Flyers: From best to worst
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Flyers: From best to worst
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
TAMPA, Fla. _ From their best game of the season to their worst _ in less than 24 hours.
That describes the Flyers' strange weekend in Florida, where they dominated the Panthers on Saturday, 7-1, and then were embarrassed by Tampa Bay on Sunday, 5-1.
The Flyers’ power play was 2 for 7 Saturday and 0 for 6 Sunday.
Their goaltending went from sensational _ Ilya Bryzgalov made 30 saves on 31 shots Saturday _ to a rusty Michael Leighton (21 saves on 26 shots), who didn't have much defensive support Sunday.
To their credit, the Flyers (2-4) didn't use playing on consecutive days as an excuse against the rested Lightning (4-1)
“When you're playing back-to-back, you’ve got to keep it simple and play smart hockey,” winger Matt Read said. “You know, we just got a little ahead of ourselves from our win (Saturday) night, which is no excuse. It's not acceptable by us. We've got to learn how to play both nights, come to play for 60 minutes every game.”
The Flyers are 1-3 when playing games on consecutive nights. They will be in trouble if that trend continues because they play 10 sets of back-to-back games in the 48-game season.
They will face a fired-up Rangers team in New York on Tuesday. The Blueshirts will be out to make amends for their listless performance (New York was playing on consecutive nights) in Thursday’s 2-1 loss at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers' offense, except for the blowout win over the Panthers, has been anemic. Take away the seven goals from that win and the Flyers have scored a total of six goals in their other five games.
Paging Bobby Ryan....
Breakaways. Claude Giroux was noticeably quiet in Sunday's game....Bizarre stat: In Sunday’s loss, the Flyers had more shots blocked (26) than reached the net (25).....GM Paul Holmgren vehemently denied an Internet report that he has talked to Montreal about defenseman P.K. Subban, who is a restricted free agent.
Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.
I have seen better cat fights.— NYPHILLYPHAN- Maybe too many games in too few days. They had no legs and took stupid penalty's. Pronger must work the the Defensemen as they are inconsistent from game to game. Mostly the Flyers must find their Legs.— jpelle36
- backhand...not making an excuse for the Rangers there are no excuses and Flyers played a very good all around game against them....but they lost by one goal on a puck that deflected in off Simmonds...my point was that the Flyers really need to show up Tuesday and get a quality win....team needs that confidence and BRYZ needs a big game...They win Tuesday all is well....they lose 2-5 not good— flyers1000
- backhand here under my original log-in. Long story.
Number one: It's good to see a post from you that isn't negative.
Number two: The deflection off Simmonds skate was exactly what the Flyers need. I don't care if every goal they score gets deflected off anyone's body parts or equipment. As long as it goes in, it counts. Tampa Bay got two goals that went in off Flyers' sticks and they counted, and they were not Leighton's fault.
And Lundqvist is the type of goalie that you need deflections and greasy goals to score on him.
I think there will be a "Come To Jesus" meeting before Tuesday's game and maybe it will mitigate the lethargy that has come over the Flyers.
- Obviously the Flyers are not as good as they were against the lowly Panthers , and not as bad as they were against a decent Lightning team. That said, they really need to address the special teams, and come out and skate hard night after night. Oh, and stop taking stupid penalties.— Mike Boryla
- Bobby Ryan? He has 1 point this season...not sure thats the guy we need to get us going..— Giroux1st
