Blue Notes

Hello from Philly .....tonight's preliminaries almost assuredly will take place on the first shift: Riley Cote vs Colton Orr.

Fine, let's get it over with quickly and move on.

Jed Ortmeyer (knee) was scratched as a precaution. "He could probably play," said coach Tom Renney, but will rest. Brad Isbister will start on a line with Nylander and Jagr.

As for Fedor Tyutin, forget about seeing him dress for Toronto tomorrow. "I don't see him going tomorrow. Tuesday's a possibility," Renney said. "He's absolutely pain-free. It's a matter of making sure he can sustain shifts over the course of 60 minutes. We can push him again tomorrow to try to elevate his fitness level. We'd like to have him Tuesday (against the Islanders) but we're not sure."

Continuing on the knee front, Marcel Hossa was to skate yesterday and today with a brace. "I don't know what the timetable is, but he's coming along," said Renney.

Orr could see regular shifts in the playoff, according to Renney. "He's advanced himself enough to where's he's a responsible two-way player. He understands the system well enough, he's a physical presence, no question, within the rules of the game. He can contribute, at least to a degree, on the part of a shutdown line."

On tonight's game: "It's really important that we don't look ahead of us. Philadelphia is playing quite well, thye're back to Flyer hockey that most of us are used to watching and I think their main objective tonight is to kick our asses."