It may have been a costly victory, but the Flyers showed a lot of speed, heart and moxie in defeating the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4, at the Wells Fargo Center last night.
Most of the game was played at five-on-five between two of the fastest-skating teams in the NHL, and the pace was phenomenal. The Flyers were able to simply roll their lines during long stretches without any whistles and, as a result, the Philly skaters were collectively "into the game." I think that the pacing was a huge part of the reason why the Flyers got even strength goals from all four forward lines before James van Riemsdyk's second goal of the night rescued the win with 33 seconds left in regulation.
There were a host of positives the Flyers could take away from last night:
* Coming off the disappointment of losing the Winter Classic after victory slipped their fingers, the Flyers came out determined and focused against a top-notch opponent like Chicago. This was something that both coach Peter Laviolette and team leaders such as Danny Briere heavily emphasized heading into the game, and the club responded.
* Philly handled adversity in the game. They trailed 1-0 early against a Hawks team that came into the game tied for the NHL's second-best winning percentage when scoring first. The Flyers also trailed 2-1 in the second period and battled back for three unanswered goals. They lost Kimmo Timonen to injury. Finally, they coughed up a two-goal for the second straight game and still found a way to win it.
* It had to do wonders for the confidence of JVR and Jakub Voracek to break out of their goal scoring droughts in dramatic fashion. On the Voracek goal, Braydon Coburn made a nice play to intentionally bank a shot off the back boards -- he had his head up all the way and saw the play developing in front of him -- to get it to the wide open forward on the doorstep.
* The play of Harry Zolnierczyk and Zac Rinaldo strongly contributed to the energy and pacing of the game. Harry Z's goal, off a dynamic setup up by Sean Couturier, was an extra bonus at a juncture where the Flyers needed a big shift.
* The Flyers truly earned their goals last night. Ex-Flyers netminder Ray Emery actually played a very strong game in goal for Chicago. He had no chance on any of the Philadelphia tallies.
Of course, the two big negatives from last night's game were the injury to Timonen and the continued uneven play of Ilya Bryzgalov. Timonen had a soft cast on his left hand in the hallway after the game. Neither he nor Paul Holmgren addressed reporters after the game, but the GM is slated to speak after practice today.
It takes a lot to force Kimmo out of the lineup -- he returned for a few shifts in the second period after missing most of the opening stanza -- and it's unusual for the GM not to speak about an injury after the game. I am hopeful that this is a case of the team finally correcting a tendency to make hasty (and usually optimistic) pronouncements.
Obviously, if Timonen is lost for any extended period of time, it's a tough blow to the team. That would be true even if Chris Pronger were available, and it's potentially devastating combined with the loss of Pronger. But let's wait and see what's actually going on with Timonen before worrying about how to fill the void.
As for Bryzgalov, I don't know what to say. He made a couple tough stops last night but also allowed two goals he should have stopped. Bryz stands 6-foot-3 but he's making himself look very small in his net and is having trouble staying square to the shoot. The Brent Seabrook goal in particular was a bad one and couldn't have come at a worse time.
I personally don't care all that much that Bryz didn't speak to the media after the game but did find time to watch -- and Tweet about -- the dramatic Sweden-Russia gold medal game at the World Junior Championships last night. I'd rather he be silent than continue to grandstand for the cameras and microphones.
However, I do care that he's not stopping the puck he needs to stop and that the team in front of him has lost confidence in him. He has the ability to reverse all the negative talk about him if he performs at a high level. If he plays the way he has lately, he's actually better off making himself scarce.
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I will be covering the AHL Outdoor Classic game tonight for HockeyBuzz. I'll fold my thoughts on the Phantoms-Bears event into tomorrow's Flyers-Senators game preview.
By the way, tonight's game at Citizens Bank Park is apparently close to being a sellout. With last-day and walkup sales, they are expecting a full sellout. Even with the greatly reduced ticket prices (most expensive seats are $50) compared to the Winter Classic's Alumni Game and the Flyers-Rangers event, that is a very impressive feat.
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