[Shift Charts] – [Head-to-Head TOI] – [Corsi and Fenwick] – [5-on-5 Faceoffs]
PHILADELPHIA — Sergei Bobrovsky has started five straight games. The Flyers have won five straight games. Coincidence? Well, if you ask the fine folks at Wells Fargo Center tonight that question, the likely answer is certainly “no way in hell.”
Despite long stretches without seeing the puck at all, Bob was brilliant yet again in making 20 saves — each of them drawing a thunderous ovation from the crowd. If it were another goalie in net, it’s possible that each save would garner light applause. With Bob, it draws chanting. Does he realize how much the fans are falling in love with him?
“Of course I do,” he said through a translator after the game. “I hear it. Of course it’s really great but they’re not going to like me if I don’t play well and don’t win.”
Amen, brother.
The goalie needs help, however, and h can’t do it alone — which Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers prove about 30 times a year. Tonight, it was a cavalcade of offensive stars making noise, and nothing rang louder than Claude Giroux‘s unreal behind the back pass to Mike Richards in the first period. Right in front of the net, the Captain roofed a shot to even the score.
From there, the Flyers didn’t look back. Niklolay Zherdev scored a fluky goal to stick it to his old team while Blair Betts scored on a nice little second-chance opportunity as the orange and black ran away with it in the second period. Chris Pronger piled on with a PP tally and a Danny Briere-style fist pump in the third.
Final score: 4-1 Flyers. After the jump, a few more notes on tonight’s game, questions with answers and the comment of the night.
– Dan Carcillo laid the boom on Ruslan Fedotenko with a hit in the third period. Fedotenko’s head was down, but the puck had left his stick and it could be called a blindside hit. We’ll see if there’s anything handed down from Colin Campbell on it.
– For what it’s worth, Fedotenko thinks the league will be looking at it.
– Carcillo did have to answer to Brandon Prust on his next shift. Carcillo wound up on top of him, but Prust won the bout.
– Speaking of fights, Jody Shelley got into one with Derek Boogaard tonight. Or maybe he didn’t. After the game, he said: “I don’t even need to comment on that garbage. Sound about right? It just ended too quick, and I wouldn’t even call it a fight. … It was all right.”
– Zherdev looked even better tonight, even without his weird goal, and Peter Laviolette seems pleased with his play.
– Spotted Danny Briere talking to Martin Biron in the hallway after the game. Shelley was talking with some Rangers near the zamboni entrance, too.
– As of writing this, the Flyers are the best team in the NHL. That could change if LA wins tonight, but as of this writing, the Flyers are the tops.
– I’m sick so I’m calling it here. It was a good all around game tonight. Hard to really pick any gripes with anybody, and lots of applause to go around to the whole team.
Questions with Answers
- The Rangers have made a lot of talk about “not being pushed around” by the Flyers tonight. Do they stand up for themselves, or is it more of the same usual story? They did actually stand up for themselves. Prust’s fight with Carcillo was admirable… as much as one can admire a Ranger.
- The Flyers have been great in the face-off circle lately. Does that continue? They won 52 percent of the draws tonight. Carter won 73 percent of his and Giroux won 60 percent of his, but Betts had an off-night, only winning 31 percent of his draws.
- Another solid start out of Bob?
- Ville Leino and Scott Hartnell didn’t miss a beat with Jeff Carter joining their line against Carolina. Does that continue tonight? Seemed to, yep.
- How does Andrej Meszaros look in his return from a slight concussion? Didn’t notice him. That’s a good thing.
- Eric Wellwood had great chemistry with Mike Richards in his NHL debut on Monday. More of the same tonight? Yep, Wellwood looked solid.
Comment of the Night
Jim Jackson called Sean Avery a “jabroni” on CSN tonight — Preston and Steve challenged him to work the word into the broadcast. He gets the COTN.
