Over the course of any regular season, there are certain games that are more important than others. Yes, all the points count the same. Yes, the objective every night is to do the things that enable everyone afterwards to talk about the "total team effort" that led to victory. It's also true that are few easy games and no outright pushover opponents in the modern NHL. Anyone can beat anyone.
Nevertheless, there are particular games that are a test of a team's mettle. The Flyers came into last night's game winless in the shortened season, dealing with the absences of three of their top forwards, mired in offensive and defensive doldrums and facing a New York Rangers team that has tortured them the last two seasons. It was crucial for the team to respond with its best 60-minute effort throughout the lineup.
That's exactly what the Flyers got last night in their 2-1 home win over the Blueshirts.
Philly rolled all four lines, getting strong efforts from the foot soldiers as well as the players atop the lineup. Through sheer hard work, Flyers scrounged up a pair of make-your-own-luck goals on a night where Henrik Lundqvist was his usual outstanding self for the Rangers. Philly outforechecked and outskated the Rangers. The Flyers also staged a dramatic four-minute penalty kill -- including two full minutes of 5-on-3 time -- with a one-goal lead in the third period.
The efforts of Ilya Bryzgalov in goal should also not be overlooked. He only saw 19 shots for the game, but he came up with clutch situational saves. Of course, the 5-on-3 penalty kill stands out as the most crucial juncture of helping the team nail down a win. But I think there was another segment of last night's game that gets no mention but was every bit as important to the final outcome.
Let's set the stage: It was early in the second period. The Flyers dominated the first period last night, but had nothing to show for it. They were now scoreless in their last five periods of hockey. Lundqvist looked nearly unbeatable at the other end of the ice.
Now the Flyers had a sloppy shift in their own end of the ice, coughing up a puck, struggling to clear the zone. The Rangers generated a pair of good scoring chances. Had New York scored, there was a good chance the Flyers' emotional balloon would have deflated. Instead, Bryzgalov kept the puck out of the net. A much more positive chain of events was set up for the Flyers.
The Flyers re-stabilized themselves on the next shift, got back to doing the things they did in the opening period. Midway through the middle stanza, Wayne Simmonds had a Nicklas Grossmann shot skitter off his skate and re-direct past Lundqvist. It's 1-0 Flyers. The goal wasn't pretty but Grossmann measured his shot and kept it low and deflectable and Simmonds went to the net. Lundqvist had no chance to stop it.
A few minutes later, the Flyers got a power play. Again, they made their own good fortune through solid puck movement and sheer persistence.
After good puck rotation up high in the zone, Claude Giroux's shot from the top of the circle hit Rangers' shutdown defenseman Dan Girardi up high, leaving him momentarily stunned and out of the play. Simmonds got a whack at the puck near the net. Sean Couturier was next to keep the play alive and nearly swept the puck in, but it ticked off the goal post. Finally, a wide-open Jakub Voracek had a tap-in from along the ice at the other side of the net. It's 2-0 Flyers.
As goal-scoring harvests go, two goals is a modest haul. But that's about all you are going to get on many nights against Lundqvist and the usually stingy Rangers defense (the latter of which was just so-so last night). It's up to your team defense, goaltending and forechecking pressure to take care of the rest against the Rangers.
Even when the Rangers finally got on the board early in the third period on a Taylor Pyatt power play goal, the Flyers didn't panic or alter their game. Instead, they found ways to slam the door.
Last night was one of those nights where it was truly possible to mention every player in the Philadelphia lineup and come up with something positive he did to contribute to the win.
For instance, it's worth bringing up that the Flyers' fourth line (Eric Wellwood centering Tom Sestito and Jody Shelley) got 10 shifts last night and spent most of them pounding New York deep in their own end of the ice. Ditto the makeshift third line of Scott Laughton centering Tye McGinn and Ruslan Fedotenko.
As a result, the Flyers' other lines were able to stay fresher and more energetic when they hit the ice. The line with Couturier centering Voracek and Max Talbot and the defensive pairing of Grossmann and Braydon Coburn shut down the Rangers' deadly top line of Brad Richards, Rick Nash and Marian Gaborik. Couturier and Talbot were also towers of strength during the 5-on-3 penalty kill in the third period.
Defensive defensemen Grossmann and Luke Schenn both played outstanding games last night, hitting everything in sight -- without taking themselves out of the play -- and blocking a combined seven shots (five by Grossmann). Grossmann's crushing but clean first period check on Gaborik was one of the best of the early season. Braydon Coburn also stepped up his level of play.
The Flyers' revised top line of Giroux centering Simmonds and Matt Read buzzed in the offensive zone on quite a few shifts. It wasn't one of Giroux's spectacular nights offensively but the line looked dangerous.
Look, it's only one win. The Rangers were at a built-in disadvantage being in the back end of back-to-back games and the middle game of a three-in four stretch. John Tortorella hurt his own team's chances of winning last night by severely shortening his bench in Wednesday's hard-fought overtime win against the Bruins -- and then did it again last night while Philly was rolling four lines and three defense pairs (even after Andrej Meszaros was lost to an injury).
The Rangers didn't have much energy for long stretches of last night's game. I think Tortorella's reluctance to use his fourth line or third defense pair played a part in their lack of legs along with the schedule itself. Also, while the team got an excellent goaltending performance from its defending Vezina Trophy winning goaltender, last night's game was one that fairly screamed out for Martin Biron to get a start due to the schedule.
But that's not the Flyers' concern. They've got to take care of their business. Last night's win over the Rangers will only mean something if it is followed up with at least three of four points in the upcoming weekend trip through Florida.
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Not all the news from last night's game was positive. The Flyers lost defenseman Andrej Meszaros to an upper body injury -- believed to be a shoulder injury -- in the second period of the game. The big Slovak was in considerable distress after he took a hit from Rangers captain Ryan Callahan.
I did not see Meszaros leave the building when I went down to the locker room (there are two elevator rides down after the game, and I was on the second). However those who spotted him a few minutes earlier said he had his arm immobilized in a sling and had a deep frown on his face.
Meszaros will be re-evaluated today but it is expected that he will be out of action for awhile. That's a tough break not only for the Flyers' already-thin defense but for Meszaros himself after he rehabbed like a man possessed to be ready to play in the opener after the lockout following Achilles tendon repair surgery in August.
In the real short term, the Flyers can recall Andreas Lilja from Adirondack. Doing so would only add $100,000 to their existing cap picture and would buy a little time to come up with a longer-term plan, whether it's a trade or longer-term callup. Although Bruno Gervais acquitted himself well in the last two games, the thought of starting two of three among Gervais, Kurtis Foster and/or Lilja as the third defense pairing is not appealing.
Unfortunately, Erik Gustafsson (ankle) is still at least a week away from being ready to return to action, whether it's for Adirondack or Philadelphia. Brandon Manning has been playing good hockey of late for the Phantoms but struggled mightily until Christmas. There is no current timetable for Marc-Andre Bourdon (concussion) to return to action.
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With all the injuries to key veteran forwards and the departure of Jaromir Jagr, the Flyers had a need for an experienced forward. As a result, they have signed Mike Knuble for a second tour of duty in Philadelphia.
It remains to be seen how many goals the 40-year-old net-front specialist has left in his stick in the NHL. But one thing that is not in doubt is the strong presence Knuble brings to a locker room. He has one of hockey's brightest minds and a gift for expressing that knowledge at either the macro or micro level as appropriate.
Knuble is one of those few players who doesn't speak in cliches. He calls it like he sees it, albeit usually in a calm sort of way. A player like Wayne Simmonds or Brayden Schenn, who is more naturally gifted than Knuble ever was, can learn a thing or two simply by picking his brain on the bench or the locker room.
In terms of on-ice role, I suspect that Knuble will play on the second power play unit. Due to a lack of speed, it would be defensively risky to place him on Danny Briere's line at five-on-five but that could be where he starts out when Briere returns to the ice (which could be as soon as this weekend).
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