IS BUYING CROSS-COUNTRY SKIS
RALEIGH, N.C. - Both Blair Betts and Ian Laperriere said before the game that a team's best penalty killer is always the goaltender.
Last night, Ray Emery was the Flyers' best player.
Emery, making his Flyers debut, stopped all 28 shots en route to a 2-0 shutout over the Carolina Hurricanes in front of a sold-out RBC Center crowd.
"He was tremendous tonight," coach John Stevens said. "I thought Ray has looked more comfortable every day. He was alert, he was finding pucks, he made saves on effort."
Emery may have looked tremendous, but he definitely wasn't comfortable to start the game.
"To be honest with you, I was pretty nervous tonight," Emery said. "I felt pretty good in the preseason, so it's definitely some preparation, but you never can tell until you actually get out there."
Despite the nerves, he became just the third Flyer in team history to pitch a shutout in his first game with the team. Overall, it is the fourth time the Flyers opened a season with a shutout.
But there were a few close calls.
Carolina's Eric Staal had a goal disallowed just 12 minutes into the game after Andrew Alberts committed a hand-pass near the crease.
In the third period, Emery kept cool under pressure with two big saves. With just 70 seconds to play, Emery stymied a bevy of Carolina players poking at the puck in front of the net.
There was also a little luck involved. Chad LaRose and Ray Whitney had multiple blasts that flew wide of the net. With under 7 minutes to play, Matt Cullen's pass across the slot bounced off Flyers newcomer Chris Pronger and went behind Emery. But the puck hit the post and bounced toward the corner.
"It doesn't matter how you win, as long as you won," Emery said. "It was good. I'm just happy we won."
The post bailed out Pronger - but Pronger said it was Emery who bailed out the team.
"We had a couple little breakdowns and he was there to make the saves," Pronger said. "He's making the saves we need him to make."
Not only was Emery the Flyers' best player, he was also the team's best penalty killer.
"Good penalty killing always starts with the goalie," Betts said at the team's morning skate.
Betts played more than half of his 13 minutes on the penalty kill, where the Flyers held Carolina scoreless on eight power-play opportunities.
"We did a good job limiting their chances, clearing pucks and killing their time," Emery explained.
The Flyers' other special-teams unit, the power play, wasn't too shabby either. Both goals came with the man advantage, just 22 seconds apart to start the second period.
Operating at 40 percent on the power play (2-for-5) and 100 percent on the penalty kill will go a long way this season.
Jeff Carter opened the scoring on the new season by poking in a Danny Briere rebound. Mike Richards tipped in Simon Gagne's shot on the next shift.
The latter power-play efforts were a big change from the first few, where the Flyers had few scoring chances.
"On the first two power plays, we didn't do a good job getting on the puck and retrieving the puck," said Briere, who got the assist on Carter's goal. "Once we did that, with the shooters we have, you're going to get your chances."
"We were a little bit concerned about our power play coming in, but we changed a few things and it seemed to work well," Stevens said.
The win is a fresh start for a new and seemingly much-improved team. They were glad to avoid the 0-3-3 start that plagued the beginning of their season just a year ago.
"We all know how long the year is and how important points are down the stretch," Stevens said. "This is a new group. I think you need to have some success together to build confidence."
Emery didn't have that confidence to start. But with performances like that, it is clear the Flyers - and the fans - will be confident in him.
"As the game goes on, you get more comfortable," Emery said. "Sometimes if you're not nervous, you're not on top of things. Nerves are a good thing."
John Stevens announced the Flyers' alternate captains before the game. Simon Gagne and Kimmo Timonen will wear the alternate captains' "A" during home games while Chris Pronger and Jeff Carter will wear them on the road. Should any of them be out of the lineup, Danny Briere will step up as the next alternate . . . Dan Carcillo only saw 2 minutes of ice time after his third penalty of the game . . . Claude Giroux, surprisingly, had a team-high four hits.
