That's how you do it, people. That's how you end a decade. (We're supposed to do that this week, right? Put everything in the "decade" context?)
Plenty of credit handos to go around after Wednesday night's 6-0 win over the Rangers in Manhattan, but we'll start with the man in the newly painted mask.
The Flyers have now won four straight games, and Michael Leighton has played in each of them. After losing 14 of 18 before the uh... Leighton Era... began, we'll get behind any keeper who gets this team some wins. Leighton only faced 22 shots, because most of the action was at the other end or stalled in the neutral zone. The shutout was the first for the Flyers at MSG since Beezer blanked his old team in 1999.
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The Flyers' ability to send waves of attacks and counterattacks was just way more than the Blueshirts' poor defensive corps could handle. After Henrik Lundqvist was benched to start the second period, the Flyers quickly scored their fourth goal, just 23 seconds into the period. Clearly Lavvy has them prepared to start their frames strong—this was the second time they lit the lamp in the first minute of a period tonight.
That first goal of the second period, scored on Rangers' backup Chad dos-nueve Johnson while seeing his first NHL action, was the first of three for Simon Gagne, who would pot the Flyers fourth and fifth of the night as well. I don't know if he's trying to show Team Canada what they're missing, or that he doesn't care, but the natty hat showed us all that Gags is back.
Blair Betts gets a game puck too. He scored one of his trademark grit goals just 54 seconds into the game, setting the tone for the blowout. Oh and if you're keeping score at home, the team is now 14-5-1 with Betts in the lineup. Pretty amazing considering they're 19-18-2 overall.
Danny Briere continued to have great hands around the net. He showed patience aided by the lack of pressure from the Rangers and made the most of a tough scoring opportunity in very tight. Claude Giroux's role as a playmaker is dominant again, assisting on the final goal of the game, but also backchecking hard to get the puck back down the ice and create Gagne's "unassisted" breakaway goal. G also scored one of his own, assisted by Gags. Scary. I'm missing some Flyers here... Summarizing a 6-0 ass-whooping like that one is like running through the thank you's at some beat award show, so I'll just wrap it up. I'll try to get some videos up shortly for those who couldn't watch the game tonight. It was a whoooollle lotta fun.
For most of the game, the Flyers' passing was crisp and fast. They were getting everyone involved, with as many as five and six passes on some opps before finally shooting, a strategy that paid off and frustrated the hell out of John Tortorella and the Rangers. When Torts called his timeout early, he looked like he was gonna blow a cerebral out behind the bench.
The faces on the players in front of him were blank...
The four-game winning streak has the Flyers at least temporarily in third in the division and eighth in the conference. Most importantly for right now though, they look outstanding going into the Winter Classic.
QUESTION... Who do you start in goal for the Winter Classic? More on that tomorrow.
(Title homage...)