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Meltzer's Musings: 10/13/11 |
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In three games played this season, the Flyers have not only shown that can defeat top-quality opposition, they have also shown they can win different types of games, whether they be low-scoring affairs or high-scoring ones.
My biggest takeaway from last night's 5-4 win against the Vancouver Canucks was that the Flyers effort, while rather uneven at times, was also quite clutch. Whenever the game reached a critical juncture and the team really needed a big play, they got it --whether it was capitalizing on two of four first-period power plays, responding quickly to Vancouver goals, getting clutch saves from Ilya Bryzgalov, or killing off a series of third period penalties.
Other game notes and observations:
* All three members of the Claude Giroux line were outstanding in this game. If the trio can all stay healthy, I think there is a good chance that Giroux flirts with 100 points this season. He has played at a superstar level so far in the young season. Meanwhile, both Jaromir Jagr and James van Riemsdyk played strong games but only had one point apiece (goal for JVR, assist for Jagr) to show for it.
* The Flyers had nine different players get on the scoresheet in this game. That tells you something about the depth in this lineup. It was also nice -- and critically important as it turned out -- to have gotten two goals from the defense.
* Sean Couturier played his best game yet and recorded his first NHL point in setting up Jakub Voracek for a goal that responded quickly to Henrik Sedin's tally off of some sloppy work by the Flyers in their own zone. Couturier also hit the post in a bid for his first NHL goal. His best work, however, was saved for the Flyers' penalty-killing marathon in the third period. Of Coutuirer's 17:45 of ice time, 7:28 came on the PK.
* Max Talbot played even more PK time than Couturier, playing 9:02 of his 16:12 of ice time on the kill. He also drew the Flyers' first power play of the game early in the first period, keeping his feet moving to force Sami Salo into a hooking penalty. Neither of Talbot's fourth line comrades, Andreas Nodl (guilty of some unforced turnovers and failed clears) or Zac Rinaldo (3 hits and PP created in just 5:55 of ice time but also guilty of a bad roughing penalty for his third minor in as many games), had their best nights.
* Although Bryzgalov game up 4 goals tonight, he was huge part of the win. Bryzgalov (36 saves) had little chance on the goals he allowed and made some absolutely huge saves -- with no rebounds -- when the team was clinging to its one-goal lead in the third period. On the flip side, I thought Roberto Luongo had a rather pedestrian effort in the Vancouver net.
* Flyers blocked 27 shots. Kimmo Timonen blocked seven, Talbot blocked five and Giroux blocked four. Obviously all the third-period penalties played into this gaudy total, but the bottom is that the Flyers' sacrificed themselves to stop shots from getting through.
* As good as the Giroux line has looked, the Danny Briere line is still trying to establish some chemistry. Wayne Simmonds has been a force in front of the net on the power play but the 5-on-5 line with Briere and Voracek really hasn't done much as a unit. Briere's best shift of the game actually came when he ended up out on the ice with Giroux.
* When a team spends as much time on special teams as the Flyers and Canucks did in this game, it really ruins the flow of the lines. Peter Laviolette noted after the game that it's easier to review film and have teaching moments with the club when you are breaking down a win. There were plenty of such moments in this tilt, as play got rather ragged at times (although it was mostly an entertaining game).
* I thought the absence of Ryan Kesler from the Vancouver lineup was evident at the critical junctures of the game. He's the Canucks' tone setter and it was usually the Flyers who came out ahead in situations that Kesler frequently turns his team's way.
*****
It is a good thing for the Flyers that the club is facing some tough regular season tests right off the bat season. Already the orange and black have played -- and defeated -- both of last season's Stanley Cup finalists as well as convincingly winning a divisional game against a club that has often given them fits over the years.
Next up is the return to Philadelphia of Mike Richards, along with Simon Gagne, Justin Williams and the rest of a very talented and deep Los Angeles Kings team. Two games later, the Flyers play a Washington Capitals club that could easily take the top regular season spot in the Eastern Conference yet again. That's followed up with a game against a speedy St. Louis Blues team that defeated the Flyers last year and whom many expect to return to the Western Conference playoffs this year.
In many cases, teams play up or down to the level of their competition. Part of the Flyers' demise last year in the second half was a steady stream of games against lower echelon teams. Not only did the Flyers fail to compile many points from these games, they also fell into some bad habits that proved tough to break when they started facing winning teams again.That's why it's good to see the Flyers start out by playing against teams that will push them and keep them honest.
******
Both the Los Angeles Kings and the Flyers benefited from the minor trade sending fallen prospect Stefan Legein and a 2012 sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Kings for future considerations (likely a conditional low-end draft choice that will never come back this way).
LA got a freebie draft pick plus Legein. The Flyers got below the 50-contract reserve list maximum so that they can keep Couturier if they wish to do so after 10 games.
It probably never should have had to come to giving away a draft choice, even disregarding the waiver claim cancellation involving Blair Betts. The Flyers' have been a little too generous in handing out contracts to AHL players with little to no chance of playing for the NHL team -- it was the collective math of accumulating good AHLers but non-prospects such as Dan Jancevski, Jason Bacashihua and the re-signing of Jon Kalinski that pushed the team to maximum.
Is it a big deal that the Flyers had to give up a sixth round pick to make it worth LA's while to do them a favor? No, but it's emblematic of the sorts of small attention-to-detail miscues that seem to pop up a little too frequently in regards to contracts in the organization. Individually, none are all that big of a deal. It's the collective effect that forces Philly to work around situations that probably shouldn't have come up in the first place.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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