This game featured so many positive moments for the Flyers that I honestly don’t know where to begin.
Perhaps we will start with the two men pictured above. Jakub Voracek finally got the breaks he has been denied all year long, and netted two pretty slick goals, hopefully a sign of bigger and better things to come. The other man, goaltender Steve Mason? Got his first shutout of the season despite being overshadowed by the goal explosion this club produced tonight against the Ottawa Senators. He stopped all 24 shots that came his way, and his only threat was quickly nullified by an obvious high sticked goal from Chris Neil that was promptly overturned. Not to be outdone, Vincent Lecavalier slapped in a goal past helpless Sens goalie Craig Anderson after a brutal turnover right in front of him, Matt Read got the party started with another hustle goal, the Captain Claude Giroux snagged a pair of assists, and Lecavalier almost had a second that was deflected in right in front of Anderson by Brayden Schenn.
As a matter of fact every one of the top three line forwards had a point in some fashion or another, and gives the fans the vibe that this is the team they should have been witnessing so far this season, and not the bad breaks/can’t score squad that was driving the fanbase mad. That was the real factor in this game, not the scoring, not the goaltending, but the consistent effort for the entire game. This has been a club prone to coughing up late leads, not showing up for periods at a time, and more often than not, it was the team allowing the tough scoring breaks get the best of them. Playing not to lose instead of playing to win can have a pretty damaging effect, but the team finally took steps to address the seriousness of these issues in a closer door meeting after an embarrassing shutout loss to the Devils that left the club looking lost and seriously dysfunctional. One wonders if perhaps they should have done this sooner, because the results have been a virtual 180 degree turn from what we’re used to this season. Scoring nine goals in the next two games is a feel good story for a club that was basically stuck in some rut where they realistically were losing games by a score of 2-1 over and over. If you take away the empty net goals from the scores in their losses, this team has surrendered more than three goals three times in seventeen games. With that kind of defense and goaltending, there is no way one would believe this club has all of six wins.
It’s the full game effort though that is the key, and they would have more wins had they not vanished in the Canes game, or allowed the Ducks to get back into the game after holding a solid lead. They had collapses against the Canucks, and allowed the Pens, who happens to be their next opponent, run them ragged during a second period that saw the Flyers out shot 17-5. This game featured none of these prior letdowns, actually not even close to them. They played smartly, in short shifts to keep fresh legs, and the 4th line performed admirably, taking zero penalties making intelligent hits, and creating a little offensive pressure despite Rinaldo, Rosehill and Hall having no points. The Sens were given all of one power play, something unheard of this year, and spent most of the game on their heels. They made their chances but those few opportunities never paid off as the Flyers played swift defense and cut them off before anything ever developed.
I have to say, this game was very impressive to watch, and yes that’s two in a row, but let’s not get too carried away by it, and keep watching to see if the Flyers are really beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. If they are? This could be a dangerous game for the Pens, especially if Voracek is on again, he’s had good numbers against Pittsburgh. If not, then I’d like to see them at least play with that full 60 mentality, and make it the smallest of margins in error the blame for the loss. As long as the Flyers don’t give up on themselves they have a chance, the team has tons of talent, and I’m anxious to see if they’re finally realizing it.
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