Role Players Shine as Flyers Beat Bruins in Shootout, 4-3

Receiving goals from Chris Pronger, Darroll Powe, and Arron Asham should always be a luxury. Having Ole-Kristian Tollefsen lead the team in points is just unusual. With two assists and a fight, Tollefsen was a most unlikely player of the game selection by the CSN broadcast.

Claude Giroux netted the lone goal in the shootout and the Flyers won when Michael Ryder found iron on the Bruins third and final shot. Ray Emery finished with 23 saves on 26 shots, including more than a couple highlight-reel saves. Overall, Emery had a solid game for the Flyers, even with the huge rebound he let up on the third Bruin goal.

Concerns about the Flyers long-layoff were seen early, but went away quickly. After going up 1-0 on a Chris Pronger slap shot, the Flyers found themselves down 2-1 in the second period. But a mere 65 seconds after falling behind, Darroll Powe slammed one home from atop the crease to tie the game back up. Less than 5 minutes later, Arron Asham broke down the right wing on a great outlet pass from Tollefsen and shot far corner, beating Tukka Rask to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.

After a quiet game from the officials (three penalties called through the first 58 minutes), Simon Gagne was called for hooking with just over 90 seconds to go in the game. The call was questionable, but the Flyers almost won the game when Jeff Carter stole a cross ice-pass (seriously, do teams not watch film?) and broke in all alone on Rask. The goalie wasn’t fooled though, and the stage was then set for Claude Giroux to net the game winner.

After the jump, random thoughts, Questions with Answers, and the Comment of the Night.

Random Thoughts:

  • As mentioned in the comments by Ben Feldman, Emery left his crease in the shootout. Hopefully this trend continues.
  • Dan Carcillo continues to be an image of discipline. After taking a dangerous hit from behind, he showed some displeasure, but kept just cool enough not to draw a penalty. He walked the line today, but you know he would have jumped it last year.
  • Ian Laperriere had a very good game. He had three hits and a blocked shot, finishing a +1 with just under 16 minutes of ice time.
  • Coach John Stevens did a good job dishing out the ice time tonight as all 20 skaters finished with over 10 minutes of ice time. Chris Pronger still managed 28:16 though.
  • Fourth line production was huge tonight. Darroll Powe’s goal was assisted by Dan Carcillo and OKT, while Danny Syvret and Mika Pyorala were also on the ice.
  • Danny Briere, Jeff Carter, and Scott Hartnell each finished a -2 on the night, while Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn were a -1. Every other Flyer skater was a +1. This is becoming a worry, as the five are now a combined -21 on the year. They are also the five worst Flyers in that category.

Questions with Answers:

How does the defense as a whole perform after a terrible group outing last Saturday?  This was a very good game for the defense.  They got one goal and four assists from their blue line tonight, and Boston’s goals came on a screen, a deflection, and a juicy rebound in the slot where Kimmo was draped all over his man.  See next answer.
How long does the Syvret/Tollefsen getting more minutes experiment last?  At least for this game.  Syvret logged 14:18 tonight, with more ice time in the third period than he saw in the first.  Tollefsen logged 11:58, also with more time in the third than he saw in the first.  The pair both got more ice time in the second period with the long change, but they played well overall.
Can the well-rested Flyers take advantage of a team coming off of a game last night?  Well, they won.  The Bruins came out stronger, but the Flyers quickly matched their energy level.  In the third period, it appeared as if both teams slowed down after a physical second and start to the third, but at least the Flyers didn’t appear tired as they did in Florida last week.
How many hot dogs are consumed by the Wachovia Center crowd on dollar dog night?  Travis, what’s the final tally? Travis: 21,235 — six by me.
Comment of the Night:

“John Boruk looks BA in this pic. Asham looks like he is about to come over the boards and eat the camera.”

flyrsfrk05

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