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So I couldn't watch most of the game, and what I could
was on a horrible lag seeing as how I'm in the midst of a commute back home to
Cherry Hill. But there was no way I could go without writing about this game.
This 7-2 blowout.
After going down 2-0, it seemed to be more of the same
from the struggling Flyers, but enter project domination. Scoring four in the
second period, the Flyers (32-18-7) told Jhonas Enroth to hit the showers, as Ryan Miller came in and didn't do much better.
Honestly, I'm not sure if anyone could've done better
against these guys tonight. Giroux had five assists; the most by any Flyer
since Eric Lindros had six in 1997.
Yeah, it's been fifteen years.
Wayne Simmonds and Max Talbot each had multi-goal games
and Scott Hartnell also tagged on three assist with a goal of his own.
The Sabres went up 2-0 less than 10 minutes into the
game, causing a bit of panic for Flyers fans. But Talbot scored early in the
second to cut the lead in half, and two power play goals by Simmonds were all
they needed.
But they didn’t stop there. Erik Gustafsson scored
another in the second, and the team scored three in the third. In a game that
seemed like it would be a blowout for Buffalo, it went the other way extremely
quick. Losers of five of their last six games, it was a necessary spark for the
Flyers and a necessary break for the struggling Ilya Bryzgalov, who got off to
a shaky start once again.
No offense to the Sabres or anything, but it doesn’t seem
like anything would have stopped the Flyers tonight. Seven goals on 35 shots
and most of the top players stepping up… it was a show for the fans in Philly.
Everybody knows that this Flyers team is capable of this
sort of offensive showing night in and night out (well maybe not 7 goals/game,
but 4+), but their problem lies in goaltending and defense. When everything
clicks, you see what happens, and not even everything clicked tonight. The
Sabres were feeling really good early in the game. But the fact that they
fought through that deficit and came back stronger than ever tells a lot about
them; it shows grit, determination, will to win…. Traits the team as a whole
hasn’t shown the past couple weeks.
These traits are needed to win in the NHL, especially
against the top tier teams. The Sabres aren’t that good (24-27-6), but it doesn’t
matter because scoring seven on any NHL team, especially one with a goalie as
good as Ryan Miller—albeit his off year—is a feat in itself.
The Penguins will be a tough matchup on Saturday, but
hopefully this is the game the Flyers needed. Hopefully this is the adversity
Bryzgalov needed to fight through to get back to his old self. Hopefully they’ve
come together and realized that what they were doing as a team wasn’t enough.
They needed to do more. Tonight, they did. Even though Bryz gave up the two
goals early, he didn’t let up any late. Even though the Flyers went down, they
made sure not to let a two-goal lead faze them.
If they can do this Saturday against the Penguins, then
maybe Flyers fans will legitimately get excited about this team, who’s Stanley
Cup aspirations are still well alive.
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