Posted: Thursday, April 1, 2010, 11:16 PM | 10 comments |
 

Flyers' fade continues; goalie signed
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UNIONDALE, N.Y. - The fading Flyers followed a familiar pattern Thursday night.

They got a couple of bad breaks that led to two early Islanders goals…and they folded.

Again, that shows a lack of character, focus and leadership.

By early in the second period, they trailed 4-0 en route to a 6-4 loss to New York.

The Isles ended a 15-game, two-year losing streak to the Flyers.

Amazingly, the Flyers still hold the sixth seed in the East (Least?) because Boston lost to Florida.

The Flyers need better goaltending from Brian Boucher Friday against Montreal, a matchup that coach Peter Laviolette called “the biggest game of the year.”

The Flyers, Montreal and Boston each have 82 points, but the Flyers currently have the tie-breaker (most wins).  

Don’t look now, but the Rangers _ who finish the season with two games against the Flyers _ are sneaking back into the playoff hunt.

Breakaways: It was the Flyers’ sixth loss in seven games…..In Thursday’s game, Lukas Krajicek (who had an Isles pass deflect off him and past Boucher), Oskars Bartulis, Mike Richards, Claude Giroux and Kimmo Timonen were each a minus-2….Defenseman Matt Carle led the Flyers with six shots.

* * * * * * * * * * * 

    The desperate Flyers have signed goalie Sebastien Caron from the Swiss League, GM Paul Holmgren confirmed.

    Holmgren said Caron would be at the team's 11:45 a.m. meeting in Voorhees Friday.

   Caron, 29, is a fomer third-round draft pick of the Penguins who last played in the NHL in 2006-07 with Anaheim. In 92 career NHL games, he has a 3.45 GAA and an .892 save percentage. He has played the last three seasons in the Swiss League.

    He is expected to join the Flyers for Friday's key game against Montreal _ and become the seventh goalie to dress for the orange and black this season. No word on whether he will start.

   Boucher is 6-16-3 with a 2.96 goals-against average.
 
Posted by Sam Carchidi @ 11:16 PM  Permalink | 10 comments
10
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:28 AM, 04/02/2010
    How can people actually attend this game tomorrow and cheer?
    — jibberjabber
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:19 AM, 04/02/2010
    Caron has no potential as an NHLer. This signing won't help at all. If they were looking at the Swiss league, why didn't hey sign former starter David Aebischer? He is a solid experienced veteran and lost his starting job to guys like Bryzgalov.
    — flyerdommo
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:43 AM, 04/02/2010
    Goaltending and nothing but. This is not Richards fault....he leaves his heart on the ice every game!
    — motorhead
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:49 AM, 04/02/2010
    what difference is booing going to make? If you REALLY support your team then you go through the thick and thin and support all the way. But still doesnt mean you cant let them know they're playing bad.
    — foreverinour
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:50 AM, 04/02/2010
    Hey fellas why don't you keep drinking your Mike Richards Kool-Aid! Are you kidding??? This guy is no captain material whatsoever. Look at the way this team plays! Look at his quotes! He has no sense of urgency and that filters down to the team!! It's a joke!!!!
    — johnsb9041
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:14 PM, 04/02/2010
    I have always, until last night anyway, been a Boucher fan. However, karma has caught up to him and it is time for a high profile player to throw him under the bus the way he ran over Barber years ago. It's time for someone to state publicly that "if not for our weak goaltending ...". Holmgren has already done so without the words, just by signing Caron. Laviolette did it by playing Backlund last Saturday, but now a player needs to actually say it. Time for him to buy a house in Adirondack to play out the final year of his contract.
    — Per Djoos
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:15 PM, 04/02/2010
    some years the stars don't align. They were playing well before the Olympics, then had to recharge the battery. Down went Carter, down went Leighton and the thin thread of respectability snapped. Down they go. I'm not too excited about them making the playoffs unless they can get these players back and healthy.
    — retzlaff
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:36 PM, 04/02/2010
    yaaay, High School Sammy is back complaning about the Captain again! yaaay! Way to read the box score and get paid again! yayyyy!
    — spittooncj


10 comments
About Sam Carchidi
Sam Carchidi is in his fourth year as the Flyers' beat reporter. He became an Inquirer staff writer in 1984 and covered mostly South Jersey high school sports and the Phillies before taking the Flyers beat.

Carchidi has written three books _ the nationally acclaimed Miracle in the Making: The Adam Taliaferro Story, which he co-authored with Scott Brown; Bill Campbell: The Voice of Philadelphia Sports; and Standing Tall: The Kevin Everett Story, which was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. He also contributed to a 1993 Inquirer book on the Phillies.

A lifelong South Jersey resident, Carchidi lives in Wenonah with his wife, JoAnn, and their two children, Sara and Sammy.

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