Ron Hextall's message to Flyers captain Claude Giroux: Relax

General manager Ron Hextall calls Claude Giroux the ultimate competitor, but he says that same desire also can get the Flyers captain in trouble.

Like it has for most of the last month.

When things are going poorly for him and the team, Giroux puts too much pressure on himself to perform, Hextall said.

"I think he's pressing too hard," the third-year general manager said before Giroux ended a 12-game goal drought by scoring the overtime winner in the Flyers' 3-2 comeback win Sunday night over the New York Islanders.

Hextall said he likes the competitiveness Giroux brings and that there are a few others around the NHL who fall into that category.

"But sometimes you become your own worst enemy because they beat themselves up," he said. "G wants to be successful in everything; hopefully something good happens for him and he gets rolling. He's too good of a player to play like this."

Something good happened in overtime Sunday as Giroux was the benefactor of nice plays by Jake Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere to create the goal that ended the Flyers' nine-game road losing streak.

As Giroux goes, so go the Flyers.

During their 10-game winning streak, Giroux had five goals, 12 points, and was plus-10.

Before Sunday's win, the Flyers had lost 12 of 15. Giroux had one goal in that stretch and was minus-15.

Giroux, 29, conceded that he was not having fun on the ice.

"You want to succeed and want to play the best you can - and sometimes you push it a little too much," he said. "When you sit back and kind of look back at the big picture sometimes, I think that's when you kind of realize you need to relax and just go out there and play. We're supposed to have fun doing it, right? The last few weeks have been tough, but hopefully this will give us a little booster."

The Flyers, who play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, need Giroux to play better when teams are at full strength. He has been terrific on the power play (21 points, tops in the NHL entering Monday), but in five-on-five play per 60 minutes of ice time he is ranked 362nd in the NHL. He has just four goals and 11 points in five-on-five play this season.

In Sunday's game, Giroux was reunited with right winger Voracek. The previous seven games, his right wingers were Matt Read (four times), Travis Konecny (twice), and Wayne Simmonds (once).

Giroux and Voracek seemed energized Sunday playing next to each other again. They combined for 18 shots, of which 10 were on goal.

"Sometimes a change gives you a little bit of a jump-start. Those two guys did a good job," said coach Dave Hakstol, adding that he also liked how the new Nick Cousins-Sean Couturier-Read line played.

Giroux, Michael Raffl, and Voracek were together in all 10 games of the team's winning streak, and they figure to stick together for a while.

"Hopefully we can keep the chemistry going," Giroux said.

Breakaways. Goalie Steve Mason said his performance Sunday was "the type of game I expect from myself" and admitted in recent games "the team was lacking the big saves" he provided in the victory. . . . German Rubtsov, the Flyers' first-round pick in last June's draft, had a goal and four assists in his first three games in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. . . . Shayne Gostisbehere, who will be honored as the Philadelphia Pro Athlete of the Year for his brilliant rookie season, and Eric Lindros (Living Legend) will be among the honorees at the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association's 113th annual banquet Feb. 3 at the Crowne Plaza in Cherry Hill. Many other Flyers will be honored as part of their 50th anniversary. For ticket information, call 267-546-7277 or go to www.phillysportswriters.com.

scarchidi@phillynews.com

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