia Flyers Detention Line
December 18th, 2010 by Mike Pascale Leave a reply »
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