The Flyers got a challenging slate of March games off on the right foot yesterday afternoon, holding onto to a 2-1 lead to down the Ottawa Senators at the Wells Fargo Center. Well-orchestrated goals by Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds provided just enough offense for Philadelphia, while Ilya Bryzgalov made 33 saves to nail down the win.
Ottawa lived up to its reputation as a team that knows how to keep the score low. The club is playing without offensive catalysts Erik Karlsson and Jason Spezza, and ended up losing Daniel Alfredsson to a third-period game misconduct. Goals were hard to come by despite relatively high shot totals on both sides of the ice.
Philadelphia is not always the most patient of teams when the goals don't come early and often. They were only able to put two pucks past Ben Bishop on 41 shots yesterday, but never seemed to be forcing the play. Instead, they stuck with the game plan through a scoreless first period and seven-plus minutes of the second period. Finally, the Flyers got rewarded with a pair of line rush goals spaced 3:59 apart.
Playing with supreme confidence and hunger for scoring opportunities, Jakub Voracek put on a burst of speed to make a nice move over the middle and snap a shot through Bishop's five-hole. Nearly four minutes later, the Flyers opened a brief 2-0 lead on what turned into a 4-on-2 rush. Nice passing plays by Danny Briere and Brayden Schenn got the puck to Simmonds and he beat Bishop in close with a sharp cut and finish along the ice.
Bryzgalov, who picked up his 200th career win, made a host of key momentum saves during the game. He wasn't perfect in the game, as he had some rebound control issues and should have stopped the lone goal Ottawa scored. The bottom line, though, was that he made all the saves he needed to make when the game was scoreless and when the team was protecting a one-goal lead.
Ottawa's only goal came at the 14:11 mark of the middle stanza. The Flyers got disorganized at the end of the power play and the puck went around the Philadelphia defensive zone to Marc Methot at the left point. His long, unscreened slapshot glanced off Bryzgalov's jersey, and kept climbing over the goaltender's glovehand.
The third period of the game was not exactly a textbook way to close out a game. The Flyers spent seven-plus minutes on the power play -- including a full two minutes on a 5-on-3 -- and failed to come up with an insurance goal. In fact, Philly ended up getting outshot in the final staza by an 11-9 margin with Bryzgalov having to make the tougher saves of the two goalies.
The penalty killing for both teams yesterday was stellar. In the first period, the Flyers survived a Harry Zolnierczyk charging major and game misconduct (he's going to be suspended this time around, unlike the knee major and corresponding game misconduct that got rescinded by the NHL after Wednesday's game). In total, the Flyers killed off five Ottawa penalties.
The Senators killed off five of their own penalties, including four in the third period. They lost Alfredsson to a third-period crosschecking major in poorly timed retaliation for hit Zac Rinaldo delivered moments earlier to Chris Phillips. Ottawa believed Rinaldo hit Phillips from behind, but it was actually delivered from the side, albeit in a bit of a precarious spot a couple feet from the boards.
In my opinion, Rinaldo's hit was not a dirty play. Zolnierczyk's was. Both of his feet left the ice and he made contact with Mike Lundin's head as threw the flying bodycheck. I know that Zolnierczyk was just trying to make the most of his chance to play, but being reckless isn't going to keep him in the lineup.
All that ultimately mattered yesterday was that the Flyers had a regulation win when the final horn sounded. They are now finally at .500 on the season at 11-11-1. Yes, I know, they technically have one more loss (via skills competition after a tie in the hockey portion of a game against Florida). But of a possible maximum of 46 points, they have exactly half. So, yes, it is a .500 record for point-tracking purposes.
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Today is the annual Flyers Wives Fight for Lives Carnival at the Wells Fargo Center. Tickets are still available for the event, which runs from 1:30 p.m. through 6 p.m. All proceeds benefit the Flyers Charities program.
There will be a live televised broadcast from the event, airing on Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia. If you can't attend the Carnival but wish to donate, you can do so via the phone number provided on the broadcast, or else
donate online.
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