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.  

Final notes from the 2013-14 regular season: Philadelphia Flyers

Over the final days, hockey fans have relished in the additional minutes of free hockey as the regular season concludes. In several games that I have watched over the last few days, teams like: the Flyers, Avalanche and others have gone into exhilarating overtimes during this regular season that ‘just won’t quit’, as a hockey analyst proclaimed this weekend. Several of these passionate final games were deemed of less importance and would not affect the playoff standings, but the players proved that no one likes to lose, as they vehemently took the ice and gave everyone a preview of the playoffs.

The Philadelphia Flyers have astonishingly made the playoffs and are now prepping for their postseason. But, this is not a surprise to everyone.  Their fearless leader, Captain Claude Giroux never lost sight of their end goal, as he made this audacious claim in late October: ‘We will make the playoffs’. At the time the Flyers sat at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, at the bottom of the league with their top scorers not performing, they had tallied a low 11 points and their record was 1-7-0. An epidemic early in the season were coaching changes and the Flyers were not immune, as they dropped three games they also said good-bye to Coach Peter Laviolette and Assistant Coach Craig Breube got a promotion. Just 6 days into a 195 day season, the immediate outcome was not overwhelming success, it took some time to turn the season around and it took 15 games for Giroux to net his first goal of the season.  The critics were brash but Giroux proved why he wears the C on his chest and he took his team to the top, after all the only direction the Flyers had to go was up.

Now the Flyers start fresh in the postseason, facing the New York Rangers on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. After overcoming a season of adversity the comeback kids have had the final say and they will be taking that energy into the post-season. On Thursday we are looking at a familiar lineup from a Flyers team that has remained fairly healthy all season long.  Zac Rinaldo will be back from his 4-game suspension and Steve Mason who left after a 2^nd period mishap in the Flyers game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday will be playoff ready.  [Edit: Mason will be side-lined for Game 1 and Emery will start in Goal] The Mason-Emery tandem goalie team is a recipe for success and with a healthy team everyone is focused going into Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

Reflections on the regular season from my point of view: While I saw signs of Peter Laviolette’s early departure from the team, I do not think that it was completely necessary. Craig Berube stepped up and was able to make effective line changes all season long that padded the success of the team. But, I think the foundation for success was always in the locker room and once the Flyers figured it out and wanted it enough the momentum turned around. I could have never endorsed Giroux’s early season claims that they were headed to the playoffs as they sat at the bottom of the league. First because it was too early to tell and second because I thought that he was just doing his job, it would have never been right for him to be less than encouraging, motivated and optimist of his team. All in all, the Flyers have laid out some lessons for us to learn from this season: Lesson 1 Never get in a fight with a Boxer, Lesson 2 Keep your eye on the prize, Lesson 3 When you work together you can win. At the end of the day hockey brings communities and families together, even despite rivalries. Young athletes are looking up to these NHL players and I think that through a few bumps the Flyers set a great example this season.

I will be at my favorite bar with my Dad on Thursday, proudly wearing my Flyers shirt, downing some beer and eating wings as I celebrate the post season.  Win or lose I couldn’t be more proud of the athleticism, sportsmanship and motivation of this Flyers team this season.

For the 2013-14 regular season this is The Amateur Fan signing off. Welcome to the postseason.

 

Weekend Sweep: Flyers

On this back to back game weekend, just having beat the Bruins Saturday and facing off with the Capitals yesterday the Flyers were aiming for a weekend sweep.  This is the third and final meeting between the Capitals and the Flyers in the regular season. The starting line up for the Flyers was: Simmonds, Schenn, Hartnell; Schenn, Lauridsen Bryzgalov. Within the first minute of play the Capitals score taking the 1-0 over the Flyers. Then ten minutes into play, still no attempts from the Flyers, with the Capitals dominating the first period Tabolt was able to cut one lose to the back of the net tying the game 1-1. Kimmo Timonen had made a great tactical play, bouncing the puck off the wall then the puck redirected by Rinaldo to Talbot for the score. Capitals take a 5-3 power play when Giroux gets sent to the box for face off violations and Simmonds, who clearly gets pushed into the goalie, gets called for goalie interference. Everyone but the refs saw Simmonds get pushed but the Flyers fend off the Capitals during the 2 man advantage. Great power penalty kill by the Flyers, it built energy to the game. Nearing the end of the first period and the Flyers were still battling for puck possession, Read catches a pass and takes a one on one to the net against the goaltender securing a lead for the Flyers 2-1 in the first period. Flyers had a slow start to the first period but ended with a 1 point lead over the Capitals. The Capitals put the Flyers power play streak to bed and stopped it at 5, as the Flyers were unsuccessfully in scoring during power plays against the Capitals. The Capitals tail the Flyers as 2nd in the league for power play goals, and power plays were rough for the Flyers. The second period was uneventful, with a back and forth between the two teams throughout most of the period. At the end of the second period Green tied up the game for the Capitals 2-2. Going into the third period, the Flyers have a 1-6 record when being tied after two periods, but that did not stop Giroux from pulling this team through. After several bad penalties in the 3^rd period, it seemed as though this team was falling apart, culminating at the moment when Bryzglov threw his water bottle after missing a block which gave the Capitals a 2 point lead. Just when it seemed like the game was over, as the Capitals had a 4-2 lead, Giroux took control as Captain; finally showing the leadership expected of him on the ice. With 10 minutes left in regulation, the Flyers had the puck and had to get it into the Capitals zone quickly to bridge the 2 point lead. A power play gave Giroux the opportunity he needed to level the game 4-3, giving hope to his team. With 9.8 seconds left in the game and an empty net for the Flyers, they pushed hard against the Capitals to tie the game and they did. The game goes into over time and Fedetanko secures the win and 2 more points for the Flyers, 5-4 win.

If it wasn’t for Giroux this would have been another loss. This team still does not play well with a lead and they do not play well under adversity. There were many mistakes that plagued the Flyers: their slow start in the first period, puck turn over and numerous bad penalties in the third that almost cost them the game. As soon as the Captials had their two point lead it seemed as if they were going to run away with the game but the Flyers made a dramatic come back in the last ten minutes. Timonen and Giroux really stepped up their leadership in this game, making big play after big play, covering up mistake after mistake. Rinaldo was not giving up on the hits; he said “I will keep the hits rolling” For a team that is down big names due to injuries the Flyers tried to fill the gap. Talbot suffered a lower body injury from this game and might be added to the list of injuries for the season.  Max Talbot is one of the biggest power play killers for the team, there is no report on his injury but the Flyers said he was not cut on the play. Giroux’s post game comments on his teammate were, "He [Talbot] has a big role on the team, and obviously the other guys will have to step up," The Flyers have lost three defensemen -Grossmann, Meszaros, and Coburn to injuries and forwards Talbot and Briere. They also have lost forwards Talbot and Danny Briere (concussion). Matt Read had another great score for the team, giving him back to back score in the past 2 games. In the old man club, Hartnell  made an appearance but didn’t provide much of anything, his game isn’t consistent but it was great to see Knuble back in the line up for a third game. Shame of the game goes to Jakub Voracek for the fight he dominated after his Captain Giroux took a hit, which put Voracek in the box for 4 minutes giving the Capitals opportune time to take home 2 goals putting the score at 4-2. Giroux can certainly take a hit and does not need reckless behavior that might costs the team a win. Consequently this incident shook the whole team, it was evident the team was disjointed and even Bryzgalvo lashed out with his frustrations after missing two blocks during the power play. That fight sends a warning to everyone in the league, don’t fight Voracek, he will dominate you. Voracek needs to take a not from Luke Schenn who knows shake it off and not give power plays away. This and the past two games solidify the spring board for the Flyers and could take them right to the play offs. The Flyers claim the 12^th seed as they inch closer to the play offs. The Flyers will have to fix some of their flaws before they face off against the Canadiens on Wednesday. They will be looking to Bryzgalov to be their MVP for the remainder of the season. With the combination of these players: (forwards) Read, Fedetanko, Knuble, Giroux, B. Schenn, Rinaldo, Talbot and (defensemen) L. Schenn, Timonen, and Lauridsen the season looks promising. Now it’s up to Laviolette to play his cards right. A weak performance against the Canadiens is not going to produce as lucky of an outcome as last night.

Playing the whole 60 minutes: Flyers

The Flyers went into this match-up defensively depleted against a team that is in competition with other playoff contenders. As underdogs, the Flyers had a lot of work to do. They knew what had to be done and in an upset they finally played the whole 60 minutes. Lauridsen had a successful debut with the Flyers, getting a penalty during the first minute of play but then never shying away from getting in the action. The Flyers, 7th ranked in the league for penalty kills, did a good job of killing off their first penalty. The power play against the Flyers, a crucial do or die moment in the game, letting the Bruins get on the score board so early in the first period would have been a death sentence. The Bruins maintained control during the first period until Chara was sent to the penalty box; the leagues best power play was matched against the leagues best penalty killers and the Flyers took this opportunity to score by Knuble. Chara being off the ice during the power play was a key element in being able to take an early lead in this game for the Flyers, as it is so hard to score while Chara is dominating the ice. Early in the second period the Flyers came back strong with another goal, they were winning puck battles and scoring opportunities. On paper, the Flyers had the opportunity to compete, it was a matter of them grasping that opportunity and exploiting weaknesses. Nathan Horton (Bruins) was in the right place at the right time, when a rebound came right to him and he scored on the Flyers, cutting the lead in half, 2-1 during the second period.  The fear in every fans mind at that moment was, "oh no a repeat of Thursday" where the Flyers had a 2 point lead and lost it in the third period. Fortunately, that would not be the outcome of the game. Although the Bruins came into the third with more energy, they didn’t produce.  The Flyers took out an insurance policy on their lead by firing a puck into an empty Bruins net during the last minutes of play, winning the game 3-1.
This win breaks the losing streak of the Flyers; with a restored confidence this team still has a difficult schedule ahead of them. It was obvious that the Flyers had built upon their successes from Thursday night and had brought 60 minutes of play onto the ice yesterday. The Flyers demonstrated great plays from Simmonds, hard hits from Rinaldo, scores from Knuble, Read and Fedotenko and impressive saves by Bryzgalvo. Coach Laviolette realized the importance of playing Knuble on Thursday, another good call, as Knuble made the first goal of the game again last night. Knuble is demonstrating leadership at the net by taking opportunities and turning them into points. The Flyers chance of the playoffs might have already past but a strong finish to this rough season looks possible, if not promising after the Flyers come back.  The Flyers need to go with the momentum they built in this game and continue it through the rest of the season, with just 14 games left the Flyers need to show up for 60 minutes at each game. Post game Knuble said:
"You feel good about it, but then you're frustrated too because that's an upper-echelon team in our league and you ask yourselves, 'Why don't you do it more often? Why doesn't it happen more often? You make the commitment right from the start and everybody was on board today."
If the Flyers can beat the Bruins, #4 in the conference, will the Flyers also show up against the #11 Capitals tonight? The Flyers remain 5 points away from a play off slot, with 14 games remaining. Rest up boys, we’re taking on #2 the Canadiens Wednesday followed by the #6 Maples Leafs on Thursday. The Flyers need to take the road back to play offs game by game; they could rise from the ashes, if they have the determination and discipline. The win from last night was short lived, as the Flyers go up against the #11 Capitals tonight. The team still has much work to do before their challenging matchups later this week. They need to work on their awareness, cover players in their own zone and get their second man into the offensive zone even quicker and work on their shoots if they look to win more points later this week.
Good job boys you played 60 minutes! Throw back another 5 hour energy and do it again tonight!

Pre-game Post: Flyers v Bruins

Today the Flyers face off against the Bruins at 1pm on home ice, it is their second of three meetings during this season. Last time the Flyers fell to the Bruins in Boston with a 0-3 loss, their final meeting will be April 23 in Philadelphia. The Bruins, a very physical team, are coming off of a 2 day break. The Flyers can pull an advantage by having the NHL's best power play but they need to show discipline, emotionally and physically. But, the Bruins are the top ranked at penalty kills, a match up a power play will be interesting. They can not give away power plays like they so often do.  Claude Giroux has had back-to-back multiple point games, he needs to be focused and provide this team with strong leadership against this challenging match up. This game is the eighth daytime start for the Flyers, who have won four of their past five day games. Player to watch: Oliver Lauridsen defenseman will make his NHL debut, he was recalled to replace the injured Braydon Coburn. The Flyers will be going up against the NHL's player with best face off percentage (62.4) Patrice Bergeron the Bruins team Captain.  Giroux is going to have a hard time with Bergeron, who does not get scored on while he is on the ice. The Flyers need to create energy through out the game and perform consistently. Recently we have seen them come out of the gate during the first period with energy and then tapper off during the remainder of the game.
The Flyers are coming into this game as underdogs but if they can build on their successes, there is an opportunity for them to succeed. The defense needs to work with the goaltender and they need to constantly be pushing offensively if they want a chance to win. If the Flyers don't make it happen in the first period there is a chance that we will see the Bruins run up the score, as the Flyers do not perform well under pressure. If the Flyers can keep a 0-0 score during the first period, or, score, their confidence could come back and surprise us during the rest of the game. As the end of the season approaches there are numerous players out due to injury, a positive outcome to this game would be no injuries to the Flyer players that remain. The team will look to players like Zac Rinaldo to create energy and Hartnell to control his temper. If Hartnell shakes it up by getting petty penalties, it will jeopardize the cohesiveness of the unit on the ice. With the team confidence down, Lavoilette will need to provide inspirational leadership to get this team to perform today. The outcome of the game will depend on how the Flyers show up to the game during the first period. Hopefully Bryz has had a 5-hour energy drink prior to puck drop because he is going to need it.