Richards reaches milestone in shutout; Krajicek impresses
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Richards reaches milestone in shutout; Krajicek impresses
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
CALGARY, Alberta _ Mike Richards scored two goals _ including the 100th of his career _ and Ray Emery notched his third shutout of the season as the Flyers blanked host Calgary, 3-0, on Monday night.
Emery, who made his eighth staright start, was forced to make only 18 saves because of a stellar backchecking job by his teammates.
“I think the boys made it about as easy as it can get,” Emery said. “I thought we played our best defensive game of the year. It’s nice to play for a team that has played as consistently as we have lately.”
“We were moving our feet for 60 minutes, and Ray came up with a couple of good stops when we needed it,” defenseman Chris Pronger said.
Simon Gagne contributed assists on Richards' goals _ one on a late power-play tally _ and Claude Giroux scored on a pretty backhander after being sent in on a breakaway by Arron Asham to make it 2-0 early in the final period.
“We rolled all four lines tonight and everybody showed up; it’s a good start for the road trip,” Giroux said.
Defenseman Lukas Krajicek, who was paired with Kimmo Timonen most of the time, was impressive in his Flyers' debut. He blocked two shots in 18:25.
"He was really solid. Skated well and made good plays defensively," coach Peter Laviolette said.
Matt Carle blocked a game-high four shots, and Jeff Carter aided the victory by winning 11 of 14 faceoffs (79 percent). Defenseman Braydon Coburn and Oskars Bartulis were each plus-2 as the Flyers won their second staright.
They resume the three-game road trip by playing at lowly Edmonton on Wednesday, then face Minnesota on Saturday.
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Flyers’ general manager Paul Holmgren is working the phones before the March 3 trade deadline, but don’t expect a blockbuster deal _ Atlanta left winger Ilya Kovalchuk could not fit under their cap unless they dealt someone such as Carter _ like Calgary made on Sunday.
“I don’t know where this stuff comes from,” said Holmgren, when asked about reports that the Flyers had interest in Kovalchuk ($6.4 million cap hit).
The Flyers are right up against the $56.8 million cap.
Krajicek showed more in one peroid than OKT has shown all season. Nice pickup.— BobbyD- I agree Boddy D, he is an upgrade that didn't cost the Flyers a draft pick, player or prospect.— Richie Captain
- I agree with you Bobby D. He is an upgrade that didn't cost the Flyers a draft pick, player or prospect.— Richie Captain
- anyone notice how alert Richards was after the game? he looked well-rested.— MichaelZoe
- Any time The Flyers can get a defenseman that pushes Coburn down to the 3rd defensive pair is a fine move by me. Coburn playing less minutes can only help this team. Nice win last night, now let's follow it up with two more again teams we should beat!— jdeang
I have yet to see a team with as many stick checks on the puck like Calgary - they made the Flyers look foolish there for awhile - they had their sticks in the passing lane all nite - Hartnell played a brutal game - just brutal. Over all a nice effort by Kraji - I like the pick up. Is it me or does Richie and Hartnell fall alot???- Its about time that Richie stepped up his game. This is a well rounded team and I cant understand why they have taken so many periods off this year? The good news is that we seem to be rounding into form and it will be up to Lavi to keep the boys playing consistent hockey. If we could add a third line player to play with G and JVR (maybe Paul Kariya), we would be deadly down the stretch.— Fabulous
- jdeang, I totally agree with you on Coburn.— johnnygriswold
- Yesterday, everyone was making fun of the Flyers for signing Krajicek. He comes in, plays a better game then OKT or Syrvet has played all year, without knowing the Flyers' system. Maybe, just maybe, we all don't know as much as we think we do. I guess it's why we're not collecting our paychecks from an NHL team.— kprimo25
- Good solid win. I thought for sure that penalty at the end was going against the Flyers, but actually the refs were not bad last night, letting them pretty much play.— mikemcnhl
- MichaelZoe,he hasn't found the hot bars in Calgary yet.Calgary is in disarray right now due to the massive overhaul they are going through right now.The Flyers caught them at the right time.The Flyers should beat Edmonton,but Minnesota are a tough team,certainly not a push over.— philly fan in cheyenne
- MichaelZoe,he hasn't found the hot bars in Calgary yet.Calgary is in disarray right now due to the massive overhaul they are going through right now.The Flyers caught them at the right time.The Flyers should beat Edmonton,but Minnesota are a tough team,certainly not a push over.— philly fan in cheyenne
- Fabulous - I just drooled at the thought of Kariya playing with Giroux. Guess it's not likely with the cap, but you are right, that would probably be a move that could likely put us over the top. Speaking of Giroux, I'd like to see him put on some weight over the offseason and build up his strength. I swear I see a young Foresberg in him, he just needs to buuld up his snarl and confidence.— dollarland
Comment removed.- Kudos to Homer on the Krajicek pickup. He looks like a steady and solid veteran.— GoCowboys
- HE AZ PICKED IN THE FIRST ROUND 4 A REASON— soliteryman
- I'll tell you what, Michael, I heard, from a source in the Flyers organization, that Richards was drinking so much that the Flyers made preparations to send him to rehab, but he's cut that out.— HandNik
