Brayden Schenn may have become the bane to Sidney Crosby’s existence, and that for Flyers fans is most certainly a good thing.
The young Flyers hope outscored Sidney 2 goals to 1, basically outlining the score for the game as they were the only contributors to last night’s contest. The Flyers had come into the game riding a minor (yet pretty major for this club right now) 2 game winning streak which most assumed would be snapped as the Penguins look much better on paper. However the Pens seem to be going through some scuffling of their own as Philly did earlier this year, carrying a 2 game losing streak onto their home ice, a place that has come to be known as Wells Fargo West given the Flyers past success at the Consol Energy Center. Something had to give, and it did thankfully in Philly’s favor.
The game featured a little inconsistency on the Flyers part as they started off kind of sluggish, but flipped the roles in the second period outshooting the Pens. The third was where the drama resided as the Pens began to apply pressure on the Flyers, trying to even the score while Schenn and Co. clung to their one goal lead. Ray Emery stopped a few scary shots, and the Pens helped him out as well in the late goings as they missed on a couple of wide open scoring chances and whiffed. It was all in all a pretty quiet game featuring perhaps the most bitter rivalry in the NHL, with none of the chicanery that usually occurs. There were a decent amount of penalties, yet nothing that created any sort of animosity that can be found in a game involving these two teams. Crosby rattled off a goal to expand on the ridiculous fortune he has against the Flyers, but they did an excellent job of containing him throughout.
This game was all about the team getting a win when it needed it, and this makes two wins in a row now against Stanley Cup contenders, creating a sense of posivitiy surrounding the possibility of the Flyers climbing back up towards the top and into playoff contention. The line of Schenn, Lecavalier and Simmonds seems to have gelled pretty nicely, as the most pressure applied to the Pens and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury happened when this trio were on the ice. It’s a balanced line with all the right elements, and I’m hoping Coach Berube doesn’t tinker with it. Sometimes you just have to let the hot hand roll, and letting these lines develop some chemistry before abandoning the experiment is starting to pay off. Coach Laviolette had major issues with line changes, and it felt that sometimes the team’s opportunities shrank because of it.
The team will now travel to former goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov’s least favorite place in the world, Winnipeg, for a game on Friday evening. Could they drive this streak to four?
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