Flyers win by the skin of their teeth against Avs

The Flyers took a commanding 4-goal lead after a 5 minute penalty to the Avalanche late in the 1^st period. Throughout the 1^st and 2^nd period the Flyers kept the Avs chasing a fast paced game, where they dominate, pushed the pace and exhibited outstanding puck control. But, the Flyers left enough space for the Avs to mount an impressive come back during the 3^rd period, forcing the Flyers to bare down and Steve Mason to come up with important saves. The Flyers killed off a huge 6 on 4 power play in the last moments of the game to notch the 4-3 win.

Three Stars of the game: Steve Mason, Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds

Steve Mason has come back into the net with refreshed confidence and stands tall as the Flyers starting goaltender. The win tonight largely laid upon his shoulders as managed to keep the puck out of the net during the last seconds of the game to notch the win for the Flyers. Claude Giroux had his first multi-goal game and sniped a beautiful goal in the first period, which earned him a star. This was Wayne Simmonds first game on the top-line and he was a perfect fit, contributing to the win.

The Flyers are approaching the season with different style, which could explain the slow start they got to the season. But now in full swing, they are exhibiting a great power play and penalty kill, areas in which they have struggled in the past.

It was great to see the Flyers come out of the gate strong for 40 minutes tonight but they can’t sit back and stop skating once they grab a lead. The most notorious instigators for the Flyers, Zac Rinaldo, showing restraint and not taking untimely penalties forcing extra work for the specialty teams is a welcomed change. Thankfully, it is still early enough in the season for the Flyers to completely change momentum and make their early season loses a distant memory.

Looking ahead, the Flyers will take a 5 day break and face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.  

Philadelphia Flyers win over LA Kings

The Philadelphia Flyers showed up and showed out last night against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the LA Kings. A few keys to the game last night was Ray Emery’s outstanding performance in goal and the strategic/physical play the Flyers exhibited.

Although the Flyers took some time to get their feet underneath of them this season, they are making smarter plays and fewer of those frustrating/poorly timed penalties.   Compared to last season’s start the Flyers are doing extremely well and assuming that their awkward adjustment period has passed, they have taken to Head Coach Craig Berube’s guidance and the team seems to finally be clicking.  

The fact that Philadelphia finally has a great goaltending tandem deserves a moment of silence. Steve Mason has been great for the Flyers, no doubt will continue to be great and keep his starting goaltender position.  It’s a relief that their backup goaltender is outstanding in goal as well and the Flyers couldn’t ask for a better back-up, who knows his job description and supports the team. Emery only makes Mason stronger.

Last night the Flyers gave us a glimpse of how dangerous they can be when they play a smarter and harder full 60 minute game. Is this the start of something new? I sure hope so, as the Flyers have been progressively getting better. They wrap up this challenging month of October and look to build more momentum.  The Flyers have finally linked together 3 wins and are looking for more, as they take their show on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning this Thursday.

Will the Flyers keep up their fast and stronger style of play, or were they just putting on a show for the LA Kings?