Bill Meltzer Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSS
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It is hard to feel good about last night's game at the Wells Fargo Center -- at least not until it becomes certain that Claude Giroux escaped a concussion from the accidental knee he took to the back of his head from teammate Wayne Simmonds.
Hopefully, Paul Holmgren's assessment that Giroux did not have any immediate symptoms of a concussion (or at least not a headache, because nothing was said about some of the other red-flag symptoms such as ringing in the ears and/or confusion). Perhaps Giroux really was just sore and momentarily dazed, and it was simply smarter to err on the side of caution and remove him from the rest of the game.
The truth of the matter, however, is that no one knows for sure whether Giroux sustained a concussion on play. That will only become apparent in the days to come.
Sports teams always downplay injuries right after they happen. The Flyers are no different. They have serially put the most optimistic possible spin on all but the most immediately obvious and grisly injuries. Therefore, it is wise to never to put stock in the initial reports. We'll all just have to wait and see.
I will say this: While teams need to be able to win in the short-term even with their best player out of the lineup -- and the Flyers already have their best defenseman out indefinitely -- any long-term absence of a player of Giroux's caliber eventually takes it toll.
When Giroux went up the tunnel after returning to the bench, I had the same feeling last night that I had too many times during the Eric Lindros years. The postgame sunny forecast did nothing to soothe the concern. Hopefully, Giroux dodged the concussion bullet.
As for Ilya Bryzgalov, it sounds like the goalie felt twinges of a previous injury -- the immediate suspicion with a goalie is groin or hip, but of course nothing specific was identified.
The goaltending situation is not a major concern on this Sunday morning. If Bryz doesn't play the next game or two, Sergei Bobrovsky is eminently capable of giving the Flyers a chance to win on Tuesday in Washington and Thursday in Montreal. Although both Bryzgalov and the Flyers said that they think he'll be available for the team's game on Tuesday, once again discretion may be the better part of valor.
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The Flyers deserve kudos for their efforts in last night's 5-2 win over the Lightning. Entering the game, I was concerned that all the stars were aligned for a letdown.
The Flyers were playing for the third time in four nights. They were coming off a rousing win against their biggest rival. They had won four games in a row, so perhaps there wouldn't be a major sense of urgency. What's more they were playing against a Tampa Bay team that has been scuffling of late, figured to be hungry to build off a comeback win the other night and against whom Philly often struggles for victories.
Philly showed good patience last night against Guy Boucher's club. Even when the Flyers fell behind 1-0, they never deviated from their game plan. Eventually, they broke through for a three-goal outburst in the second period.
It was nice to see Danny Briere score in back-to-back games for the first time this season. Briere has seven points (2 G, 5 A) in the last five games. He'll especially need to keep that up if Giroux misses time.
It was even nicer to see the Flyers strike again quickly after the Briere goal to take the lead. Jaromir Jagr had one of his best all-around games of the season -- scoring the go-ahead goal, creating scoring chances for others, forechecking like a machine, backchecking diligently.
After a half-dozen glorious chances over the two previous games hadn't gone if for him, Jagr snapped one upstairs over Mathieu Garon for his 10th goal of the season. In so doing, he tied Brendan Shanahan for 11th place (656 goals) on the NHL's all-time goal scoring list.
The Flyers' power play did not look especially good early in this game but they continued their recent run of success . An attempted backhanded pass across the crease from Wayne Simmonds to Jakub Voracek deflected into the net. Simmonds was credited with 7th goal of the season (4th PPG). He's now tallied in back-to-back games and three of the last four.
Things got a bit hairy early in the third period when Vincent LeCavalier put a shot from the circle through Bryzgalov for a power play goal. The last thing the Flyers wanted to do was give Tampa a sniff at a comeback -- especially with Giroux gone for the game. Therefore, it was huge when the Flyers back for a Matt Carle power play goal just a few minutes later.
Once the two-goal lead was restored, the Flyers did a tremendous defensive job. After coming into the game to replace Bryzgalov, Bobrovsky had to make two tough stops on Steven Stamkos on good individual efforts by the Bolts' superstar center. Otherwise, Philly pretty much slammed the door.
Scott Hartnell punctuated the game with an empty net goal. After Jagr made a nice play to navigate traffic and advance the puck to Hartnell, the left winger measured a shot from outside the offensive blueline into the vacated cage. Hartnell has goals in five straight games, with seven points (5 G, 2 A) over that span.
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