Despite racking up an early three-goal lead and chasing Ryan Miller in the process, the Flyers saw all but one of those early scores go to waste, holding on to beat the Sabres 3-2 tonight in Buffalo. With the exception of two unlucky bounces, Ilya Bryzgalov provided another stellar performance by making 29 saves, while ex-Flyer Ville Leino had no points in his first game against Philly since departing as a free agent. Nine different Flyers registered a point tonight with Sean Couturier, James van Riemsdyk, and Scott Hartnell providing the goals within the first seven minutes of the game. Miller, who was yanked …
Atlantic Watch: 10/26-11/1
The week opened up roughly, but it ended smoothly as the Flyers seem to be moving towards playing better after a 5-1 win at home against the Carolina Hurricanes. Giving up 14 goals in back-to-back nights, the Flyers lost in inexplicable fashion to two currently horrendous teams, who are both experiencing difficulties in play and personnel. Rebounding back from those two horrific losses, the Flyers spanked Carolina with both Danny Briere and Chris Pronger out of the lineup. The Flyers began the real Halloween horror show by suffering a 5-1 defeat in Montreal last Wednesday, giving the lowly Habs their first road win …
Flight Plan Week of 10.30.2011
The Philadelphia Flyers split their four games this week. After a big win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Flyers dropped a bad one to the Montreal Canadiens where they looked all sorts of out of sorts against a team who was desperate for a win. Then, the Flyers continued looking discombobulated up until the end of the second period against the Winnipeg Jets in a crazy 17-goal back-and-forth shoot out at the Wells Fargo Center, the Jets barely getting out of dodge with a win they should have had locked up. Wrapping up the week, Philadelphia was able to …
Atlantic Watch: 10/6-10/11
Philly started off the season with a 2-1 win against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Boston Bruins in Beantown, then recorded a dominant 3-0 shutout in New Jersey to end a 101-game drought during the regular season and playoffs combined. After giving up the first goal of the NHL season to Brad Marchand, the Flyers scored two goals in the final minute of the first period. Claude Giroux dangled his way to a goal with 50 seconds left, while Jakub Voracek scored with only three seconds to go on a turn around shot in the slot. Fortunately for Philly, this would be all they needed as Ilya …
Leino Nets Winner In Overtime, Forces Game 7
The game wasn’t pretty, but it’s what the Flyers needed; a win. Lacking consistency in net, the Flyers fought back from a 3-1 deficit after the first period and found a way to force the game to overtime with a Scott Hartnell third period goal setting up the deciding marker by Ville Leino in overtime to win 5-4. Danny Briere had two goals and Mike Richards had two assists while Brian Boucher got the win making 24 saves on 25 shots after relieving Michael Leighton to start the second period. Sunday’s game started off eerily similar to Friday’s Game 5. Two …
Flyers Fight Back, But Fall Short In Overtime
After falling in a 3-0 hole before the end of the first, the Flyers fought back to tie it at three only to lose in overtime. Tyler Ennis opened the scoring and closed the scoring for the game netting the overtime winner 5:31 past regulation. Ryan Miller had 36 saves while Michael Leighton (yup, that Michael Leighton) gets the loss in a relief appearance for Brian Boucher. Nothing takes the energy out of the home crowd faster than an early soft goal. Ennis let the Flyers experience that with a weak shot to Boucher’s right that found it’s way in …
Counterpunches
The first in an occasional series, in which Flyers Faithful scans the papers of the opposition to see how they’re portraying events. We make no assurance of journalistic integrity here. On Thursday, with the Flyers and Sabres deadlocked at two games apiece, we have our first instance of Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff going to the papers and complaining about what the other team is complaining about. Ruff generally slips into this mode any time he senses his team is about to lose the actual edge on the ice, which, in his 14 year tenure, has been about a zillion …
Refs And Sabres Beat Flyers 1-0 To Tie Series At Two
It’s hard enough to beat the other team in the playoffs, but it’s really hard to beat the refs as well. Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller turned in another perfect performance and rookie official Francois St. Laurent helped Buffalo eke out a 1-0 win in Game 4. Miller had a 32 save shutout and Jason Pominville picked up the lone goal in the first period as the Sabres tied the series at 2-2. The Sabres came out strong and their work eventually paid off as they netted the first and only goal of the game. As Danny Syvret went into the corner, Rob Niedermayer walked to the …
Boucher Comes Up Big, Flyers Win 4-2
When a player gets injured, somebody has an opportunity to step up and fill in. Tonight, that somebody was Nikolay Zherdev. Stepping in for Andreas Nodl, Zherdev netted the game-winning goal in a Flyers’ 4-2 win in Game 3 which gave the visitors a 2-1 series lead. Jeff Carter and Kimmo Timonen also hit the net as Philly snapped a five-game playoff losing streak in upstate New York. Nathan Gerbe and Drew Stafford scored, Marc-Andre Gragnani picked up two assists and Ryan Miller had 22 saves on 25 shots for Buffalo in the loss. One of the Flyers’ biggest weaknesses so far in the …
Philly Ties Series In Hectic Game 2
Six first period goals, 54 penalty minutes, and one goalie change were all elements of the Flyers’ 5-4 win in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals matchup with the Sabres. Brian Boucher made 20 saves on 21 shots in a relief appearance for Sergei Bobrovsky as five different Flyers scored to tie the series at one. Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist while Matt Carle, Andrej Meszaros, and Kimmo Timonen all had two assists in the crucial win for Philly, whose power play was more spirited than in Game 1 but still ended up just 1-for-10. The …