Major props to Peter Laviolette and the FLyers for adjusting on the fly all Thursday with two injuries within the game and one injury prior to the game, not to mention the surprise announcement that Andrej Meszaros was out with an upper body injury.

Good to see the Flyers snap out of the scoring doldrums with 7 unanswered goals against the Sabres. I think this game did a lot for team morale and Max Talbot told me that twice last night.

I also feel the pickup of Nicklas Grossman is a good move. He's young, he can play, he's defensive conscious, logs PK minutes and my friends in Dallas had nothing but good things to say about him.

That he cost the Flyers no current prospects is great, as well. I am told Dallas will make a push for Ryan Suter this summer at the NHL Draft and are shedding future UFA salary on the back end here.

Here's some Flyer reaction from last night:

CLAUDE GIROUX:

Q: The first period things weren’t going your way. What changed in the second and third periods?

“We weren’t happy with the first period and Max’s line went out there and had a great shift and got a goal. It kind of got all the boys going and the second period we played great. That’s what we got to do. I think guys worked harder in the second and third period.”

Q: It’s nice to get goals, but when you look at your night, five assists. Is that one of your personal bests?

“Yeah, I guess everything that I was chipping was going in the net. There were a lot of second assists, but Hartsy played a great game, Jake and Reader. All the boys played great. I think we need a full team effort like we did tonight more often.”

Q: Wayne has showed his grit all season, but to take a puck in the face like that in warmups and to have the game that he did, what does that show?

“I didn’t see it in the warmups. I just saw him coming into the room with Jimmy and he was hurting pretty bad. He’s a character guy and, you saw, he came out there and did what he does best. In front of the net nobody can move him. He gets those garbage goals. People think it’s easy but it’s actually pretty hard.”

Q: Earlier in the year we heard of Lavy kicking trash cans and stuff during intermissions. What was the first intermission like in here?

“The message was clear. Everybody knew we weren’t playing very good. Guys wanted to show some character. Guys showed up and Bryz shut the door down through the first period and it was a team effort.”

Q: Any trash cans kicked?

“No, it was all good. I wouldn’t tell you anyway.”


MAX TALBOT:

Q: Fair to say this is exactly the kind of game the team needs collectively tonight?

"Fair to say. You know it's these kinds of wins that bring us together. We didn't start the way that we wanted to. We talked about it between the first and second and then we started to play and never looked back. Like I said, I think it's a win that happened at the right time. We definitely need to build off this in the future."

Q: What did Lavy say to you after the first period?

"Well, we talked about things that didn't go right, which was pretty much everything. We talked and these are the things that bring us together. We answered back, which is huge. We could have shut it down, but the guys answered back and that shows a lot of character."

Q: Guys actually seemed like they enjoyed themselves. You could see it throughout the game. You guys haven't had too many nights like that.

"Well we are talking about the second or the third period. Yes, the guys did enjoy themselves. When you see things starting to roll in the right direction and the momentum start going in our way… I think we proved to ourselves that when we play the right way we are a really dangerous team and this is the way we need to play moving on here."

Q: Is it a little more fun when the team is clicking like this?

"A lot more fun. Comparing the first period to the second and third one, it's day and night. The good thing is that in the same game we proved to ourselves that we could turn it up and start playing. Like I said, we need to build on this."

Q: You did this without Jagr, without JVR then you lose Briere and Sestito during the game. What does that say about the resiliency of this team?

"It's a character win. It's a win that the guys started carrying out. They were not all pretty goals, but guys put a lot of traffic in front of the net and we crashed the net. It was about hard work and resiliency. It's a big win for us."

Q: Was there something said after those first 20 minutes that gave you guys the fire that you needed?

"Yeah, a lot of things were said. I'm not going to discuss what was said exactly, but things like that happen. The big point about tonight is that we answered back and it's huge for us."

Q: You would hardly say that those first 20 minutes were hardly characteristic of a team that's been off for three days.

"Well, yes and no. It takes a little bit of time to get your groove back, but you can't use that as an excuse. The first period was embarrassing. It was definitely not the image that our team plays like, especially in front of our fans. It was nice to start going after this."

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