Game 18: Phoenix Coyotes at Flyers… A Special Game

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Ilya Brygalov is an interesting Russian cat who seems to enjoy sharing his thoughts on many subjects with the media -- so much so that the Flyers even tried to cut back on his availability earlier in the season. So it's no surprise he came out and admitted facing his former team was going to be "special." You don't get that out of many athletes who downplay facing their former team as "just another game."

But Bryz isn't like many other athletes. He wears his emotions on his sleeve.

“Game No. 18 tomorrow,” Bryzgalov kidded about facing the Coyotes. “No, it’s special, it’s my former team, I have lots of friends. I can’t forget the time I played there. It was good years. Like I said before, lots of good friends that worked in the organization. It is going to be a very special game, yeah.” 

What will your emotions be like, Bryz? 

“I don’t know,” he replied. “I guess mine will be a little stressed to see. The Phoenix Coyotes. The other side. You’re in a different jersey. Ah, I don’t know.”

While Bryzgalov has moved on to be the Flyers high-priced number one guy, the man brought in to replace him in Phoenix, Mike Smith, has done a nice job. Smith is 8-2-3 with a 2.19 GAA.

Former relationships aside, tonight's game features two pretty hot teams. The Flyers are returning from a pair of nice road wins, trailing the Penguins by just 2 points in the Atlantic, while Phoenix is coming off two wins in a row as well and trail the Stars by a point for the Pacidic lead. PHX has also been playing very well on the road, winners of five straight on enemy ice.

Puck drops at 7:00 from the WFC on CSN. Good to get the puck moving back in South Philly.

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Here's Bryz talking about facing his former team:

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