Image courtesy of Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

Rask Blanks Flyers in Boston, Philly Loses Third Straight

The Philadelphia Flyers played as well, if not better, than Boston for most of today’s game, but let things get away from them during a brief span in the first period to let the Bruins grab a 3-0 win. Tuukka Rask stopped all 23 shots from the Flyers for his second shutout of the year, as the trio of Tyler Seguin, Chris Kelly, and Daniel Paille beat Ilya Bryzgalov in a span of 2:18. Philly’s netminder made 25 stops, as the loss extended the Flyers’ losing streak to three games. “I think I saw pretty much every puck,” Rask said after …

Image c/o bridgetds

Assembling a Stanley Cup winner; breaking down the last seven Cup teams

It’s no secret that after losing the 2004-2005 NHL season due to a lockout, the dynamic of assembling an NHL team changed dramatically. With the implementation of a salary cap, there were a myriad of new limitations and restrictions placed on teams and how they spend their money. Rich teams could no longer try to buy themselves a Stanley Cup, while poor teams felt like they could finally compete. But is there a formula for building a Stanley Cup winning team? When you have no restrictions on how much money you can spend, there’s really limited concern about spending wisely. …

Hartnell’s Natural Hat Trick And Talbot’s Two-Goal Game Not Enough Against Bruins

Scott Hartnell’s natural hat trick in the second period wasn’t enough for the Philadelphia Flyers, as they put up a great fight but fell to the Boston Bruins by a 6-5 count on Sunday evening thanks to Tyler Seguin’s shootout winner. Milan Lucic, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Seguin each registered a goal and an assist, while Adam McQuaid had two assists for Boston. Tim Thomas stopped 33 of the Flyers’ 38 shots and picked up an atypical win in the process. Seguin notched the decisive goal in the shootout, as he undressed Ilya Bryzgalov before he slid the puck …

Atlantic Watch: 12/14-12/20

The last two games for the Flyers haven’t been pretty, but there is good news related to the team’s point-leader. Claude Giroux is expected to make a return in the near future, the earliest being tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars, from his concussion. This is good news considering the status of Chris Pronger, who will not take part in another game at any point this season or for the playoffs. With his team going 2-2-0 in his absence, Giroux’s return will hopefully turn things around for the Orange and Black. As for Philly’s games this week, the Flyers extended their winning …

Bruins Trample Flyers 6-0

The Bruins scored early and often in their 6-0 beating of the Flyers earlier today in Philadelphia. Benoit Pouliot netted the game-winner in the first minute of the game as Tim Thomas denied 31 shots in his fourth shutout of the season. Ilya Bryzgalov was pulled 7:06 into the second period after he allowed his fifth goal on the 20th shot he faced. Zdeno Chara had the Goride Howe hat trick while Rich Peverley had three assists as the loss ended the Flyers’ seven-game winning streak and improved Boston’s winning streak to four games. Boston may have scored six goals, but all they …

Flight Plan 12.11.2011

The Philadelphia Flyers have now won five games in a row and are sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings with 39 points and 101 goals scored, being the first team in the NHL to reach 100 goals this season. Peter Laviolette’s club has overcome a lot of criticism and adversity through these first 28 games to get to this point, but they may have to push forward without two more of their best players in Claude Giroux and Ilya Bryzgalov. Giroux is currently leading the NHL in scoring with 39 points, three points ahead of resurgent Toronto Maple Leafs winger …

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 …

Flight Plan Week of 01.09.2011

The Philadelphia Flyers won all three of their games this past week, although two of them were against the New Jersey Devils and those four points were about as easy as they come for this team. The Flyers’ impressive win over the bruised and battered Detroit Red wings however, was a classic example of Peter Laviolette’s up-tempo left-wing lock system. The Flyers were constantly getting the puck deep through two periods of play and were relentless on the forecheck, out hitting and outshooting the Red Wings 22-18 and 32-27 respectively. The Flyers eventually pounded in three goals on Jimmy Howard …