2012 NHL Entry Draft - Round One

Some thoughts on round one

First off, kudos to everyone who covered the draft live last night. People may joke every time a tweet pops up about a GM working the phones but those reporters worked their butts off last night. Today will be even more hectic. Well done folks. The Penguins got a lot better on paper last night and that worries many people in the Atlantic Division. The Penguins also got a lot better on paper in 2010 when they reshaped their defense by acquiring Zbynek Michalek and Paul Martin. How did that work out? Michalek was traded back to the Phoenix Coyotes …

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Penguins Can’t Fly, Flyers Win Series With 5-1 Victory At Home

In front of the faithful at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday afternoon, the Philadelphia Flyers advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals with a 5-1 win, sending Sidney Crosby and his Pittsburgh Penguins packing. After Philly’s loss in Game 5 on Friday, Scott Hartnell said it was time for the Flyers’ defense and goaltending to get the Orange and Black a win. With Ilya Bryzgalov’s 30-save effort and 40 blocked shots from the defense, Hartnell’s words seemed to properly motivate the club. “It takes a sixty minute, full team effort. Everbody chipped in,” said Bryzgalov after the game. “It was …

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Penguins Finally Beat Flyers At CONSOL Energy Center 4-2

Today’s game may have not meant much in the standings, but the Flyers could have done two things in their 4-2 road loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins: remain perfect at the CONSOL Energy Center and keep Evgeni Malkin from reaching the 50-goal mark. Philly failed to do either, as Brayden Schenn and Jaromir Jagr tallied in the loss that dropped the Flyers’ record to 47-26-9 for the 2011-2012 regular season. “Wasn’t a good game, no question about it from both sides,” Jagr said. “You might have to face them seven times the next two weeks. The loss, as well as Malkin’s …

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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 …

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Atlantic Watch: 2/29-3/6

For the first time in awhile, the Flyers put together a string of wins this week, as they won all three of their contests. Ilya Bryzgalov played a big part in the team’s success, as he won all three games with a save percentage of .948. With a four-game schedule ahead for the next seven days, hopefully Bryzgalov can keep Philly’s winning ways intact against some strong opponents. In their first game of the week, the Flyers beat the visiting New York Islanders by a score of 6-3. It looked like Bryzgalov was back to his usual ways, as Josh …

Jagr And Talbot Score In Return To Pittsburgh, Flyers Win 4-2

Jaromir Jagr saluted the crowd after his second-period goal, while Max Talbot provided the empty-netter as the Flyers walked into the CONSOL Energy Center on Thursday night and strolled out with a 4-2 win. Matt Read put home his 12th of the season late in the second period for the game-winner as Sergei Bobrovsky grabbed the victory with 24 saves. Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy scored for the Pens while Marc-Andre Fleury had 19 saves in the Pens’ second loss in December to the Flyers. To start the game, Staal needed only 44 seconds before he put home a goal to give the Pens an early 1-0 lead. …

Atlantic Watch: 12/21-12/27

For the first time since the middle of November, the Flyers went a week where they only earned two points as they went 1-2-0 in three road games. Although the Flyers had the help of Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn returning to the line-up, they managed to end the week with a pair of losses as they fell out of the top position in the division. The highlight of the Flyers’ upcoming schedule is The Winter Classic on Monday against the New York Rangers. After missing the previous four games, Giroux returned to the line-up last Wednesday to lead the Flyers …

Flight Plan 12.04.2011

The Philadelphia Flyers won both ends of a back-to-back situation for the second time this season, beating both the Anaheim Ducks and the Phoenix Coyotes, and now sit just three points away from tying the Pittsburgh Penguins, whom they will face later this week, for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. With all the injuries the Flyers have taken recently, especially to their blue line, it’s great to see them able to soldier on and pick up valuable points on the road. Claude Giroux scored a goal last night, adding his 15th goal and 32nd point on the year, …

Flight plan: 10.07.10

Flight Plan is a new column that will take a more in depth look at the Flyers’ upcoming opponents every week here at Flyers Faithful. The Philadelphia Flyers will kick off their week against two good young teams at two different points in their respective franchise history books. The Pittsburgh Penguins, as we all know, are one of the best young teams in the league today. They have built very well through the draft and have become one of the hardest teams to play against in the NHL. The St. Louis Blues on the other hand are a team on …

Upgrading via free agency

Given the Flyers’ current cap situation, they are unlikely to make a splash in free agency unless they manage to shed a really big contract or two without taking back salary. This shouldn’t be an issue, though, as they don’t need to target the Ilya Kovalchuk’s of this UFA class. They need to add affordable depth. The first thing the Flyers should do is to add some additional scoring punch to the third line and finally give Claude Giroux a viable, consistent threat on the wing. Vinnie Prospal is a reliable scorer that would have instant chemistry with Giroux. Prospal …