Were it not for an excellent game from their goaltender, the Flyers may not have walked out of this game with a win. Razor did have an excellent game, though, and he supported the team through a tense third so that they could slide into the Olympic break with a 2-1 win over Calgary.
The first period was pretty even keel. There were tons of shots and chances for both teams, but goalies were the story, with Ray Emery and Reto Berra turning away everything that made its way through. That wasn’t the case for long. The second line, which was really assertive throughout the game, had a gorgeous set up: Wayne Simmonds cycled around and made a great pass to Brayden Schenn, who scored eight minutes through the second period.
Immediately after that goal, though, the Flames had their way with the Flyers. They started to kill the Flyers in terms of possession, generally outworking them like crazy. That was disheartening to see, especially with such a slim margin and the Flyers lacking luster.
The Flyers opened up the third the way they needed to: Claude Giroux sent one towards the net and Scott Hartnell directed it in. That lucky one ended up being the game winner. While the Flames may have ruined the shutout for Emery, the Flyers managed to hang on to the lead and got the two points. It may not have been pretty, but it was a win. Those are always welcome, no matter what form they come in.
Bullet points:
- Ray Emery. Man. What a game from him. Plenty of great saves, good puck handling, good rebound control. His poke check on Stepniak was masterful. A very, very good game for Emery. It would have been cool to see him get the shutout, but whatever. That’s life, I guess.
- Lots of discussion about defense today, at least on twitter. Erik Gustafsson was sidelined today, and according to Anthony SanFilippo, it was because Chief wanted everyone to feel like part of the team. That’s…sweet? Anyway, Mesz was in; he ended up with a point.
- Nick Grossmann was leading Flyers skaters through the second period, but didn’t take a shift in the third. Not sure what happened, but he’s out with an upper body injury. Kimmo Timonen also left the bench, sometime in the third, so the blue line was pretty banged up in this one.
- Penalty kill, for their two outings, looked awesome. They’ve killed 17 of their last 18. Always nice.
- Michael Raffl, as you should know by now, is good. He continues to be good on the fourth line. His versatility is perhaps his strongest asset. Looks comfortable playing on any line, generates opportunity pretty much whenever he’s on the ice. That fourth line is so interesting now.
Four in a row going into the break. Not too shabby.
That’s it for Flyers hockey for a while, but there’s the Olympics to look forward to! Go USA and, as always, go Flyers!
