Time to keep the ball rolling
Flyers meet Kings in L.A.

After what was certainly a surprising victory against the Anaheim Ducks last night, the Flyers take to the ice again this evening in Los Angeles against the Kings. It's funny how quickly things can change. On Monday night, the Flyers were down in the dumps after losing their sixth game in a row against Pittsburgh. The Flyers got what the Penguins probably felt were two cheap goals, but they battled all night long. With the game on the line, rookie Evgeni Malkin delivered with a shot from the high slot to put the Pens up 3-2. Game over.

Two nights later, the Flyers put a barrage on the Anaheim net in the first period, scoring five goals en route to a 7-4 win. So which Flyers team will show up in Los Angeles tonight? It's tough to tell, but we can only hope the team that showed up in Anaheim last night shows up tonight. And stop me if you've heard this one before, but we might have a goalie controversy on our hands. Robert Esche was not spectacular, but solid last night. He stopped 37 of 41 Anaheim shots to give the Flyers a lift in net. We will wait and see if John Stevens goes back to Esche again tonight.

Sure, the Flyers were outshot 41-16 last night, but for once, some lucky bounces went their way. Sami Kapanen started the scoring just over a minute and a half in with a dump-in that deflected off the skate of defenseman Francois Beauchemin and past goaltender Jean-Sebastian Giguere. Just 22 seconds later, the Ducks did get one friendly hop in front of the net as Chris Kunitz fired a shot off the body of defenseman Derian Hatcher and past Esche. But from there on out, and for maybe one night only, every bounce went in favor of the Flyers. They even forced the Ducks to pull Giguere in favor of backup Ilya Brzygalov near the end of the first period. Peter Forsberg returned to the lineup and scored a goal and dished out an assist, and it was a successful 7-4 victory over a team that had not lost a game at home until last night.

Waiting for the Flyers are the dangerous Los Angeles Kings. Sure, in the win-loss column, they are just 6-10-4, but they possess weapons that the Flyers defense may have a tough time stopping. Michael Cammalleri and rookie Anze Kopitar each have 17 points for the Kings, and defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky has 12 points this year on the blue line for Los Angeles. Maybe if the Flyers play well tonight, those lucky bounces will be going their way once more.