For the second straight night, the Flyers were handed a loss by a team currently not in the playoff picture as the Devils won 4-2 in Jersey. He may have not scored the game-winning goal, but Patrik Elias essentially won the game for the Devils netting a hat-trick. Brian Rolston had all three of the primary assists on Elias’s goals and Johan Hedberg made 34 saves on 36 shots to give the Devils their third win of the season against the Flyers. With the Penguins and Capitals idle tonight, the Flyers had a chance to move closer to clinching both the division and …
Tapping the Pipes
I suppose it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Sergei Bobrovsky read my column last week. Or at least someone he knows who speaks English pointed it out to him (yeah, I’m harping on the language barrier again. Sue me.) Because, since I stated last Friday that Bobrovsky doesn’t seem to want to take the reigns as playoff starting goaltender, he’s started to play like one. Including the Pittsburgh game at the Wells Fargo Center this past Thursday, Bobrovsky has allowed a grand total of 5 goals in his last 4 starts (that’s 1.25 goals per game, for …
Mason Blanks Flyers, Thrashers Win 1-0
Chris Mason had his game of the year tonight as he stoned the conference leading Flyers for 43 saves in the Thrashers’ 1-0 win. With his only help coming from an Evander Kane bank shot off of Nik Antropov’s skate halfway through the third period, Mason made 19 saves in the third period to shut the Flyers out for the first time since their embarrassing 7-0 loss against the Rangers. The Thrashers’ third win on the year against the Flyers was their first win in regulation and drops the Flyers’ record to 46-21-10. Evidently charged from Tuesday night’s win in …
Good news: 3.31.11
Good news is a recurring feature that captures hockey news from around the internet, using sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr, to gather information.
Looking ahead: A few thoughts on the offseason
Numbers Current Projected Cap Space for 2012: $1,980,845 [source] Projected Cap Increase for 2012: $3,000,000 [source] Total Projected Cap Space for 2012: $4,980,845 Notable Pending UFA forwards: VIlle Leino, Nikolay Zherdev Notable Pending RFA forwards: Andreas Nodl, Darroll Powe, Dan Carcillo Notable Pending UFA defensemen: Sean O’Donnell, Nick Boynton Notable Pending RFA defensemen: Danny Syvret Notable Pending UFA goaltenders: Brian Boucher Thoughts Defense It’s likely the Flyers won’t need anything more than a third pairing defensemen. They have a number of options available to them: Re-sign O’Donnell or Boynton, play Matt Walker, promote Erik Gustafsson, or re-up Danny Syvret and …
Bruins Top Flyers 2-1 With A Goal Late
Another lackadaisical and passionless effort from the Flyers resulted in another loss for Philly tonight as the Bruins edged out a 2-1 win. Brad Marchand’s power-play goal with three minutes and forty-three seconds left in regulation gave Boston their only lead of the night. Tim Thomas helped to shut down the Flyers tonight by saving twenty-seven of twenty-eight shots. The loss is the Flyers’ third in four games and drops Philly to 45-20-10 on the season. The opening minutes saw a lot of action in the Flyers’ defensive zone. However, Kris Versteeg helped the Flyers get on the scoreboard first. …
Flight Plan week of 03.27.2011
Two out of three ain’t bad… If you win that is. Unfortunately for the Philadelphia Flyers, they lost two of their three games this past week as they continue to struggle with consistency issues within games and positionally. The Flyers, as a team, played one of their better games in the second half of the season against the Washington Capitals, however the performances by both starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and relief goaltender Brian Boucher were lackluster to say the least. Still, the Orange and Black were able to skate off the ice with one of the two available points to …
Tapping the Pipes
I looked at my calendar today and did a double-take at what I didn’t see. March, on my calendar, wasn’t labeled “Flyers Goalie Controversy Month”. I was shocked. How could this be? The time in the stretch run of the NHL season where the historical goaltending woes of the Flyers rear its ugly head. Since the start of the month, the goaltender play which had been relatively solid throughout the season has started to fall apart. In the month, the Bobrovsky/Boucher tandem (as that’s the order it seems Coach Laviolette wants it to be) has combined for a .889 SV%, …
Atlantic Watch: 3/17-3/22
For the second straight week the Flyers obtained at least a point in each game they played. Posting a record of 1-0-2 in three games that all went to shootouts, the Flyers have now earned a point in seven straight games going 4-0-3 in that span. This week, shootout losses to the Thrashers and the Caps featuring a shootout win over the Stars in between gave Philly four out of the six possible points available. The four points were enough to give Philly the first playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Danny Briere scored the game-tying goal with only a …
Flyers Dominate, Lose In Shootout
Bad goaltending and a part of the game that can’t be found in the playoffs helped the Flyers fall 5-4 to the Caps tonight. Alexander Semin made Brian Boucher look silly in the final shot of the shootout to give Washington the extra point. Boucher played well on the night making thirteen saves on fourteen shots helping the Flyers comeback from a 3-0 deficit thanks to Sergei Bobrovsky’s wonderful night. The shootout loss drops the Flyers to 44-19-9 on the season. Despite the Flyers absolutely dominating the first eight minutes of the game, the visiting Capitals gained the first lead of the …