Flyers beat Sharks 5-3 in season opener

Sharks goals:

• Kevin Lebanc (1); assists: Joe Pavelski, Brenden Dillon
• Kevin Lebanc (2) (Power Play); unassisted
• Logan Couture (1) (Power Play); assist: Joe Thornton, Brent Burns

Flyers Goals

• Claude Giroux (1); assist: Jake Voracek
• Jordan Weal (1) (Power Play); assists: Travis Konecny, Shayne Gostisbehere
• Wayne Simmonds (1) (Power Play); assists: Shayne Gostisbehere, Jake Voracek
• Wayne Simmonds (2) (Power Play); assists: Shayne Gostisbehere, Jake Voracek
• Wayne Simmonds (3) (Empty Net); assist: Sean Couturier

What a way to open the season! There were a lot of things for Flyers fans to get excited about in the season opener; key players stepped up and made big plays,  the power play looked stellar and the Flyers are currently sitting on the top of the Metro Division. (Yeah, yeah it’s early but I’m embracing it.) For the regular season, I’m gonna introduce some new segments and give the five things from the game that contributed to the Flyers win (or loss) in this upcoming season. But right now, I get to address the five things from a Flyers win!

5 Takeaways from Flyers vs Sharks

1.  Flyers Power Play looked absolutely stellar in this game. Going 3-for-3 in their first three opportunties and finishing 3-for-5 for the game. They looked a lot more organized and a lot more aggressive than what we saw in the preseason. Hey, maybe they were just saving all their power play goals for the regular season! The first PP unit looked impressive contributing two of the three goals while the 2nd PP unit scored one as well. A large amount of offense on the Flyers Power Play is good sign for things to come.
2. Brian Elliott’s Flyers Debut was a lot better than I expected. Elliott saw 35 shots on net, saved 32 of them. He made a lot of great saves that would have been some easy goals for the Sharks had he not been able to stop them. There were a lot of shaky moments for Elliott, but he looked confident out there and helped the Flyers to their 1st win of the season.
3.  Wayne Simmonds’ Hat Trick. That’s it. He’s really good.
4. Flyers fourth line of Michael Raffl, Scott Laughton and rookie Taylor Leier looked really impressive on the ice. They didn’t play a lot on the ice, but managed to make an impression whenever they took the ice. There were a lot of great passes between Laughton and Leier and it’s nice that we get to see it at the NHL level this season instead of with the Phantoms in the AHL. The fourth line always seems to be the weakest of the lines with professional hockey teams, but I think with the chemistry already growing with that line in Game 1, this fourth line is gonna give teams a run for their money.
5.  Jake Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere had three-point nights with each having three assists. Ghost almost had a goal which was then credited to Simmonds as his second goal of the game. A lot of people were worried about just how the Flyers star players were going to perform, and if they keep performing the way that they did vs the Sharks, Flyers fans have a lot to be confident about.

Player of the Game

• Wayne Simmonds — I almost picked Claude Giroux until Simmer scored the hat trick to end the game. Simmonds is just adding to his impressive stats last season and making it look easy while Claude Giroux scored his first goal of the season and the Flyers first goal of the season and looked pretty good on the wing. But in the end, a Wayne Train hat trick trumps all.

Flub of the Game

• Sharks third goal off Andrew MacDonald’s skate — That entire play was a mess.

Former Fly-Guys

• Brayden Schenn
  • Current Blues Forward – Goal, Assist, +1, 4 shots on goal, 16:46 TOI in a win vs the Penguins
• Steve Mason
  • Current Jets Goaltender – 5 goals, 20 shots on net, .750 save percentage in a loss vs Maple Leafs

The Flyers continue their four-game road trip to open the season vs the Kings Thursday night at 10pm.