Image Courtesy of Jason McKibben

Minor League Update: 3/26-4/1

With six games remaining in their schedule, the Phantoms did enough this week to stay within striking distance of the eigth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Four points behind the Manchester Monarchs (Los Angeles Kings’ AHL affiliate) with a game in hand, Adirondack has a chance to gain the final spot for the postseason, which will surely result in being swept by the Norfolk Admirals (Tampa Bay Lightning’s AHL affiliate). Since they play a total of three games this week against two teams currently out of the playoff scenario, the Phantoms can easily gain ground towards a …

Image Courtesy of Bruce Arthur

Penguins Get Calls, Flyers Win 6-4 In Pitt

In a game of importance for home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs, the Philadelphia Flyers walked into Pittsburgh today and left with a 6-4 victory. “We haven’t talked about home-ice or the Rangers, or the Penguins or the Senators. We talked about the two points. That’s really all we can control right now,” said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette. “Eventually we’ll either have home-ice or we won’t.” Not only did they move to within one point of the Pens in the standings, the visitors overcame numerous non-calls from the officials and drew an end-of-the-game line brawl and hissy …

Los Angeles Kings v Philadelphia Flyers

Bryzgalov suffered chip fracture

As if the soap opera that defines this season couldn’t find any more ways to twist the plot and keep us on edge, now we have this: Starting goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov is hurt. Paul Holmgren with the matter-of-fact revelation… “An MRI revealed a chip fracture in his right foot. He will be unavailable for Thursday’s game and is day-to-day.” Prior to the game, it was widely reported, that Bryzgalov took a shot to his right skate. The Flyers suffered a bizarre 5-3 loss to Tampa Bay at home on Monday, with Bryzgalov allowing four goals on 14 shots — though …

Image Courtesy of Sweetest Hockey on Earth

Minor League Update: 3/12-3/18

    The Phantoms dropped all three of their games this week, as they currently sit three points out of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. Although they sit 13th in the conference with 63 points, the Phantoms are still within striking distance of the Syracuse Crunch (Anaheim Ducks’ AHL affiliate), a team Adirondack lost to twice in the last seven days. The Phantoms’ first loss to the Crunch came on Wednesday in a 2-1 defeat at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Denis Hamel’s 19th goal of the season, which came on a 5-on-3 advantage due to an interference minor …

Flyers-AW-2-21-199x300

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 …

jerseys

Minor League Update: 2/13-2/19

The Adirondack Phantoms won half of their games this week, as they ended their lengthy road losing streak in the process. After they went without a single road win in the months of December and January, the Phantoms finally earned a win away from home. Adirondack will try to climb back into the playoff picture this week, as they finish their four-game road trip before they return home on Sunday. The Phantoms extended their losing streak to four games on Tuesday night, as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate) in overtime. Mike Zigomanis …

Wings Extend Streak To 20 At Home, Flyers Lose 4-3 In Detroit

Johan Franzen broke the tie early in the third period to give the Detroit Red Wings a 4-3 lead over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers, which they held on to for their 20th straight home win. “The Mule” potted his league-leading 10th game-winning goal and 22nd goal of the season in the first minute of the third period, as Joey MacDonald earned his third straight win at home with a 26-save performance. The play that led to Franzen’s goal started with a slap-pass from Ian White at the point. White’s pass moved through the slot to Nicklas Lidstrom, who touched the puck back across the …

On fighting, defense, and more

Hartnell (drop ‘em) down Over the previous four seasons, Scott Hartnell had a combined 26 fights. This season, he has one. That is it. One. While that is admirable, it is important that he maintain his edge. The way he drops the gloves to energize the team or to protect his teammate(s) is integral to the success of the Flyers. His newfound scoring touch and chemistry on the top line is great but there needs to be more to his game right now. The team is struggling to churn out consecutive wins and someone needs to breathe more life into …

Flyers’ Monster Third Period Too Little, Too Late In 6-4 Loss To NJ

Thanks to a huge third period, the Flyers turned a six-goal deficit after two periods into a 6-4 loss at home to the New Jersey Devils this afternoon. Alexei Ponikarovsky recorded his 300th NHL point with an assist in the first period before he put home the game-winner less than two minutes into the second period for his second two-point game as a Devil. Kurtis Foster had two goals and an assist for his first three-point performance since December 29th, 2006, while Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists in addition to a decision over Brayden Schenn in a …

I Haz a Headband

  The Lulz feature was originally inspired by the lolcats site but features hockey pictures with funny, quirky, ironic or just plain mean captions. This feature should run weekly on Fridays; TGIFWL (Thank Goodness It’s Friday With Lulz).