Flyers can't solve Quick
With the puck spinning on its edge like a quarter on a table, sitting in the sacred blue paint in front of an unknowing Jonathan Quick, Danny Briere tried to take a stab at it.
Flyers can't solve Quick
With the puck spinning on its edge like a quarter on a table, sitting in the sacred blue paint in front of an unknowing Jonathan Quick, Danny Briere tried to take a stab at it.
Before Briere’s stick could touch the puck, he was denied by Quick’s glove and the play was whistled dead.
Pushed by a Kings defenseman, Briere bounced against the end boards and looked up to the rafters and smiled. That was all he could do. The Flyers were exasperated and exhausted.
Quick kept the Flyers at bay for a full 60 minutes, shutting out the league’s highest-scoring offense as Drew Doughty scored the game’s only goal to give Los Angeles a 1-0 win at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday afternoon.
Quick stopped all 38 of the Flyers’ shots. It was the fifth time this season the Flyers have been shutout.
The Flyers’ power play squandered three opportunities, including a span in the second period that saw the Kings take two different bench minors for too-many-men on the ice. With a 5-on-3 advantage for just 20 seconds, Jeff Carter lost a faceoff to the right of Quick that sent the puck the length of the ice and killed any of the Flyers’ gained momentum.
Even with the loss, the Flyers maintained their three point lead in the Eastern Conference as Pittsburgh fell to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden earlier in the afternoon.
Los Angeles, under former Flyers coaches Terry Murray and John Stevens, climbed back into the 8th and final playoff spot in the West, despite being in last place in the Pacific division. No division has ever had all 5 teams make the playoffs in one season.
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Comments (46)
You Flyer fans are spoiled rotten. Your team is on top of the east, and -- from what I saw watching the Kings game -- the Flyers are a great team. Lemme say that again because you guys don't seem to get it -- THE FLYERS ARE A GREAT TEAM. You lost a one-nothing game against a tough defensive squad, yet still managed to fire forty shots on goal, win the lion's share of face-offs, and had moments in all three periods when you were all over Quick like a coat of paint. Oh, and by the way, your own goalie played a helluva game, too. So howcum you fuss like your team is gonna go down the toilet unless heads roll and changes are made?
I'm a Kings fan. No one has to tell a Kings fan about the Flyers. But after beating us steadily for the past buncha years and getting a cakewalk win in a seven-four whupping of us on December 30, someone has to tell Flyers fans about the Kings. This is not, as some of you think, a game you should have "won easily". It's not a game that was handed to your opponent by the referees. And the fact that you lost even though you played as well as you did is not cause for alarm. Be grateful for what you have. You guys are a good bet to win the Cup.— tuanjim- idiot. 3 points ahead, but also 3 games in hand. Plus we have had injuries as well - namely Pronger.— gob1234
this team has a lot of holes in it...they are only 3 points ahead of pittsburgh. Imagine if they had malkin and crosby...it wouldn't even be close. And when are we going to get a shutout?- I'm going to say they were either looking past this game to the Tampa rematch or to their last tee times before the playoff run during the Tampa/Ft. Lauderdale road trip. Short flashes of urgency in what looked like a practice otherwise. The all-center line and other shuffling obviously didn't inspire them.
Zherdev scratched for a trade maybe? - Some very important signs in this game: (1) Is Zherdev on the trading block? (This is the season for it.); (2) Have the Vancouver and L.A. games exposed the Achilles Heel of our die-hard, hard-working team of blue-collar workers, and is it, of all things, a defensive scheme the Flyers just aren't built to penetrate? If, as I suspect, the answers to both questions are related, look for a new Flyer to appear in the coming weeks, one of those Knuble- or Primeau-like (but not them) presences at the net ...— NMS
- The blue-collar script is getting old, although the Philly faithful get suckered every year. Yeah, trade Zherdev for another player who 'finishes his checks.' The Flyers don't make it out of the conference. The team's management is fiddling with things at a point of the season when things should be gelling. As for Zherdev, can't remember the last time he's received a breakout pass to poach an easy goal. JVR got one a few games ago, and came up empty..... — phillyfury
NO way did the Flyers play that game with any measure of seriousness. The defense was still solid, however. I believe Lavy takes certain games to try different subtle changes, to experiment. this was one such game. I am still happy I didn't waste time to watch the entire game from start to finish.— road515- Well Lavy's tactic of when all else fails bench Zherdev didn't really get the job done. Please trade him for another role-playing, hardchecking, media-friendly player. I guarantee all, the Flyers will not be hoisting the Stanley Cup this year, and at season's end you'll all be wondering what was missing. In today's NHL a mainly Canadian roster just won't do it.— phillyfury
- Shoot the puck Leino!!!!— SFPhillyphan
- Some of you people should go root for the Pens. The Flyers didn't suck today so chill out. We had 40 SOG, Quick was really great, and we lost 1-0. It's hardly the end of the world so let's focus on Tampa because they're up next and we haven't beaten them once this year. We're due.— Kanayd
- with the recent injuries to the nucks and now lowely Penguins , the flyers are now undoubtably the best team in the NHL.But they must continue to get better.games like the one today are gonna happen.the important thing here is that they get back on the horse and win against those dreaded bolts.— lovelyleinolumps
- The so called stars ( briere, Carter )seem to disappear every now and then! Why? should have had at least 3 goals if they would just stop in front instead of taking these leisurely circles Mr. Carter!!!!— sawgrass
- Today in the NHL any team can beat any team on any given night! There
is 82 games in a season so relax homies, Flyers got to get ready for
Tampa, they beat us 3 times this year. Lavy is experimenting, he knows
what he s doing!— doublehook - Is this guy serious? It was a hockey game you idiot! And what the hell are you doing on a Philadelphia Flyers Forum. Go post in Los Angeles. Strange people out there is LA— studiocity96
- Uh - forum - you aren't even making the playoffs this year. Congrats on the 1-0 win.— gob1234
- His name is Jonny Quick and he's the reason you lost. You guys played well enough to pound any other team in the East but because of the East Coast Bias you couldn't (or wouldn't) take Quick or the Kings seriously. Outside of L.A. he's still a well-kept secret. Quick should have been an All-Star this year but that mistake will soon be rectified. A "quick" check of the history books sez this is the first Kings shutout of the Flyers since Rogie Vachon did it to you in 1973 at the old spectrum. Right now Quick is channeling Flyer legend--and Kings' goalie coach--Ron Hextall, so what do you expect? True, for years the Kings were patsies when they came to Philly...always good for a few laffs (and two points)--but no more.
The Spectrum is coming down tomorrow, the same way the Kings demolished you today. You'll live. There's always your weak East sisters to fatten up on for a few more months.— forumblueandgold - i dont mind coach mixin up the lines every once in a while.its nice to have a few options come playoff time.as far as the effort goes , they played hard but got no bounces.its not like we got problems scoring goals.lets call it a one off.on the bright side bobs looked pretty solid and we all know the only real question on this team as always is goaltending.— lovelyleinolumps
- No idea what Laviolette was thinking. Please God don't tell me that another Andy Reid is beginning to take shape. Gimmick plays in football, and gimmick lines in hockey DO NOT WORK!!! EVER!! Especially in a playoff atmosphere. There was no reason for Peter to mess with something that has been working incredible this season for the Flyers.— studiocity96
- No idea what Laviolette was thinking. Please God don't tell me that another Andy Reid is beginning to take shape. Gimmick plays in football, and gimmick lines in hockey DO NOT WORK!!! EVER!! Especially in a playoff atmosphere. There was no reason for Peter to mess with something that has been working incredible this season for the Flyers.— studiocity96
- Yes it was a frustrating loss, but it wasn't like the Flyers had only 15 shots for the game. They had 40 and the Kings goalie had all of the answers today. Don't panic, it was just a commercial that said the Flyers had a perfect season.— BobbyD
- Lethargic effort, especially on the PP. I'm glad I didn't waste my money going to this game. I've already seen one SO vs. Boston. I want to hear the horn and chant.— krammar
- Oh noes they lost 1... THEY SUCK!! ... People crack me up. Everyone loses, EVERYONE. They haven't lost more than 2 in a row all year, try cutting them some slack once in a while.— FlyersFTW
I thought the Flyers played pretty well today, competed, finished checks, and maybe they deserved a better result. Over the course of a season, they win some they probably should have lost, and they're going to lose a few of these, too.— Hame of Famer- Just once it would be comforting to hear another team say, "we played well enough to win, but the Flyers goalie wouldn't let us." Instead, it is always about the other team's goalie. This team reminds me of those San Jose teams that cruised through the regular season all those years with their offence. I don't recall any cup parades in San Jose. At times, it feels like the Flyers feel like the goals will come, even if they don't work for them.— Hexy4GM
- flyers 1313: the Flyers have have won 13 out of 17. what's the problem?— bobbyd24
- No blame. One of those games when goalie outplayed us but
1. WTF is going on with our PP. Part of the reason why we lose games.
2. Mike Richards should start playing like captain that he is.
3. Nodl has hands of stone. Why did we bench Zherdev?
— Nitroglycerin 
zherdev doesn't play because he gives up as many goals as he scores with lazy play and turnovers— primo- And you can back that up with other players' giveaways, can you? You're just regurgitating what some local scribe and other so-called pundits repeat. By the way, what has Scott Hartnell done lately? His last goal was an empty netter. Before that.... no idea. — phillyfury
- @gob1234, couldt have said it better! However, the Berlin Wall may have been taken down years ago, the Kings' "D" have re-built it...gotta give it to them. Iron's Curtain's..the dude IS the Czar of Splits-Ville...Tampa next -get it together boys - Fly Guys - Vanc for cup - Flyers' in 5.— poshnspice
- Boring game. The Kings' defense blocked our shooting and passing lanes and Quick stood on his head. I wasn't upset by our effort, but the lines were a bit surprising.— bpkrier
- What game were you watching? They had 40 shots on goal -- the Kings didn't block much. And Quick did not "stand on his head". He was very shaky, gave up plenty of rebounds, and the Flyers could not capitalize. Yes, the lines were mind boggling but give me a break. This team should have won this game easily. They mailed it in. And to the rest of you dopes that like to lecture people when they complain about "just one loss", you clearly aren't the people, like me, who spent obscene money to attend this game. So shut it. I blew enough money today to be allowed to vent, so deal with it. — UncleEddie
- That's a risk you took and lost. You know as well as any Flyers fan that this team can be very bipolar at times and a home game does not guarantee a win. As a fan I have a right to complain too and any goalie that stops 40 SOG deserves a win. This game could have gone either way and we fell short- not the end of the world. We could have played better but we could have played a lot worse too. If you want your money's worth then save up for a playoff game because this team is going to dominate the playoffs. Until then, go to games at your own risk or go see them in NJ or Pitt or someplace else because as of today they have a better road record than at home. — Kanayd
- why was zherdev not playing again..carter,giroux and zherdev was the only line scoring but they sit him to bring in shelly(waste of money ) and shuffle the lines with 3 centres on one line..this makes no sense at all..i like lavy but this was just stupid..— flyerfan18
- I'm glad he didn't play. At least Lavy can't put the blame on him. Zero goals from such a cast of stars? What a joke. Who's he going to bench now? One of his high-priced Canadian stars? The Flyers are starting to dip just as the playoffs approach. This team ain't taking any hardware this year. — phillyfury
- They had 40 SOG today. I think the Kings D and especially Quick deserves a tip of the hat. You guys are too much, all wishy-washy. I love you, I hate you, I love you, I hate you.
Frank, I know this game summary is in draft/early form, but how about a blurb about that ridiculous sequence in the third where Pronger was nailed from behind from Stoll and ended up getting the only penalty? That was a huge swing, and one of the worst pieces of officiating I can recall. We can only wonder what in the world Dave Jackson and his buddy were looking at.— sklandog - Face it - Quick was just better than the Flyguys on this day...— M60tanker
- No defense...
The offense starts with good defense.. The kings were allowed to free wheel through center ice all day. If they didn't carry it in, they dumped it in.. The Flyers did not bottle it up and had to come the length of the ice almost all day. Their outlet passes were off, their hitting was non esistent. They did not create turnovers and basically skated with no enthuiasm or sense of urgency. If they played a hard fought game against a tough opponent and lost..so be it.. A no effort no show up for a 10th place team (just like theydid against the Panthers) is unexcusable.
The line changes and combinations by P.L. were not the issue, not calling one of his famous time outs to rip the team was.— dedhed - Flyers always stink in day games, known fact..... Good call on pronged, yea nhl doesn't hate us. fact is they do— fman727
- Everyone either jump off the ledge or jump off the band wagon. It was not an "effortless" game - they put 40 shots on goal and many of them quality. They are 19-8 at home and it IS something that they have the best record in the east. Quick played an outstanding game - sometimes it happens.— gob1234
- I don't care if they do still have the best record in the East, I'm really getting sick and tired of these clueless home efforts!— flyers1313
- Yet another embarrassing home shutout! Yet another pathetic home effort! Yet another 2 home points left on the table that they should have easily been able to pick up! Ridiculous, and inexcuseable!— flyers1313
- There was nothing embarrassing about this game. We lost a single-goal hockey game facing solid defense and stellar goaltending. Relax. — bpkrier
- They lost becasue Laviolette is an idiot! Nice lines, playing Carter with Richards has NEVER worked. Those two centers didn't cover the D-man coming down from the point and it was the ONLY goal of the day. Nice adjustments...wasted an entire game.— 67Flyer
- Laviolette is an idiot!!!! Nice lines. Three centers playing together and the ONE goal scored was a result of two centers not picking up the D coming in from the point. Nice work with the lines you clown!— 67Flyer
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