SB Nation - Brian Boucher

Flyers Embarrased Again, This Time in Pittsburgh

Geoff Detweiler — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:41:21 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

FACEPALM! (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

[Box Score] - [Complete Coverage] - [PIT Reaction]

November 16-18. That is the last time the Flyers won back-to-back games. A win over New Jersey, followed by a win in Los Angeles. The team has played fourteen games since then, going 3-11-0. Six points out of a possible 28. That's a point percentage of .214.

Who's still holding out hope that this team is a serious Cup contender? If it was worth it, I'd rattle off a ton of stats about how poorly the team has been playing, but that's an exercise in futility. The team can't score. They can't defend. They can't convert on the power play. They can't stay out of the box. They can't do a lot of things.

The final score doesn't even matter. Brian Boucher let in 6 goals - the last one weak - but he again deserved better. Three goals were scored on blasts from the face-off dot or below during a rush. Unacceptable. A few were rebounds - Guerin's first could be considered a weak goal, but I didn't see an angle showing where the puck was - where the Flyers blew the coverage.

Nothing else matters. The team lost. Again. So, we'll just cut to it.

After the jump, assorted thoughts, Comment of the Night, and Questions with Answers. I'll spare you the "highlights" since a) I'm against torture; and b) the audio is just as bad as the video.

There was a great discussion in the game thread on how much we all hate Pittsburgh sports fans. It was more enjoyable than the game. The start. (There was a very fractured discussion on the same subject here as well.)
Communication and awareness in the defensive zone are clearly lacking. There was a miscommunication between Coburn, Richards, and Carter which made all three look pretty bad, and then Pronger got caught staring at the puck while the goal scorer skated right past him to an open net. Both were atrocious.
Fresh off his suspension, Dan Carcillo was probably the best Flyer on the ice tonight. One goal, one (rightfully) overturned goal, and a decisive win over Craig Adams. Oh, and an amazing celebration back when we almost thought that maybe the Flyers might have a chance.
As pointed out by MarioD, Cote played a mere 0:31 tonight. And believe it or not, that was TWO shifts. His first was cut short by a fight after six seconds.
Six out of 7 Flyers finished the night 50% or better in the faceoff circle. Only Danny Briere failed to do so, and he only took one draw. Richards, Giroux, and Pyorala were all over 60% on the night, going a combined 65% in the dot.
Only two Flyers did not finish the night a minus. Obviously, you can guess one of them is Riley Cote. The other? Ryan Parent. 18:23 of ice time, not one goal scored while he was on the ice. Not even a PP goal.

Questions with Answers:

Is there any carry over from the Scott Hartnell biting/Kris Letang whining incident that happened when these two teams met back in October? A little. Some pushing and shoving, some boos from the crowd, but nothing major.
Can the Flyers keep the intensity up from last night in Boston? No.
Is Braydon Coburn still injured, and are the Flyers rushing him back so Danny Syvret doesn't see the ice? Conspiracy theorists would say yes. Hell, even I say yes.
Power play... yay or nay? Nay.
The Pens PP has been struggling, but they've revamped it. How's the Flyers PK respond? By laying down.

Comment of the Night:

The flyers are like the titanic... They look good until they hit the ice.

EREX21

Now, I'm sure I left a lot out. But really, "it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care."

Building Blocks: Flyers earn solid victory in Boston

Travis Hughes — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:57:23 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

Look at that face.

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[TSN Recap] - [Boxscore] - [Boston Reaction]

The Boston Bruins hadn't lost a game all season after scoring the first goal, the best mark in the NHL. The Philadelphia Flyers had a 2-11 record when allowing the first goal of the hockey game, the worst mark in the NHL. So you can imagine how fans of the orange and black felt when Vladimir Sobotka scored a lucky, ugly goal in the latter stages of the second period to break a scoreless dead lock.

Same old story, right? It didn't matter that the Flyers had worked hard all game, or that the offensive pressure was there, or that the defense had been quite solid throughout, or that Brian Boucher continued to play like it was Game 7 of the Finals. Nope, bad luck would bite them this time, and a cheap goal would lead this ill-fated team toward yet another loss.

That's what overreacting sounds like when, in the end, the opposite actually happens.

The Flyers didn't give up. When the third period started, they continued to apply the pressure, not giving up. Hard work by Claude Giroux forced a power play, which they were unable to capitalize on, but you could feel it coming. Boston couldn't get out of their end except for a few futile little rushes the other way, which were quickly stomped out by the Flyers defense. With Philly again pressing in the Bruins end, Arron Asham was able to feed James van Riemsdyk in the slot, where he poked the tying goal through the pads of Tim Thomas.

The Flyers didn't stop there, though, continuing to control the pace for the next eight minutes, until a drive from Kimmo Timonen at the point deflected off a Bruin and found its way behind the net. And just like that, Philadelphia had a third period lead. Hard work rewarded.

Scott Hartnell would take a dumb penalty in the waning minutes, but on the ensuing kill, Kimmo Timonen lifted a shot from the far corner all the way down the ice into an empty net to seal the victory. It doesn't get any easier tomorrow in Pittsburgh, but this was an excellent victory tonight. Baby steps. Building blocks.

After the jump, a few more thoughts on this solid Flyers victory, questions with answers, highlights & pressers, and the comment of the night.

Some assorted thoughts...

Ole-Kristian Tollefsen left the game after the first period with a knee injury. He's reportedly going to be out two to three weeks, and Danny Syvret is on his way to Pittsburgh to meet the team. He'll play tomorrow night.
Boston fans are livid about a few questionable calls in this one, proving that everybody -- not just a select few Flyers fans -- believes the NHL is out to get them. Here's a quote from the game thread at Stanley Cup of Chowder...

Stuff like that makes me wonder. With the Classic coming up and Philadelphia clearly not being up to snuff as a team, it’s a little convenient that a game would be called this bad, with much of it in their favor, in the last matchup before the big one.

...you can snuff out the absurdity there, I'm sure. The commenter is referring to a non-goal call in the first period. The Bruins crashed the net and the puck wound up in it. There was no review, justified by the officials because Boucher never had a chance to make a plau. Jack Edwards probably had a heart attack on NESN, and if we can get a clip of that, we'll pass it along.
The Flyers peppered the Bruins with 38 shots, a nice little picture of how much offensive pressure they created. Not all of them were quality, but still.
The power play still looks terrible, though. They're not generating any movement, not getting creative with passes, and opting to take only low-percentage shots through traffic. It has to change.
There was a reported brawl during the Mites on Ice game in the first intermission at TD Garden. And they say we like fighting in Philly. If we get video, we'll be sure to pass it along as well. If you have video, please shoot us an email ASAP, because this has to be hilarious.
JVR broke a 12-game goal-less drought.
Giroux and Hartnell showed a ton of chemistry, and Carcillo looked really strong on the top line. In fact, the entire team put in an excellent effort tonight. They truly earned this one.
Hartnell did take a ton of penalties, though, and you can be sure Peter Laviolette will make him pay in practice.

Questions With Answers

Tim Thomas hasn't won a game since the 2nd and hasn't been great this season. Can the Flyers take advantage? Thomas didn't look particularly weak tonight.
Claude Giroux has scored the Flyers' last three goals. CAN SOMEONE ELSE SCORE, PLEASE? Giroux played fantastic hockey again, but yes! JVR and Timonen had Flyer goals.
Can the Flyers get the first goal and gain some momentum early? No, but they certainly stole the momentum out of the gate in the third and rode it to victory.
Power play. Goals? Nah, don't ask too much, now...
How's Tollefsen look now that he's back in the lineup? Poor guy. Another injury. It's almost funny, in a sick sort of way.
Does Carcillo noticeably hold back at all, fresh off his four game suspension? He didn't take any dumb penalties and even drew one or two, but from an aggressiveness standpoint, he didn't seem to hold back. He put together a nice little game.

Comment of the Night

Everyone remember what clothes they have on RIGHT NOW so you can wear them again tomorrow…

>> NoalB

Highlights

Laviolette Press Conference

Boucher, JVR, & Timonen Post Game

Bruins fall to Flyers 3-1

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:32:49 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

1 day ago: Philadelphia Flyers right wing Ian Laperriere, rear, raises his arms as he celebrates a goal by teammate Kimmo Timonen in the third period of their NHL hockey game in Boston, Monday, Dec. 14, 2009. In foreground are Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, left, and defenseman Andrew Ference. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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The Bruins lost 3-1 on Monday night in a physical game against the Philadelphia Flyers that featured plenty of controversial calls (and non-calls).

The Bruins appeared to jump out to an early lead just over 2 minutes into the game when Vladimir Sobotka put the puck past Brain Boucher at the right post, but the goal was quickly waved off by the on-ice officials due to the net being off its moorings. The replay showed that the puck crossed the goalline before the whistle blew, but the call on the ice stood. According NESN color analyst Andy Brickley, who spoke with the league's review office in Toronto between periods, the play was not reviewable and the goal was waved off because Boucher did not have an opportunity to make a save since one of his players was pushed into him. Whatever the reason, the score remained 0-0.

Sobotka was able to find the back of the net for real when he set up at the top of the crease and deflected Shawn Thornton's shot past Brian Boucher for the game's first goal with 1:28 left in the second period.

UNH product James van Riemsdyk tied it up at 1-1 2:48 into the third period when he re-directed an Aaron Asham shot for his 7th goal of the season.

The Flyers broke the tie with 9:32 left in the third period on Kimo Timonen's shot from the blue line directly in front of Tim Thomas' net. The puck appeared to graze off of Blake Wheeler's glove and change direction enough to get past Thomas for the 2-1 Philadelphia lead.

The Bruins had an opportunity to tie the game up when Scott Hartnell took an ill-timed high-sticking penalty late in the third period. However, Kimo Timonen ended the Bruins hopes of winning and sealed the victory for the Flyers with an empty net goal with 40.3 seconds remaining in the game. Timomen cleared the puck the length of the ice from just in front of his own goal line all the way into the back of the Bruins net almost 200 feet away.

Final - 12.14.2009	1	2	3	Total
Philadelphia Flyers	0	0	3	3
Boston Bruins	0	1	0	1

Complete Coverage >

Notes:

- Dennis Wideman left the game with an undisclosed injury and did not return.

- I don't often complain about the officiating, but Chris Rooney and Rob Martell did not call a good game tonight: the early wash-out of Sobotka's goal, Chara getting tripped in the third, Briere being able to hold Krejci's stick and skate the length of the ice, etc, etc.

- Apparently, the "3 Minutes of Fame" youth hockey game during the first intermission got a little physical:

"Some heavy hitting during first intermission between the two youth hockey teams on the ice. More punches thrown during intermission than in the first period."

- Fluto Shinzawa, Boston.com

This prompted the following text exchange between Timmy and me:

Me: was there a fight during the youth hockey game during intermission

Timmy: yea it was f__ing awesome

Me: i wish i had video

Stanley Cup of Chowder, SB Nation, and it's sponsors do not advocate violence among children blah blah blah, but if you do have video of this please shoot me an email stanleycupofchowder@gmail.com

- The next time the Bruins and Flyers will meet is on January 1st at Fenway Park for the NHL Winter Classic.

- Daniel Carcillo returned to the lineup for the Flyers after serving his suspension for his actions during a fight with Washington's Matt Bradley. Carcillo's showed his presence throughout this game and recorded 8 hits.

- The Bruins were out-shoted 38-27.

- The Bruins did win 59% of the face-offs tonight, but as Bill Belichick would say "stats are for losers".

- I hope the Bruins goalies don't wear winter hats over their masks during the Winter Classic like they did in warm-ups tonight. That is a straight up goofy look.

- Bruins are off until Friday when they travel to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks.

- For more on tonight's game from a Flyers' fan perspective check out Broad Street Hockey

Bruins host Flyers in Winter Classic preview

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:04:09 -0000

More photos » by Michael Perez - AP

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The Philadelphia Flyers are in town tonight to take on the Bruins in what will be a preview of the 2010 NHL Winter Classic. The Bruins are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday. While the Flyers are looking to get their act together after losing 10 of their last 12 contests, a slump that partially lead to the firing of head coach John Stevens and the hiring of former Boston Bruins assistant and Providence Bruins head coach Peter Laviolette.

Know Your Enemy

Philadelphia Flyers (14-15-1; 29 points; 5th in Atlantic Division, 13th in East)

Head Coach: Peter Laviolette (1-4-0 since taking the Flyers job)

SB Nation's Flyers Blog: Broad Street Hockey

Leading Scorer:

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Mike Richards	13	12	25	5	40

Probable Starting Goaltenders:

Tim Thomas

#30 / Goalie / Boston Bruins

Height: 5-11

Weight: 201

Born: Apr 15, 1974

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Tim Thomas	18	1077	7	7		45	2.51	507	462	.911	3

Brian Boucher

#33 / Goalie / Philadelphia Flyers

Height: 6-2

Weight: 200

Born: Jan 02, 1977

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Brian Boucher	11	592	3	7		25	2.53	259	234	.903	0

Injury Report

Boston Bruins Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Milan Lucic	ankle	11/26/2009

Philadelphia Flyers Injuries

Probable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Dan Carcillo	other-excused	12/14/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Blair Betts	shoulder	11/22/2009
Darroll Powe	shoulder	11/21/2009
Simon Gagne	abdomen	10/27/2009
Ray Emery	abdomen	12/06/2009
Braydon Coburn	ankle	12/12/2009

Notes:

- Tim Thomas was the first goalie off the ice for the Bruins at the morning skate.

- Rhode Island native Brain Boucher will likely get the start in goal for the Flyers as Ray Emery is on the shelf after having abdominal surgery. The Flyers have called up Johan Backlund from the Adirondack Phantoms. The Flyers have also signed former Bruins goalie John Grahame to an AHL tryout contract to help solve the organization's goaltending woes.

- Members of the Bruins and Flyers got a special tour of Fenway Park yesterday and met with NHL ice guru Dan Craig (video below).

- The Bruins are 2-3-4 against the Atlantic Division this season

- The Flyers have been whistled for the most penalty minutes per game of any team in the NHL (17.8 minutes per game).

- These two teams last met on October 22nd with the Flyers beating the Bruins 4-3 in a shootout.

- Injured Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn will be replaced in the lineup by Ole-Kristian Tollefsen.

- The Bruins are giving away Winter Classic fleece helmet hats to the first 10,000 fans tonight. (H/T to Hub Hockey for the link)

- For more on tonight's game from a Flyers fan perspective, check out Broad Street Hockey

- Game starts at 7:00 and can be seen on NESN and heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Public Skate open thread starts a half hour before puck drop at 6:30.

Today's Obligatory Embarrassing Flyers Fan YouTube Video

That's a classic right there. I like how the idiot that jumped in to the penalty box wasn't even the guy that got squirted with the water.

Flyers may recruit goaltender John Grahame...from a rec league

FrankD — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:32:37 -0000

More photos » by Ross Franklin - AP

With Ray Emery injured, the Flyers may be focusing on some creative outlets to get them through the goaltender's down time.

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This is a story I caught wind of last night on SBNation.com and just had to share.

As Pens fans have experienced first hand this season, injuries can really bring some unexpected occurrences to a team's roster. What started as a seven-man defensive corp comprised of NHL-caliber blue liners quickly turned into a display of Pittsburgh minor league talent that may ultimately stand as a preview of next year's pairings. However, through thick and thin, the Pens were able to rely on a healthy farm team to get them through.

Now Philadelphia is starting to experience a similar bout with injuries. Just last week Ray Emery hit the IR for roughly four weeks with an abdominal tear. This left Philly with a dilemma: Do they promote the inexperienced, unchallenged Johan Backlund from the AHL, or do they look elsewhere for a fill-in behind the temporary starter Brian Boucher.

Take the jump. This is where it gets fun.

According to SBNation.com:

...the Flyers may be looking to settle on John Grahame, who has played a total of 224 NHL games and was a part of the 2004 Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. For the last few years though, Grahame has been out of the league, playing half a season over in the KHL and most recently, in his local men's league.

Over his career, Grahame has accumulated stops in Boston, Tampa Bay and Carolina (under Flyers new head coach Peter Laviolette) before shipping off to the KHL's Avangard Omsk in 2008. His tenure in Russia didn't last long, as his contract was canceled by December 2008 for reasons that have been rumored to include a drinking problem. As of this past Saturday, Grahame is on a tryout contract with the Adirondack Phantoms, Philly's AHL affiliate. Before that signing he was playing for a men's rec league.

As the Philly.com article points out, despite a few stops in the NHL and an otherwise erratic career up to this point, Grahame does have his name etched on the 2004 Stanley Cup from when he was a member of the Lightning and Nikolai Khabibulin's backup. That's already a bigger claim than most of the Flyers can make.

Injuries can and will decimate teams from time to time. Combine injuries with the sort of situation that the Flyers face and you'll start to uncover some rather interesting scenarios such as this one.

Whether or not the Flyers sign Grahame isn't so much the focus of this piece as it is the fact that he's even being considered. And even if he doesn't make the team, you have to at least admire the entertainment value of this story.

Patrik Elias Scored 300th & 301st Career Goals in New Jersey Devils' Win over Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1

John Fischer — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:06:17 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

It may look small in this picture, but Patrik Elias and Devils fans have every reason to smile as Elias' 300th career goal helped the Devils decisively beat the Philadelphia Flyers. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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The New Jersey Devils defeated their Second Most Hated Rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, for the first time this season 4-1 at the Rock tonight. The NHL.com recap is already up with all the stats that you'd like to see. Check out Broad Street Hockey for the Flyers' take, which contains a lot of frustration and or disappointment about the Flyers' performance.

The game changed from period to period. The first period was simply fantastic hockey by the Devils. They straight up dominated the Flyers in every aspect of the game, converted two power play goals, Patrik Elias tacked on a third which was his 300th career goal, and nearly put four past Brian Boucher. A part of me hopes that the Devils coaching staff has a tape of that first period so they can show the Devils exactly what they are capable of - and use it to prevent periods like, say, the second one in tonight's game.

The second was the exact opposite, it was almost as if the teams switched mentalities. The Flyers decided to show up for this one and the Devils decided to take it easy. I really have no answers as to why, but it happened. The Devils were pinned back, the Flyers had more possession and more shots, and Martin Brodeur had to come up huge in a few situations. Of course, he was not perfect. Claude Giroux scored on a bad-angle shot on a power play and gave the Flyers a lifeline. Thankfully for New Jersey, that lifeline was yanked out of it's cord when Patrik Elias put home a fantastic pass by Brian Rolston on a 2-on-1 in the final minute of the period.

The Flyers were surely deflated during the third period. While the Devils didn't look as good in the first, they kept the Flyers honest in their own end, they tried some good attempts on Boucher, and as time went on you can tell that the game was essentially over. The Flyers kept mishandling the puck and conceding possession, whereas the Devils slowed their pace a little bit. Not a bad effort, something I wouldn't have minded seeing from the Devils in the second period.

Read on after the jump for further thoughts on the game.

First, some highlights from NHL.com:

The two top players on the ice were the goal scorers themselves, Nicklas Bergfors and Patrik Elias. Both got braces, both got 4 shots on net, and both somehow racked up a few official giveaways according to the Event Summary of the game. Hmm. In any case, both players looked real strong going forward. Bergfors was constantly going to the net and you saw in the video, thankfully he did just that. His first goal was simply impressive, leading the breakout through the neutral zone and just got through Braydon Coburn and then got it through Boucher's legs. Great stuff on the power play.

But Patrik Elias was just all over the place. Strong in his own end, he was pretty good with his passing all night long, and his goals were fantastic. His first one was a one-timer you'd expect from a pure sniper, a classic highlight-reel worthy goal fitting for a milestone like a 300th career goal. Credit Vladimir Zharkov for his fine work along the boards to protect the puck and get it to Elias. But the second period goal from Elias was far more important. Not just because he is now only 46 goals away from tying John MacLean's franchise record.

The Devils were truly bad in that second period, and again, I don't know why. Maybe they were tired? Maybe they were surprised the Flyers would come out with energy (I hope this isn't the answer)? Maybe they couldn't sustain the level of intensity for two straight periods unless Philly fell flat on it's butt? Whatever you and I may think it is, the fact is that the Flyers got the better of the Devils and pulled within one goal. Martin Brodeur really should have had Claude Giroux's shot. (Aside: I didn't think that was honestly a holding penalty on Jamie Langenbrunner to begin with as a Flyer hugged Langenbrunner's stick for a good 5 feet, but what do I know.) He said as such to Tom Gulitti after the game - not because it killed a shutout, but because he did get a piece of it. However, I think he more than made up for it when he had to make some dynamite saves on the Flyers. 12 shots by Philly, they kept pushing forward, leaving the Devils back, and even on the one power play the Devils did get, the Flyers went up and had a good scoring chance. The Devils only put 5 shots on net, yet the last one was crucial.

Elias' goal at the end sent the message, "We sucked this period, but you know what, you're not winning this game." Most, if not all, of the momentum the Flyers built up in that period, the things they could have built on for the second, was wiped away with 34 seconds left in the second period. The Devils regained their three goal lead in spite of how they played. The Flyers looked deflated as the period ended. As one of the lovely and classy Flyer fans behind me said, "I'm just glad they got a goal, forget the win." And so that fan just must be thrilled as the Flyers just settled for that. Elias goal didn't just restore a lead, it rattled the Flyers' focus. They should have spent the intermission trying to forget about the goal and focus on how they did in those other 19 minutes. But they didn't.

And instead of just trying to look past that goal, they got dumber on the ice. They took two unnecessary calls that they should be happy Brian Boucher and some execution issues prevented the Devils from making the Flyers pay the price. Even so, it meant 4 minutes where the Flyers had to focus mainly on their own end. Outside of that, the Flyers conceded possession easily in the neutral zone, which just hurt their attack. Their passes were poor and the Devils just kept dogging them when they could.

On offense, they didn't make decisions quick enough or correctly enough to make Brodeur really sweat in even strength. Their best scoring chance came while killing a penalty when Brodeur stacked the pads on Jeff Carter. Nice save, but why is Brodeur having to make nice saves on a power play, Devils PP Units? Nevertheless, that was the biggest threat by Philly. The Flyers stopped battling somewhere after the third minute of the third period and the Devils were unfortunate to not make this a bigger score. The Devils were happy to take control of all of these loose pucks - especially Andy Greene, who cleaned up a lot of pucks in his 27:19 of ice time, and that pretty much meant the end.

Admittedly, the Devils weren't as aggressive as they were in the first period, but they did go forward and put a few shots on Boucher. I don't think the Devils stopped trying, but you could tell they didn't have to try as hard given how Philly was playing. Not trying to step up their intensity was a big mistake and really dumb. Why not try to at least make it a game again against a rival? Why give up? I don't know and I'm sure the Flyer fans are asking similar questions as well.

Outside of this, I do want to point out that Martin Brodeur had a very good game from what I saw. Some of those shots by the Flyers were truly dangerous shots. After all, there is a reason why he has more highlight saves than Boucher per the highlight video earlier in this recap. He came up huge on a couple of shorthanded attempts by the Flyers, which were also important as giving up a shortie is a great way to let an opponent back into a game. According to Jacques Lemaire, as reported by Gulitti, that save on Carter in the second period was massive. Honestly, his only real error was the Giroux goal but ultimately that didn't matter thanks to Elias' important second period goal. Could you fault the defense on some of those chances? For some, like the shorthanded chances, seriously those were breakdowns, yes. However, could you really complain about the defense overall as they held the Flyers to 23 shots? Probably not, unless you have high expectations.

So my real complaints about the Devils' performance was their second period and that the power play gave up a few scoring chances while not really frightening the Flyers on those last few man advantages. Yet, the Devils settled things down in the third period - something I would have liked to have seen in the second, admittedly. The power play did convert twice thanks to Bergfors and those two third period power plays went a long way in killing the Flyers' spirit (they did so little after them), so I can't gripe too much about the power play units.

There were some areas I would have liked to have seen the Devils perform better upon further reflection. Had the Devils not take their foot off the proverbial pedal, they could have had 30+ shots instead of just 28. That would have really forced the Flyers back more, and who knows, blow up the score. The one thing Flyers fans can say they dominated the Devils at tonight was at the faceoff dot, as the Devils only won 37% of faceoffs. Though that ultimately didn't mean much. For example, Rob Niedermayer, who played a ton of minutes (22:57), got owned the most as he won only 6 out of 21. Then he usually followed that up by forcing a Flyer to make a hasty decision wherein a Devil picked up a stray puck. So faceoffs were not as crucial tonight.

I'd say the Devils played 40 minutes out of this one. A great 20 followed by a poor 20 and finished with an acceptable 20. Were it not for some unlucky bounces or Brian Boucher coming up big - Brian Rolston nearly had a goal like Elias' second, but Boucher made a fantastic sliding save - this could have easily ended as a big blowout in favor of New Jersey. Instead, I and the Devils fans left the Rock very happy that the Flyers lost in a decisive fashion. The Devils got some revenge for the last two Devils-Flyers games, which were wins where the Flyers outplayed the Devils. The performance by the home team was improved upon some of the recent ones at the Rock, so there's that. The passing was much improved over the dreck that was seen against Florida. The Devils kept cool in light of Philadelphia's lack of discipline save for Colin White shoving Daniel Briere down after a whistle. Bergfors and Elias had huge nights as the difference makers tonight with braces; and Elias hit a career milestone. And, well, the Devils just beat the Flyers, 4-1. Plenty to be happy about, in my view. Now the Devils can rest for three days and try to improve upon their second period performances against Montreal on Wednesday.

Thanks for reading, and a big thanks to Steve for setting up the GameThread as well as a big thanks to the commenters on it as my mobile messaging was lacking tonight. The crowd was good and largely pro-Devils and I enjoyed the company around me despite the class acts whining about the Flyers behind me. (Aside #1: Oh well, they all got a good view of my New Jersey Devils scarf after the goals. Aside #2: Pro-tip for the Flyers fans, bragging about the team value of the Flyers being better than the Devils means little as Elias scores a one-timer.) Combine that with few breaks in the action and so there wasn't much time to text. All the same, the result is what matters and the Devils got it. As usual, please leave your thoughts on tonight's game in the comments.

Fun Facts From the Flyers Media Guide

Travis Hughes — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:00:18 -0000

The Flyers media guide never seems to disappoint when it comes to interesting or funny facts.

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As every pro and college sports team does, the Philadelphia Flyers put out a media guide each season. In addition to all those interesting stats TV broadcasters hand out, the book includes profiles of every player on the roster, every member of the organization, and other fun little tidbits. I took a chance to page through the guide recently, and I share some of the best facts with you below.

The bar at the AT&T Pavilion in the Wachovia Center is the largest in-arena bar in the world.
Assistant GM Barry Hanrahan has a labradoodle named Meatball.
VP of Sales Jim Willits might be the reason the Phoenix Coyotes fail in the desert. In his first four years as director of ticket sales for the Coyotes, the arena filled to 94 percent capacity. Since he left in 2002, that number has substantially dropped.
On February 6, 1997 against Montreal, the Legion of Doom -- John LeClair, Eric Lindros, and Mikael Renberg -- scored 16 points in a game, the most by a line in one game in franchise history. 20 days later in Ottawa, they repeated the feat.
The names of Arron Asham's kids: Dexter, Azilyn, and Oceane.
If Matt Carle could have dinner with anybody, he would choose to dine with Santa Claus.
Ed Snider has 14 grandchildren.
Fred Shero holds the highest win percentage of any coach in team history, with a .642 mark. Terry Murray holds the best playoff win percentage for a coach at .609.
Brian Boucher loves Spongebob and wont eat sushi.
The Flyers went undefeated against the Penguins at home in 42 consecutive games from February 7, 1974 to December 8, 1988.
Darroll Powe would like Norm MacDonald to play him in a movie about his life.
You know how you know Ian Laperriere is gay? He listens to Coldplay before games. Linked video NSFW.
Chris Pronger's first car, a 1983 Ford Ranger, was held together by rust.
Mike Richards dreams of being on stage at an Eminem concert.
Los Angeles couldn't beat the Flyers from October 22, 1974 until February 5, 1983 -- 32 games.
Among goalies with at least 1,000 minutes played, Roman Cechmanek holds the best GAA mark -- 1.96. At the opposite end of the spectrum (no pun intended), Bobby Taylor had a GAA of 4.05 in 44 games.
Ray Emery is allergic to cheese.

More after the jump...

The most points the Flyers have compiled against one team? 299 against Pittsburgh all-time, an 132-76-30-5 all-time record.
Simon Gagne's favorite numbers are 4 8 15 16 23 42.
Philadelphia has only played Columbus eight times. Ever. 4-1-3-0 in those games.
Craig Berube has a son named Nashota.
The orange and black scored two goals in seven seconds in the first period against St. Louis on December 27, 1988. They scored three goals in 35 seconds in the eighth minute of the second period against Boston on March 1, 1979. They scored four goals in one minute, 22 seconds against Pittsburgh in the third period on October 11, 1981.
Kimmo Timonen has a thing for Robert DeNiro. He'd like to have dinner with him and he'd also select him to play him in a movie about his life.
The Flyers have never allowed a goal on a penalty shot in the playoffs, despite four chances by opponents.
Ian Laperriere, movie star. He played Montreal Canadiens great "Boom Boom" Geoffrion in Maurice Richard, a movie about another Habs legend.
Despite winning the Stanley Cup in 1974/75, the Flyers scored just 61 goals at home that season, the low mark in team history.
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen is listed as "single" but he also "got married over the summer to his wife, Guro."
In his one game as a Flyer goaltender, Martin Houle had a GAA of 30.00. He allowed one goal in two minutes of ice time.
The Flyers are 29-4-3-1 all time against Atlanta.
Scott Hartnell's favorite cartoon character is Darkwing Duck.
Prior to this season, the Flyers had sold out 1,054 of their 1,621 home games.
Raw onions don't get along with Braydon Coburn.
The Flyers have a winning record against every team in the NHL, with the exception of the Boston Bruins, who they are 59-80-21-5 against all-time.
Danny Briere's first car was an Izuzu Impulse.

Senators bring down Flyers 2-0 as Foligno finally arrives

PeterR — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:30:11 -0000

More photos » by H. Rumph Jr - AP

5 days ago: Ottawa Senators' Nick Foligno, left, sets up for a score against Philadelphia Flyers' Brian Boucher in the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr)

Browse more photos »

Some people might say that the Ottawa Senators 2-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers was a boring, painful game to watch, but I enjoy a good defensive battle every once in a while--especially when teams are still exchanging scoring chances, just not scoring them. The teams went back and forth most of the game, seemingly alternating in shots, scoring chances, and penalties, but not scoring until Nick Foligno drove hard on Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher and potted his own rebound. Jesse Winchester scored an empty-net goal to cap off the scoring, as Brian Elliott earned his first shutout of the season.

Sens heroes: Brian Elliott, Nick Foligno, PK unit
You've got to hand it to Elliott, he had a strong game tonight--as opposed to some of his recent outings. He stopped all 23 he faced, came up big on Philly's six powerplays, and stopped a big breakaway in the second period. Philly had more scoring chances than Ottawa on the night, but Elliott was there to stop them all.

Foligno, meanwhile, may have had his best game of the season. The game-winning goal goes a long way--especially when it's on a solo effort as it was tonight, where Foligno took a shot, drove to the net, and put his own rebound in the net--but he also had a game-high six shots on net, and was on. Aside from his goal, he also made Chris Pronger look silly in the second, getting around him and just about opening the scoring at that point. It was the kind of game Foligno has been and will be counted on to provide, and maybe the historically streaky scorer will get himself going with tonight's effort.

Finally, the PK unit was very strong, putting the boot to all seven Flyers powerplays. Chris Phillips (7:17) and Anton Volchenkov (6:58), as expected, led the way in short-handed TOI, but forwards Daniel Alfredsson (4:55), Chris Kelly (4:57), and Jesse Winchester (4:13) pulled their own weight, too. Volchenkov had blocked three shots on the PK, and Phillips blocked two. Winchester's empty-net goal was technically short-handed (a 6-on-4, as a matter of fact), a result of a a good defensive play and a solid read.

Sens zeroes: Peter Regin
Seriously, where'd this guy go? You could give him a break because he's a rookie, but he played 11 games last season and started this season well--he was outstanding in the pre-season. These days, though, he's regularly the least-utilized player (5:17 TOI tonight, including only 45 seconds in the third), and for good reason; he's not doing anything. At this rate, he's the first candidate for a benching when Chris Neil returns.

Sens killers: Ottawa powerplay
The powerplay was just awful again tonight. Last game, against the Canadiens, you could say it was a result of playing against a hot goaltender, but against the Flyers the Senators were 0-for-6 and had only two shots on the powerplay. Two shots, in 10:11 of time with the man advantage. Ottawa's now goalless in their last 13 powerplay opportunities, over three games.

By the numbers: Ottawa missed 4 shots and had 17 blocked; Philadelphia missed 14 and had 25 blocked
Although Ottawa outshot Philly 25-23 on the night, when you factor in missed or blocked shots, Philadelphia put the puck to the net 62 times, while Ottawa only did so 46 times. You can take it one of two ways: Ottawa didn't put the puck towards the net often enough, or that Philadelphia couldn't hit the net effectively enough.

Shooting from the hip: Sens' shot map
You may remember my illustration of Ottawa's unwillingness to get into the slot and shoot from last game against the Canadiens; tonight, different story. Below is the shot map from Thursday's game, again from CBSSports.com:

You can see a distinct difference from last game, and that's based on where Ottawa's shots were taken from on the ice. There are still plenty of shots taken from the side (especially the left side, for some reason), but there are a bunch of shots taken from the slot, too. The leader in shots from right in front of the net? None other than Foligno, who took just about all of the shots you see at the top of the crease--including that goal he scored.

Take the good with the bad: Chris Campoli
There's no doubt that Campoli's under the knife when it Alex Picard returns from his injury, but he had a pretty strong game once again tonight. He drove hard to the net early in the game, bowling over Boucher and getting the Senators' started on their crease-drive, and he assisted on Foligno's game-winning goal. Then again, he took a couple senseless hooking penalties and had his shot blocked to give Scott Hartnell an easy breakaway, so he's still got things to improve in his game.

Back on track: Anton Volchenkov's hit parade
The A-Train took a couple of games to get his timing back after returning from injury, but it was right on time tonight. He had a game-high four hits, including a big one on Mike Richards,

Commercial of the night: Bonjour, madame!
Just plain terrible.

Another game, Another shutout: Flyers lose 2-0

Travis Hughes — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:31:30 -0000

[TSN Recap] - [Boxscore] - [Ottawa Reaction]

Final - 12.10.2009	1	2	3	Total
Ottawa Senators	0	0	2	2
Philadelphia Flyers	0	0	0	0

Complete Coverage >

Six games, three shutouts. Watch America's Most Wanted this weekend and maybe we can find out who kidnapped the Philadelphia Flyers offense. With the exception of one game against the New York Islanders, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Scott Hartnell, Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk, and Danny Briere have been invisible over the last month.

I don't know what to think and I don't have answers, but this team just can't score. They have absolutely zero confidence. Maybe a trade is necessary to shake up the offense. Maybe they just need Simon Gagne, Blair Betts, and Darroll Powe back in the lineup. Maybe we overrated them and they're just bad. I simply don't know. With the amount of games coming up in the next few weeks -- really, up until the Olympic break -- they can't afford to continually give up points like this. It's frustrating, not to mention depressing.

They outworked the Senators tonight. They had more chances and they had an almost full length five-on-three power play. Their goalie performed like the starter he was in 2000. And yet, empty net goals not withstanding, they still lost a 1-0 defensive struggle.

Credit is due to the Senators. Brian Elliott played quite well. They did a great job of clogging the middle of the ice with bodies, not allowing the Flyers to do much on the power play. Still, Ottawa is not really a good hockey team. They've played over their heads thus far this season. They're relying on a goaltender right now who has only played 47 NHL games.

You've gotta win these games. The Flyers keep on proving that they're incapable of that.

After the jump, a few more notes on this one, lowlights, questions with answers, and the comment of the night.

Some assorted thoughts...

If I were Brian Boucher, I'd be furious. He's playing excellent hockey in the absence of Ray Emery, but he can't get a win because his team can't put the puck in the other net. At the same time, it's a reassuring sign that things aren't totally lost with Emery down. If the offense can get a damn goal.
The orange and black may have scored a goal at one point during this one, but the score sheet wont say that. The puck was lodged under Elliott's pads, and he seemed to be in the net with it. He was pushed by Scott Hartnell, though, so the officials, despite heading over to the table, didn't even send the play to Toronto for review.
The power play showed excellent puck movement, but unlike Tuesday against the Isles, the passing lanes across the middle of the ice didn't exist tonight. That forces the shots to come from the outside, and Elliott had an answer every time the Flyers challenged him down below the faceoff circles. When shots came from the point, especially via the stick of Chris Pronger, they rarely even made it through to Elliott.
Matt Carkner delivered a cheap shot to Mike Richards late in the third period, giving the Flyers some hope with a PP. On that ensuing PP, it was the same story.
Braydon Coburn's giveaway to Jesse Winchester leading up to the game-sealing empty net goal was just terrible.
The Flyers took several penalties tonight, but Peter Laviolette said after the game that they weren't the same kind of undisciplined penalties that he punished the team for during Wednesday's practice.
On the bright side, the penalty kill did a good job killing off Ottawa's PP chances.
This was, by far, the most boring hockey game in quite some time. Sens fans and Flyers fans agree.
Oddly, the CSN broadcast was the only one of this game tonight. It was simulcast on TSN 2 in Canada, as well as around the country on various CSN affiliates.
On that same note, Jim Jackson reportedly lost his glasses prior to the game (I didn't know he wore glasses?) and was forced to wear prescription sunglasses while calling the game. Jim Jackson wears his sunglasses at night.

Questions With Answers

Can the Flyers keep themselves out of the penalty box for prolonged stretches tonight? No, but it didn't hurt them like it did on Tuesday.
Will the power play sustain the success they had on Tuesday night? They held the puck well, but anything more than that is apparently too much to ask for.
Does the top line continue its sexy-looking play? Not even a little bit.
Can Boucher keep up his hot play? Definitely. Solid games are becoming the norm for Boosh.
How successful are the Flyers in keeping the Sens big guns off the score sheet? Fisher had an assist, but Alfreddson, Spezza, Michalek, and Cheechoo were all held off.
Does Jarkko Ruutu kill a guy? No, but he did receive a cross-checking minor in the second.

Comment Of The Night

At least he’s scoring somewhere

>> JpH89, on Carter getting some tail at the club

Lowlights

With Emery Out Six Weeks, Are There Other Goaltending Options?

Geoff Detweiler — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:00:22 -0000

Since Ray Emery was placed on Injured Reserve with an abdominal tear and will be out an estimated six weeks, the Philadelphia Flyers might want to look at acquiring a goalie for the rest of the season.

Currently, the Flyers are going with Brian Boucher as the starter and Johan Backlund the backup. Not exactly two goalies you expect to be on a Stanley Cup contending team. Asking those two to be the only two goalies for around 20 games (from December 8th to January 20th) is a little scary: that's almost a quarter of the season.

Do you feel comfortable with Boucher and Backlund manning the pipes for that long? Do you trust Ray Emery to return in exactly six weeks, ready to play at a level similar to his start? It's understandable if you don't.

So, what about goalies possibly available via a trade? After the jump, a look at Brian Boucher, Johan Backlund, and a few potential goalies available.

Boucher has been around for awhile. The former 1st round pick in 1995 broke into the league in 1999-2000, but never really had a firm grasp on the starting job anywhere he really went. He has never started more than 40 games in a season, which he did in 2002-03 in Phoenix. There, he split time with Sean Burke, Zac Bierk, Patrick Desrochers, and Jean-Marc Pelletier.

Last year, Boucher twice started 7 games in a row, going 5-1-1 and 2-4-1 in each set. His goals against average for each stretch was roughly 2.43 and 3.00 in those games.

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Brian Boucher	8	415	2	5			18	2.60	183	165	.902	0

Johan Backlund:

He is making his North American debut this year with the Adirondack Phantoms. So far, he has a 6-8-0 record, with a 2.81 gaa and .903 save percentage. Everything out of Adirondack suggests Backlund is a big reason why the Phantoms are even in most of the games. He's even received this praise from Phantom forward Matt Clackson: "I'm happy we still have him. He's good enough to be up there (the NHL)." Well, now he is. How long it lasts and how well he does is anybody's guess. But let's hope he's better than we first saw in the preseason.

Now, if those two didn't inspire confidence, there are plenty of options outside the organization. As would be required, I went to CapGeek.com to look at what the Flyers could afford. Their daily cap calculator says the Flyers have over $3 million in cap space available. They also estimate $4.7 million available in "acquisition space (full-season cap hit.)" Not sure if I believe that, especially with the Jones fiasco, but CapGeek is generally pretty good.

With that in mind, the first goalie who would surely pop up in conversation would certainly be former Flyer Martin Biron.

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Martin Biron	13	751	2	8			38	3.04	410	372	.907	1

Those numbers don't exactly look great, but if you look at Biron's even-strength save percentage, he's tied with Boucher for 29th in the league at .922. Among those with at least 10 games started, Biron ranks 20th. Also, his goals against at 5-on-5 is 2.39, ahead of Jonas Hiller, Jose Theodore, and Cam Ward. (Boucher's is 2.18, Emery 2.26)

What's important when looking at Biron though - other than the fact that he played for the Flyers the past two plus seasons - is his one year, $1.4 million deal he just signed. With Rick DiPietro starting to practice again, Biron appears to be the odd man out on Long Island. His short and affordable contract makes him easy to trade, something the Flyers certainly like.

Next, the Flyers might look at Carey Price. The beleaguered Canadiens goalie carries a cap hit of $2.2 million and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the year. Over the summer, there were rumors that saw Price coming to Philadelphia, but that never happened.

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Carey Price	22	1294	9	10			58	2.69	668	610	.913	0

Currently, Price is 25th in the league in GAA and 21st in save percentage. Looking at his even-strength numbers, Price has a .925 save percentage, good for 15th in the league among those with 10 starts or more. His 5-on-5 gaa is 2.33.

The obvious upside with Price is that he's young (still only 22) and certainly has a lot of talent. Playing in Montreal can never be good for young goalies, so a trade could possibly see Price up his game. The downside is that he might just have a fragile psyche, no matter where he plays. He also could suffer from the hype, as a lot of people watch him play and leave unimpressed. Lastly, since he'll be a restricted free agent after the season, the Canadiens will probably want something significant in return.

Another goalie worth looking at is Dan Ellis. Due to be an unrestricted free agent after the season, Ellis carries a cap hit of only $1.75 million. Since breaking into the league in 2007-08 and stealing Chris Mason's starting job, Ellis has since lost his job to Pekka Rinne. That could make his value drop, which would further help the Flyers.

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Dan Ellis	13	656	5	5			30	2.74	328	298	.909	0

Again, the numbers so far this year aren't very impressive at first. He's 27th in GAA and 23rd in save percentage, while he's 35th in even-strength save percentage at .918. At 5-on-5 he has a very pedestrian 2.60 gaa. The best attributes of Ellis are that he has post-season experience (2.52 gaa, .938 s%), has previously gotten hot for a stretch, has a modest cap hit, and the Predators are a favorite trading partner of the Flyers. The downside is that he's just not an elite goaltender, nor is he young enough to warrant a risk at age 29.

Continuing down the list of inexpensive, soon to be free agent goaltenders, next on the list is Josh Harding. Stuck behind Niklas Backstrom in Minnesota, Harding has failed to have a breakout year. His best season was last year, when he posted a 2.21 gaa and .929 s%, but that came in only 19 games (with a 3-9-1 record). He's off to a horrible start so far, but it's only been 6 games.

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Josh Harding	6	324	2	3			18	3.33	137	119	.869	0

Obviously, those numbers are pretty bad. But, the good news is that it's a small sample size. Also, his even-strength save percentage is only .874, good for 63rd out of 67 goalies. His 3.29 5-on-5 goals against average isn't any better. Why is a goalie who's playing so poorly even being mentioned? He's only 25, he's coming off his best season as a pro, he's inexpensive, and he has good career numbers - 2.57 and .916. Bad? He's only played 64 games and has a career losing record, playing in a defense-first system. Either way, the asking price would be lower than most other available goalies, and the upside is clearly there.

While rather unlikely, another name that could surface is Jean-Sebastien Giguere. He has a cap hit of $6 million on a contract that expires after next season, but he's lost his job to Jonas Hiller (who, coincidentally is an unrestricted free agent after this season) and doesn't appear to be happy about it.

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Jean-Sebastien Giguere	12	708	3	4			31	2.63	370	339	.916	1

This year, Giguere has been good, but not great. There was a great story by Jonathan Willis the other day breaking down Giguere's play the past few years that showed his poor showing last year was mostly a result of his father dying in the middle of the season. Needless to say, Giguere - a former Cup winner and Conn Smythe winner - would be the type of elite goaltender so many people want the Flyers to have. However, he's 32 years old with a very large cap hit. The Flyers don't have enough room to take on that salary, so a high priced player would have to go back to Anaheim, which might be a bit difficult to swing since we already traded high-priced players this off-season.

Other goalies of note who will be free agents after the season include Johan Hedberg, Cory Schneider, Jaroslav Halak, and Antero Niittymaki.

What do you guys think?