Despite pounding, Flyers' Bryz needs to play Sat.; Reese says swagger is back
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Despite pounding, Flyers' Bryz needs to play Sat.; Reese says swagger is back
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
UPDATE:
The Flyers did not practice Friday, but had a team meeting. Goalie coach Jeff Reese had a long one-on-one with Bryzgalov.
“He felt great today. He came in with his swagger and it’s important that his teammates saw him come in like that," Reese said. "He was joking around and laughing and I think that was very important. He’s going to turn this around, no question.”
In a roundabout way, Reese said Bryzgalov will be back in the nets on Saturday.
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FROM EARLIER:
For the first time in the franchise’s history, the Flyers scored eight goals in a LOSING effort.
It happened Thursday in a wild, pond-like game in which they lost to the Winnipeg Jets, 9-8, before a stunned crowd at the Wels Fargo Center.
The franchise’s previous high for goals scored in a loss was seven _ 9-7 at Hartford in 1984, and 8-7 vs. visiting Tampa Bay last year.
Incredibly, the Flyers fired 84 shots (48 on net, 19 blocked, 17 missed) and still lost. Winnipeg fired 43 shots (25 on net, 11 blocked, seven missed).
Afterward, goalie Ilya Bryzgalov blamed himself for the loss. Bryzgalov was awful in a relief role (four goals on 10 shots), but his timid defense was even worse, repeatedly failing to clear the front of the net.
“You win as a team, you lose as a team,” said winger James van Riemsdyk, who scored two goals and took 14 shots, including nine on goal. “You can’t ever put it on just one guy. We have to be better in front of him. There were a lot of tips and point-blank chances that we have to cut down and make his job a little easier.”
That’s similar to what the players were saying after Wednesday’s 5-1 loss in Montreal.
In his last four appearances, Bryzgalov has a 5.05 GAA and .802 save percentage.
“I’m lost in the woods,” Bryzgalov said, calling it the worst stretch in his career and apologizing to the fans and his teammates. “I have zero confidence in myself now. I am terrible.”
From here, Bryzgalov needs to get right back on the horse. Put him back in there Saturday against visiting Carolina and allow him to work on a new chapter.
Maybe the fact he cleared the air will allow Bryzgalov to relax, regain his focus and start to resemble the elite goalie who played in Phoenix.
Maybe.
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Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.
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Defence sucks, Bryz sucks, what a team, one player out and this happens.— wlgj- Philly- Mike put your confidence in Bryz and see what happens. He's the new Roman Chechmonic. The guys always smashing sticks and throwing temper tantrums like a 2 year. Just shut up and play. Hextall was about average, son.— eaglelover1979
- Every time a Capt goes down. The Flyers lose! Goalie problem isn't solved. Someone needs to step up and lead.— Flyers_70
- That was sick...still believe in thie team.— Phillyfan666
- No Pronger = No D. Simple math.— seaonasdad
- Two problems as I see them:
1. Bryzgalov needs to see pucks. Flyers are amongst the league leaders in blocked shots, but that isn't always a good stat. That means pucks suddenly changing direction all over the place with no control. The Flyers need to get out of the way of those big shots, play the opposing players to prevent deflections, and let Bryz make the save. More like Western Conference hockey, which is what Bryz is used to.
2. The D pairs and lines don't have chemistry. How many times have you seen our players standing around waiting to see who is going to go to the puck carrier, and then the puck is in our net? They need to solidify some lines and pairing, and work out their system of who pressures and who plays passing lanes. That last goal by Ladd, someone should have been on the puck carrier. Mesz hesitated to challenge, and the puck got by him and to a Ladd who had slipped through.
Also, to people who blame the coaching, you can yell and drill players all you want in practice, but you can't go out on the ice and think for them and complete crisp passes for them.— magickbk - Your points are well taken, but if the coach isn't responsible for matching lines and defense pairs, then who is? And "Lavy" is big on blocking shots, too.
— icarus 
It's common for teams that have a big changeover in personnel to struggle...sometimes all year. When Flyers were 3-0 it was a mistake to start tinkering by bringing up Schell and shaking up lines. It's not the goalie's fault, even though it's messing up the goalie's head letting in all the goals. The past few games this flyers team has not shown much grit, intelligence, or desire to do what need to be done. Where's JVR these days? Is the defense afraid of commiting penalties, is that why they refuse to hit anyone? Passing is awful. Puck is either passed blindly or coughed up. Very light on puck. Too many deflections by our own players. Get out of the way and let the goalie stop the puck..just make sure you are taking out the other teams players so they can't tip the shots. I could go on and on, but post is getting too long. Could be a long year for us Flyer faithful. Let's give them time. They have a lot of young and new players. Hopefully they can figure it out.— NHLfan- OUCH! The truth is a motha! — coastflyer
- JVR...get a pair! You were unstoppable during the playoffs...ovechkin-like. Do what you do and stop the BS! — coastflyer
- The hype of this team is close to surpassing the Phillies and Eagles which were over the top. When will Philly fans understand just because you load up on players that you don't bring home the hardware without playing the games, producing and winning.
On the topic of playing tonight, tomorrow or the next night in goal - Bryz should grow a pair or pack it in. Shellshocked? PTS? Sounds like a lack of hormones.— 24sDad - How many shots on goal did Shelley have? Rinaldo threw more in hits in 1 game than Shelley in 3. Come on now. :) Shelley? Really?— Nitroglycerin
- Fo real tho! — coastflyer
- Haven't had a stud in the net since 27.........and the foundation of the ream (Pronger) is edging his way to irrelevance. The window has closed, keep drinking the kool-aid and buying the b.s........long runway in front of this club to get to the promised land.— Northcountry
- Bryz is better than he's playing- the numbers don't lie. No one can honestly say the Yotes' D was better than the Flyers' D. The only way to get out of this slump is to work through it because although he's bad now he's no Michael Leighton. He'll be ok, just give him time. Besides, these last 2 losses were total team failures. Even if he stole these games and we won the team in front of him still sucks, even with the 8 goals scored against the Jets. Discipline is what's lacking right now and that falls on the coach.— Kanayd
