For the first time this season, the Flyers lost a game. Last night's tilt was one they probably should have won. Philadelphia was the better team during the all-too-brief stretches of 5-on-5 on play. They also managed to score a pair of power play goals on a night where Jonathan Quick was nothing short of outstanding in net for the Kings.

By the end of the night, however, the Flyers were fortunate to come away with one point from the game. After Justin Williams scored his second goal of the game, it took a late Matt Carle power play goal to send the game to the final minutes tied. The time had to survive 20 seconds of the regulation-time portion of James van Riemsdyk tripping penalty get to the game to overtime and assure one point.

Four-on-three power plays are every bit as tough to defend as a five-on-three. There's a lot of open ice out there, and Mike Richards did a good job at finding Jack Johnson for what turned into an easy game-winning goal with Ilya Bryzgalov in no position to make the save.

Last night's game, which featured a combined 15 power play (8 for LA, 7 for the Flyers) was typical of many October matches. There was zero flow to the game, because of all the whistles. It was rare to see back-to-back five-on-five shifts.

The Flyers generated a lot of good scoring chances against Quick, but the LA goalie was equal to the challenge. Bryzgalov played a decent game with some big saves of his own, but its fair to say that the Kings got one point because of their goaltending and the other because they were a little more opportunistic than Philly with fewer scoring chances.

It goes without saying that the Flyers cannot afford to continue taking as many penalties as they've taken in the first four games. They've given up multiple PPGs in each of the last two games, and it's not that they've played poorly on the PK. When you take as many bad penalties as Philly has taken -- most of them have been legitimate, despite the tendency of refs to seek even-up calls -- sooner or later it's going to burn you.

Other notes and observations:

* Mike Richards received a loud pre-game ovation from about 80 to 85 percent of the crowd, with a smattering of boos. He was also cheered during the very brief video acknowledgment (a still photo with a "thank you" message) that ran during the first stoppage of play. However, he was also booed loudly every time he touched the puck during the game.

I thought the dual response was appropriate, as it made clear that most folks appreciate what Richards brought on the ice for the Flyers, but that he's now part of the enemy. Richards did not acknowledge the crowd, and I had no problem with that, either. He was there to win a hockey game, not to reminisce about his six seasons in Philly.

* Los Angeles blocked a ton of shots last night (22 in all, led by 5 from former Penguins nemesis Rob Scuderi). This was really the first game of the season where the Flyers weren't getting shots through on plays where they looked well set up in front, especially on the power play.

* The Flyers defense seems to be pinching up on the play more that it was last year, and the D has been contributing its share of offense in the early going.

I asked Carle about it after the game, specifically whether it's a reflection of confidence in Bryzgalov and/or something designed to help compensate early on for the many changes in forward personnel.

Said Carle, ”I think that when we are going as a five man group we’ll be playing aggressive, and it is most important when we are playing that high forward to be back there and be supportive. It’s more or less us making moves and reads, and deciding where to go, but we can sustain that pressure and keep the pucks in the zone and keep them alive we are going to be better off.”

* Claude Giroux had another outstanding game last night, even though he did not get on the scoresheet. He had a couple Foppa-esque shifts in the game where he turned the Kings inside out. There was no way to stop him short of taking a penalty or getting a great save by the goalie.

* Jaromir Jagr had a beautiful assist on Danny Briere's first goal of the young season, but had his weakest overall game of the season so far. There were too many shifts where his feet weren't moving enough and he lost the puck. In the preseason, everything he was shooting was going in. He hasn't found the net yet in four regular season games, but that's not a big concern at this point. I just want to see more shifts like the ones where Vancouver couldn't get the puck away from him rather than being a little too stationary.

* No one wants to see a player get hurt, but Zac Rinaldo had every right to deliver the big hit to Drew Doughty that knocked Doughty out of the game early with an upper body injury. Doughty came over the middle with his head down, and it was a shoulder-to- shoulder hit. Dustin Penner was also in the right to make a beeline for Rinaldo, even though it was pretty clear-cut instigator penalty. That's hockey, folks.

* Rinaldo only had three shifts in the entire game, but they were certainly eventful ones. There was the Doughty hit and fight with Penner on the first one -- which created a power play for Philadelphia. In the second period, Kevin Westgarth (and players on the LA bench) went right after Rinaldo. That shift also should have resulted in a Philadelphia power play but the penalties evened out. The bottom line is that referees are not about to reward a player with Rinaldo's reputation unless they have other choice. All in all, though, he did his job last night, and did not leave the team shorthanded.

* I thought Wayne Simmonds was trying to do a little too much against his former team in last night's game. His energy level was very high and it was clear how badly he wanted to score a goal and stand up for his new teammates, but he looked a little overanxious to me. He fumbled away a couple of good scoring chances in an effort to get the puck on net as quickly as possible (I'm sure the way Quick was playing also factored in).

Peter Laviolette, however, had a strong postgame assessment of Simmonds' performance.

“I thought Wayne was good," he said. "What impresses me about him is his speed. He’s got that straight away speed, he could take that puck into the zone and he’s talented enough to make plays. It’s his straight away speed that is most impressive, but he’s been a terrific fit since he’s been here. He’s a power forward, he’s physical. We were looking to get bigger and stronger on the wings and he gives us that.”

* Although he struggled to finish off his own chances, I thought Matt Read was the Flyers second-best forward (after Giroux) on a shift-in and shift-out basis last night. He had one chance where he looked like he had Quick beaten and the goalie made a lightning-quick recovery. In addition to Read, I thought Scott Hartnell, Andreas Nödl and other members of the supporting cast had good games.

* Sean Couturier is very good at controlling the puck in tight quarters. Not only does he not panic under pressure, he also has tremendous hockey sense.

* After the game, Paul Holmgren and Peter Luukko had an amiable chat with Terry Murray outside the Kings' locker room. Homer and Murph were even smiling. Actually, Murray is very different off the ice than he appears behind the bench. He is very approachable, friendly and candid. I have always loved to hear him talk hockey, and he calls things as he sees them.

As a coach, he has an authoritarian reputation but he's also a very good teacher who legitimately cares about his players' success both during and after their time together. Like any coach, there are areas where you can second-guess Murray's decisions about personnel or what not. But there is no questioning the depth of his hockey knowledge, his generosity in sharing it and his warm off-ice qualities as a human being.

* The Phantoms fell to 2-1-0 on the season with a 6-2 loss in Syracuse last night. Brayden Schenn, coming off a hat trick on Friday, tallied his fourth goal of the young season. In addition, veteran Denis Hamel scored his 316th career AHL goal to move into 15th place on the league's all time list. A hat trick by Kyle Palmieri paced the Syracuse attack. By the way, summer rookie camp standout Oliver Lauridsen was a healthy scratch for Adirondack.

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