Here's a hockey math equation for you:
Take a hockey team upset with itself for a loss two nights earlier in which it blew 2-0 and 3-2 leads in a divisional game. Add an opponent with the worst record in the NHL, that has tuned out its beleaguered head coach. The opponent comes out playing sub-ECHL caliber team defense in front of its struggling starting goaltender, whose confidence is extremely low. Subtract one of the opponent's two best players, who would have be making his initial return to play the team that traded him over the summer.
The solution, apparently, is 9-2.
The Flyers skated with purpose and intensity for two periods, building an 8-0 lead before shutting down the engines in the third period. The Blue Jackets played like a team whose coach was about to get the ax.
From the Flyers standpoint, the offensive bonanza meant that eight different players were able to score goals and all but three skaters (Scott Hartnell, Zac Rinaldo and Andreas Lilja) record points. Jakub Voracek (1 goal, 2 assists) and Wayne Simmonds (1G) were able to break out of their goal slumps, and Voracek got the satisfaction of having a big night against his former team.
Following is a blow-by-blow game summary:
* With the two clubs skating 4-on-4, James van Riemsdyk had no Blue Jackets within 8 feet of him when he got open in the left slot to receive a pass from behind the net from Erik Gustafsson. JVR snapped a shot past Mason to make it 1-0 at 1:38 of the first period. The assist was Gustafsson's first point in the NHL. The rookie went on to be plus-six in the game.
* At 3:09 of the first period, the Flyers ended their 1-for-22 power play drought. Hartnell went to the net, battling for position with Fedor Tyutin. Jaromir Jagr's side angle shot from the left boards deflected off Tyutin's stick and past Mason.
* At 13:09 of the first period, Voracek undressed the Blue Jackets' defense on the rush and fed the puck over to Max Talbot. Putting a little shift on Mason (who committed very early), Talbot slid the puck in the backhand for his third goal in the last four games. The Blue Jackets switched goaltenders, putting in Allen York for the remainder of the first period, before putting Mason back in to absorb four more goals in 2nd and 3rd periods.
* At 14:37 of the first period, Jagr picked Tyutin's pocket on the forecheck and saucered a pass to a wide open Giroux in the right circle. The Flyers' top scored sniped a tracer of a wrist shot that York had little chance to stop.
* At 19:25 of the first period, Voracek was covering up high at the point when Talbot sent him the puck. Voracek threaded a shot through traffic into the net. The shot may or may not have been deflected by Eric Wellwood, but the rookie wasn't about to take credit for it away from the former Columbus forward.
* Fully aware of their second period problems this season, the Flyers continued to pressure the Blue Jackets in the middle stanza. However, by the middle of the period, the club was able to spread ice time around, even on the power play.
* During a Flyers penalty kill, it was Philadelphia that generated by far the better of the scoring chances. Denied on one shorthanded flurry, the Flyers converted the next time they broke up the ice on an odd man rush. Sean Couturier did the honors, snapping a shot from the right side past Mason to make it a 6-0 game at 7:08 of the second period. Braydon Coburn and Wellwood earned the assists.
* At 15:50, Simmonds was left wide open in front to stuff a shot past Mason for a 7-0 lead. JVR drew the lone helper.
* On the next shift after Simmonds goal, Matt Carle was able to skate in untouched and elevate a backhand shot under the crossbar to give the Flyers as many goals as they scored in the wild game against Winnipeg. JVR and Danny Briere got the assists.
* In the third period, all the Flyers really had to play for was Ilya Bryzgalov's shutout bid and a run at scoring double-digit goals in a game for the first time in 19 years. The motivation really wasn't there, and the Flyers' legs dragged (again, it was the third game in four nights). As a result, the final stanza ended up being tilted in the favor of a Columbus team looking to salvage even a sliver of dignity. The Blue Jackets outshot the Flyers by a 21-6 margin, and Bryzgalov was basically left to stand on his head to prevent his own night from turning ugly on him.
* After a barrage of shots and scoring chances, the Blue Jackets finally got on the scoreboard at 13:13 of the third period. Columbus pushed the puck ahead on a clean faceoff win in the defensive zone. With Flyers forwards Briere, Simmonds and van Riemdsyk making a disinterested, half-speed backchecking effort (and the Wells Fargo Center crowd amusing itself by doing the wave), Rick Nash gained the offense zone and fed Derek Dorsett flashing through the slot. Sporting a bloody nose, Dorsett snapped a shot under the crossbar.
* The Flyers made it a 9-1 game at 16:27. Couturier deflected in a Voracek shot for his second goal of the game and 5th of his rookie season. Harry Zolnierczyk, who drew a secondary helper for his first NHL assist, was open on the doorstep if the tipped shot had not gone in.
* The Blue Jackets closed out the scoring at 17:30 of the third period. A point shot by Grant Clitsome re-directed off Andrej Meszaros into the net. An angry Bryzgalov slammed his stick, which led me to believe at first glance the puck had not deflected and he was mad at himself. Upon replay, however, the deflection was obvious.
************
Kimmo Timonen only played 11:13 last night, and did skate a single shift in the third period. It is believed that the move was discretionary on a night where the Flyers had an insurmountable lead. Timonen has logged heavy duty ice time of late, and has been hobbled by a few blocked shots that stung. He seemed OK after the game.
Last night's game was a rare night in which there was ice time to go around for everyone. Every Flyers player skated at least 15 shifts (Timonen had the fewest) and played 10:54 (Zac Rinaldo) or more.
Scott Hartnell, who took a heavy hit behind the Columbus net, skated 17 shifts. That was tied with Rinaldo for the fewest among Philly forwards. Hartnell was in good spirits after the game, sporting an ice pack strapped to his shoulder. He's fine -- just the normal bumps and bruises that accumulate during the season.
The Flyers have a complete off-day today. They will resume practice tomorrow in Voorhees. The schedule now gets very light for the next week. The lone game the Flyers will play over the next six days is a Wednesday match in Tampa Bay.
Philadelphia will do its annual team bonding trip in Florida later this week. They will spend several days in the Sunshine State, playing the Panthers one week from tonight. The following night, the Flyers wrap up their southern swing in Carolina.
By the way, the Flyers have very few home games remaining over the rest of the 2011 calendar year. There are just three more in November ( Nov 17 against Phoenix, Nov 21 against Carolina, and the annual Black Friday matinee on Nov 25 against Montreal). The team only has three home games the entire month of December.
***********
There were three fights in last night's game; two in the first period, one in the second.
With the Flyers leading 4-0, Wayne Simmonds obliged Derek Dorsett and proceeded to beat the tar out of the pugnacious Columbus forward. Shortly theerafter, Cody Bass and Zac Rinaldo had a scrap in which both players threw a lot of punches, and Bass got in the last few, landing on top of the smaller Rinaldo.
In the middle stanza, James Wisniewski thrashed Harry Zonierczyk in a one-side fight moments after the center ice faceoff following the Carle goal that made it an 8-0 game.
By the way, if Zolnierczyk had not been denied by Mason on a great scoring chance off a second-period rush, he would have finished the night with a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Apart from his assist and fight, he had three shots on goal and was credited with a game-high 8 hits in his 16 shifts and 12:01 of ice time.
********
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information
click here.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»