The Flyers played a strong first period last night and then came on late win their home opener against Colorado, 4-2. In between, they struggled in the second period and coughed up the tying goal in the opening minute of the third period.
Some notes and observations:
* Claude Giroux was absolutely dazzling over the first 30 minutes of the game, tallying his second shorthanded goal of the season and showing tremendous creativity with the puck.
* It was nice to see Jeff Carter step up after two quiet games, and also good to see Mike Richards (for the second straight game) win over 60% of his faceoffs. The team entered last night's game waiting for the top line to step up, and they answered the call.
* I thought Andrej Meszaros played his best game as a Flyer so far. He was physical, poised and moved the puck up to the forwards effective. But, in my opinion, the Flyers' best defenseman last night wasn't Meszaros and it wasn't Chris Pronger (plus-two in his first game of the season). It was Matt Carle, who has played three rock solid games this season.
* Sergei Bobrovsky allowed his first iffy goal of the season, getting beaten by Milan Hejduk on a shot that he probably should have stopped. Bad goals happen to every goalie -- it's how they bounce back that matters. The rookie showed mental toughness by recovering quickly and slamming the door as the team's traded chances through much of the third period.
* Rough games last night for Scott Hartnell and Ville Leino. Hartnell's poor decision-making was reminiscent of his play last season, while Leino (who admitted in an interview that his surgically-repaired hip still isn't back to 100% strength and that it may take until December to fully recover his form) appeared to be laboring with his usually fluid skating.
* The Flyers powerplay is still out of synch. As long as the team is winning, it isn't a big deal, but the club won't truly be firing on all cylinders until the powerplay starts clicking. On the flip side, the penalty killing has been outstanding and, with Giroux having already scored a pair of shorties, the club has given other teams something to worry about when moving the puck on the man advantage.
* Even more than the celebration of last season's Eastern Conference championship and the raising of a new banner at the Wells Fargo Center, the most emotional and lasting memory from last night was the heartfelt standing ovation given to Ian Laperriere. That's something I know that people on the Colorado side appreciated as much as the Philadelphians, because Lappy meant a lot to their organization, too. If Laperriere does end having to retire, at least he knows how much his heart-and-soul presence on the ice and his off-ice leadership meant to every team that was lucky enough to have him.
*****
Speaking of the teams that Ian Laperriere has played on, I have been very impressed by the play of the St. Louis Blues in the first two games of the regular season. They got the better of the Flyers for the majority of Saturday's game in St. Louis and utterly decimated the Anaheim Ducks last night.
Today's
Daily Drop at Versus.com looks at the Blues' strong start. I really think St. Louis is going to be a playoff team in the West come next April. They've got speed to burn, strong goaltending and a young nucleus that seems ready to blossom.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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