If only they could all be against the Islanders.
With tonight's 6-2 ass-kicking, the Flyers have now won twice since November 18th. Both have come against the squad from Long Island. Considering that one of the games came in the Stevens Era, and the second after the switch to Peter Laviolette, on paper, it's hard not to point to the prevailing common factor being the opponent. But having watched this team over the past 3 weeks and then seeing tonight's effort, it's clear that something new clicked.
Cartsy, originally uploaded by whiskeyjulietecho.
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Answering the question we posed earlier at least for one night, Brian Boucher was good enough in goal to keep the Flyers in position to win as long as they could score. That didn't prove to be much of a problem, with three separate forwards scoring a pair of goals each. If ever three guys needed to go off all at once, it was Richards, Carter, and Giroux. Richie started the scoring, continuing a positive trend of showing that he is this team's leader. During the first intermission, Carter must have found his snake juice, because he found the net twice in the second period, including beating Marty Biron through the tiniest of shortside openings. The final two Flyers markers came from Claude Giroux, who'd been quiet for the last nine games.
The Isles' John Tavares had his name mentioned plenty tonight too. He netted a pair of powerplay goals, but also lost a tooth when Chris Pronger pasted him into the boards in the second period, earning a boarding call because the league doesn't have anything about toothing someone on the books yet; give 'em time, they'll get around to it. Don't feel bad for Tavares' bygone smile though. Maybe he can leave himself a dollar under his own pillow, because he sure played like a fairy in the third, spazzing out when Scott Hartnell made contact with Biron. His choice of crosschecking Hartnell into Biron was interesting. Hartnell swung at him, then tussled with the Isles' Matt Moulton. The obvious result being, Hartnell gets a double minor, Moulton gets a minor, and Tavares... until a makeup slashing call a few minutes later.
Speaking of Biron, it was hard not to feel bad for him out there tonight. He wasn't sharp, and he'd see no relief despite getting shelled and having to hear the bad version of the Marty chant in his former home.
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Never afraid to take a dumb penalty, Danny Briere must've also enjoyed the suspension he recently got. Danny threw a nasty elbow to Jon Sim's face, giving the Islanders a first period powerplay. He made good for it with two assists though. Hartnell also factored heavily in the scoring, notching two helpers of his own.
So to wrap it up... A quick lead... Aggressive play (mostly in a good way, but too many PIM too)... Three goals on the power play (FINALLY) and a shorty from Richards... Much better passing on the PP and even strength... Carter and Giroux netted their slump busters, and Carter also had a great night in the faceoff circle... The pairing of Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn rebounded nicely, at least for a night... Boosh was plenty good enough, only getting beat when the Flyers were down a man... PK could been better, but it's not the end of the world... Finishing strong, no goals allowed in the third.
Now if they can make it back-to-back wins... I'll be there on Thursday and I'd rather not see a letdown game.