The Flyers came to Atlanta looking to put the memory of Thursday’s bad third-period behind them. It took a little while longer than expected, but the Atlantic Division leaders came through with a 5-2 victory thanks to a three-goal burst in the final 20 minutes. As the period grew older, the time spent in Philly’s offensive zone grew larger. Strong forechecking and pressuring each Thrasher with the puck allowed the Flyers to stay in Atlanta’s defensive zone and recover several bad neutral zone passes. With just over seven minutes left in the game, the Flyers finally capitalized. Scott Hartnell worked …
Bruins get last laugh over Flyers in high-octane contest
What do you get when you combine a record-setting snowstorm and two teams at the top of their respective divisions squaring off in a rare important January game? Apparently, total chaos. On a night which saw the Flyers carry a one-goal lead into the third period, little-known Steven Kampfer notched the game winner late in regulation as the Boston Bruins outlasted the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-5, in a wild, playoff-like contest at TD Garden. Mark Recchi, Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Gregory Campbell all posted a goal and one assist for the Bruins, who won their third straight game and moved …
Flyers Win With Big 3rd Period
After falling behind by two goals, the Flyers scored five straight to extend their winning streak to 4 games since January 2nd with a 5-2 decision over the Sabres. Sergei Bobrovsky would tie a career-best by stopping 38 of Buffalo’s 40 shots on net keeping the Sabres off the scoreboard for the last 2 periods. It was Bob’s 2nd win against Buffalo in as many tries. Danny Briere shook off an All-Star snub to score the tying goal for the Flyers in the 2nd period and add 2 more assists in the 3rd as the Flyers outscored Buffalo 4-0 in …
Brawling Flyers didn’t fail when holding the torch for all of hockey
There’s a whole generation of hockey fans in this technological age who have no idea what the stakes used to be every time international teams took the ice. Until very recently, the Russians were not our friends. The Soviet Union, paragon of the Communist system, wanted to prove superiority by any means possible. Whether it was Nikita Khrushchev banging his shoe on a table at Disneyland in the 1950s, questionable practices which aided their athletes in the Olympics, or the massive parades intended to showcase military might every May 1, the Russkies wanted us to know they’d be ready and …
Flyers down Devils with third-period surge
It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are for either club, because when the Flyers come to North Jersey, it always seems to be a death struggle. On Thursday night it was no different, as Scott Hartnell notched a pair of goals and Danny Briere tallied twice in the third period to give Philadelphia a 4-2 victory over New Jersey in the opener of a home-and-home series from Prudential Center. Ville Leino notched a career-best three assists with Matt Carle chipping in two helpers for the Flyers, who have taken three of four and finished their five-game road trip at 3-2-0. …
Flyers win in Detroit for first time since 1988
History had already been made earlier in the road trip, all the way back on the final Tuesday of 2010, when the Flyers lost in Vancouver for the first time since 1989. On the first Sunday of 2011, an historic occurrence of a more positive note unfolded. Brian Boucher celebrated his 34th birthday by stopping 25-of-27 shots as the Philadelphia Flyers erased more than 22 years of frustration in Detroit with a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. "It’s nice, but I don’t think it was on our minds to get the win for that reason," Boucher said about losses in …
Canucks 6, Flyers 2
The score alone, which is just as embarrasing as it appears, is not what’s noteworthy. It is a bad loss, to start an important road trip, to one of the top clubs in the Western Conference. What is of note, is how long it’s been since the Flyers have been on the wrong side of the ledger in a game at Vancouver. Anybody know where they were on January 17, 1989? Show of hands…no? Not surprised. That’s over two decades of success in the NHL’s Western-most Canadian franchise. I think most of us were snuggled all tight in our beds, with dreams (or …
Christmas Eve: A time for reflection
By now I think you get the idea that I’m the historical standard-bearer for the site as I’m required to write about childhood experiences with hockey, or I’m dashing off the occasional piece comparing the plight of current athletes in the city to old-school Flyers. I want to continue in that vein this Christmas Eve, and lay out my own state of mind, as a fan, regarding how the 2010-11 Philadelphia Flyers season is progressing. The buzz around this team after playing less than one-half of their schedule is one that I don’t think has been as constant and as …
Panthers take down Flyers in rare lackluster Philly effort
It would be easy to see how the best team in the NHL playing at home, and one mired in last place in its division on a road swing, might produce record-setting results. The only problem is, the last-place Florida Panthers set the records, as 26 saves from Tomas Vokoun plus a late two-goal surge in the first period sent them to a shocking 5-0 victory over the Flyers on Monday night. Vokoun posted his first career shutout against Philadelphia, while Bill Thomas, Evgeny Dadonov, Shawn Matthias, Mike Santorelli and Dmitry Kulikov tallied for the visitors. It was the Panthers’ …
Spectrum memories: Holiday cheer/jeer
To celebrate my 25th year of hockey fandom, I will occasionally step into the way-back machine and write about events in the Flyers’ past. For the balance of the season, I will be dipping into the well to ruminate about some things related to my love of the Philadelphia Flyers, and in general about the fan experience as a youngster. This is the fourth in the series of Spectrum Memories. Much like the third installment in this series, my second batch of December recollections centers not around game attendance at the Spectrum, but on home and away games watched on …