Heading into last night's game in Montreal, I was very concerned about the potential for a letdown game. Everything was lined up in the Habs' favor. The Flyers were playing on back-to-back nights while Montreal was rested and prepared, Philly was coming off a marquee game against Pittsburgh while the Canadiens' lone focus since Saturday had been on getting ready to play the Flyers.
Therefore, for the Flyers to come away with a regulation victory last night against a good Montreal team -- no matter how hairy it got in the second and third periods -- is a nice accomplishment for the team. The Flyers battled through tired legs and mental fatigue as the game moved along and still found enough left in the tank for a final successful push when Montreal came back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 to tie the game.
Sergei Bobrovsky played a decent game overall in net. The third Montreal goal was one he'd like to have back (just as Brian Boucher probably wished he had another crack at Evgeni Malkin's first goal on Tuesday night) but he put the adversity behind him. Yes, the rookie has been in net for blown three-goal and two-goal leads in his last two starts, but I think he's handled himself pretty well. I'm not worried about it.
The Flyers seem to be onto something right now with the line of James van Riemsdyk, Jeff Carter and Nikolay Zherdev. Right now, Carter is in a good groove and JVR is playing with renewed confidence. Zherdev -- who has likely knocked Dan Carcillo back onto the healthy scratch sheet when Jody Shelley returns from his suspension on Saturday -- has played the last two games with the type of competitive effort the Flyers have been wanting from him from day one. It's amazing that he's racked up 11 goals while barely scratching the surface of his talents.
We will find out more today about the foot injury that forced Chris Pronger to leave last night's game early. The Flyers initially gave the injury the nebulous "lower body injury" description, which led to immediate suspicion that he tweaked his surgically repaired knee (which has bothered him all season) again. While there's never a good time for an injury, at least this one happened at the end of a very busy stretch of games that will be followed by a very sparse schedule until after Christmas.
The Flyers only play two games over the next 12 days. They play at home against the Rangers on Saturday and the Panthers on Monday (Dec 20). Thereafter, the team does not have another game until they start a brutal road trip in Vancouver on Dec. 28.
The long break should give Pronger and other banged-up players time to heal before the club begins its most grueling segment of the regular season; one that will see the club play nine of 10 on the road with three games in four nights on the Pacific coast, stop for a game in Detroit en route to a home-and-home set with the New Jersey Devils, and then play four times on the road in six nights (Buffalo, Boston, Atlanta, New York Rangers) before returning home to find the Washington Capitals waiting for them.
*****
Today's
Daily Drop at Versus.com looks at one of my personal favorite all-time non-Flyers players -- Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom. After 19 years and 1,442 career regular season games, Lidas finally registered his first career hat trick last night.
This week's
Across the Pond at NHL.com updates the status of Miroslav Satan, looks at the struggles of the Slovak national U20 team and other topics going on around Slovakia's Extraliga this season.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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