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Flight Plan: Home Sweet Home

The Philadelphia Flyers went 3-1-0 this week, capping off a six-game road trip with a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 6-5. They lost the back-to-back game with the Florida Panthers, but beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-3. More importantly, the Flyers are now in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 20 points and play their next three games at home, where their record is 5-2-1. This week the Orange and Black will host James van Riemsdyk and the Toronto Maple Leafs, Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, and Daniel Alfredsson and the Ottawa Senators. Get your …

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Atlantic Watch: Flyers Respond to Giroux, Penguins’ Three-Game Winning Streak, Rangers and Islanders Deal With Injuries

Although the Philadelphia Flyers lost two of their three games this week, the Orange and Black finished the week with a resounding 7-0 victory over a divisional opponent. Philly will look to gain ground in the Eastern Conference this week with four games over the next seven days, one of which is against the Pittsburgh Penguins and another two against a pair of the teams at the bottom of the standings. The Flyers started the week with a 5-3 defeat on Friday to the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center. Travis Zajac opened the scoring with his third of …

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Then and Now: Ossi Vaananen

After playing the 2007-2008 season in the Elitserien, defenseman Ossi Vaananen returned to the NHL to play for the Philadelphia Flyers. The Finn signed a one-year contract worth $1 million for the 2008-2009 campaign. Vaananen participated in a total of 46 games for Philly. He registered nine assists and ten points overall. The blue liner also deposited his final goal in the NHL (go to :55), which came in the first period of the Flyers’ 5-4 shootout win over the Anaheim Ducks on January 2nd, 2009. The contest also featured Josh Gratton’s lone goal for the Orange and Black, as …

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On Drafting Defenseman

The 2012 draft is days away and Flyers fans have been discussing draft strategy for the first round. What should the Flyers do? The general consensus seems to be that they need to draft a defenseman in the first round and anything else is disappointing. There has also been lots of talk on whether or not the Flyers should move up to draft one of the higher ranked defenders. Most specifically, Ryan Murray, who will likely be selected second. I’ve seen someone go as far as suggesting a trade of James van Riemsdyk, Andrej Meszaros, Sergei Bobrovsky, and a first-round …

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Spezza, Alfredsson Lead Sens To Shootout Win In Philly

Despite a three-goal deficit after the first 20 minutes, the Flyers were still able to earn a point in their 4-3 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon. After Philly scored three goals in the second period to tie the game, the Sens won the shootout thanks to goals from Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza. Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Neil tallied for the Senators, who moved four points ahead of eighth-place Washington. Craig Anderson turned in a superb performance, making 36 saves and rescuing his club from the prospect of taking only one point away. “Our team …

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Atlantic Watch: 2/15-2/21

The Flyers won two of their three games this week, as the club is still trying to turn things around before the playoffs. Although they are 4-5-2 since the All-Star break, Philly won two of their last three games. Fortunately for the Flyers, their next three games are away from the Wells Fargo Center, a scenario they are 19-9-2 in this season. In their first contest, the Flyers pounded the visiting Buffalo Sabres by a score of 7-2. After Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek tallied in the first for Buffalo, the Flyers rattled off seven straight goals. The performance of …

Atlantic Watch: 1/11-1/17

The Flyers won two of their three games this week, as they finished the week by handling the free-falling Minnesota Wild. After Sergei Bobrovsky earned the start on Thursday night on Long Island, Ilya Bryzgalov got the call for the last two games of the week making 46 saves on 50 shots against. Philly looks forward to a difficult week, as two of their four games are against division leaders in the Eastern Conference. The Orange and Black started off with a 3-2 in New York against the Islanders. Sean Couturier scored with 1:30 left in regulation to extend the …

Kuba Scores Late, Senators Beat Flyers 6-4

After a dramatic overtime victory in Philly yesterday, the Flyers failed to sweep their home-and-home with the Ottawa Senators as they dropped a 6-4 decision on the road Sunday evening. Filip Kuba scored on a slapshot from the point with 71 seconds left in the game for the winner as Daniel Alfredsson, Chris Neil, Erik Karlsson, and Nick Foligno each recorded a goal and assist in the Senators’ win. Matt Read was the only Flyer with a multi-point game as he scored in the second period and assisted on Sean Couturier’s goal in the first period. Read tied Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for the NHL …

Flyers Get First Win In Ottawa Since 2007

Matt Read notched a career-high four points tonight as the Flyers destroyed the Senators 7-2 in Ottawa. Read, Wayne Simmonds, Claude Giroux, and Max Talbot provided goals in the first period to give the Flyers an insurmountable lead. Sergei Bobrovsky had 21 saves on 23 Senators’ shots in his first appearance — and win — of the season. Goals from Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson weren’t nearly enough for Ottawa as Philly produced its biggest win of the short season. His first goal in the league may have been soft, but Read’s second goal was a thing of beauty. Burning past rookie …

Atlantic Watch: 3/23-3/29

How fitting is it that Scott Hartnell scored the goal last night against the Penguins (in Pittsburgh) that may have saved the division title for the Flyers? Just when it looked as though the Flyers were gearing up to sleepwalk through another game in their free fall from the top, the most despised player in Pittsburgh scores a game shifting goal to start a string of four unanswered goals putting Philly in a more spacious lead at the top of the Atlantic. Hartnell didn’t score the game-winner, but his goal did seem to wake the team up as Claude Giroux scored the eventual game-winner only forty-seven seconds …

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