Let’s be very clear about something right off the bat: the hockey gods have been absolutely defecating into this team’s mouth lately. But like the professionals they are, the Flyers have convinced themselves it’s just biscotti and soldiered on.
Concussions to the league’s leading scorer and the team’s most enormous defenseman are headaches that will linger, to say the least. But when they should be at their most scrambled, the Flyers continue to be nothing but sunny side up on the ice, running off their seventh straight victory Thursday night in Montreal by the score of 4-3.
Straight to the bullets. Shall we?
- Bob is seriously good at hockey, too. I am apparently one of the few people who seems to think having two elite goaltenders on this team is a plus, not a problem, which I can’t say I understand. And can you think of all the things he learns by getting to talk to Bryzgalov in Ilya’s native tongue, where his vocabulary is even more big humongous? Wow.
- It can’t be said that Chris Pronger being out could ever be a positive thing, but on some level having his status for the season resolved makes him less of a distraction, and could help both Marc-Andre Bourdon (FMAB:BAMF) and Kevin Marshall (KM46) grow in confidence even more. Those two are playing NHL-caliber defense right now, and are arguably playing like the strongest 5-6 pair the team has had in a while.
- So if the defense is still good and the offense is still good and the goaltending is still good, is there a problem? Do we heff to be mad, after all? Maybe not.
- Couturier heff to be mad, though. Not only does he have no teeth, Sean also got called for several ridiculous calls tonight, none of which really seemed necessary.
- Otherwise, there’s just so much to like. Max Talbot is a scoring machine. The defensemen are taking whatever “shock and awe” was brought back stateside and using it to get on the scoreboard seemingly every game.
- The fact that JVR and Danny Briere are underachieving at this point in the season should almost be something to be excited about. Imagine just how scary it will get when they click.
- The Rangers lost tonight, and the Flyers won again, which could make the Flyers the happier part of the beginning of next week’s episode, against all odds.
- In case you didn’t know, 12th-place Los Angeles played 15th-place Columbus tonight. How are those trades working out for everybody?
Questions Answered:
- Can the Flyers avenge the 5-1 loss at Bell Centre from earlier in the year? Yes.
- In game two Without Claude, can the Flyers keep up the offense? Yep. Deeper than a Jack Handey thought, I tell ya.
- The PK was fantastic against the Capitals. More of the same? Better. A 5-on-3+1 was no problem late in the first.
- Can Ilya Bryzgalov keep up his hot play? He gave Bob an enormous hug at the end of the game, so I’m gonna say yes?
Comment of the Night:
“Have we met?”
“I can’t remember.” ––iJewJitsu wins the caption contest.
Big Beantown battle brewin’. Go Flyers.
