Carter leads late game heroics in Home Opener

The fans went home happy tonight as the Flyers pulled their 2010 home opener off due to some late game scoring. The main headline going into the game sprung up about an hour before the puck drop, when it was brought up that Chris Pronger was a game-time decision. After seeing him glide around sharply in the pre-game warm-ups there was no doubt in Flyers fans minds that he wasn't going to be dressed for tonight's game.

After an amazing show during introductions and a Lauren Hart Star Spangled Banner we were underway in Philly. The Flyers came out with immediate jump, getting 7 shots in the first 5 minutes. However 2 Flyers penalties would lead to a big lead. First, Richards forced a turn over that sent Claude Giroux on a clean break away against Craig Anderson, where Giroux knotched his 2nd shorthanded goal of the season. A few minute later Jeff Carter capitalized on the scrappy breakout of the Avs to go down and do almost the same exact move as Giroux and score his 1st of the season.

The Avs would make a comeback scoring one in the 2nd courtesy of Brandon Yip and another in the early minutes of the 3rd punched in by Milan Hejduk. Sergei Bobrovsky kicked it into overgear after that however. Stopping shot after shot and Avalanche chance after chance.

Then the Flyers started to click, the line of James van Riemsdyk, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter embodied the comeback. They rushed the puck up the ice on what looked like a dead play a few times, but turned it into a pass across the crease for the tap in 5-hole on an unready Anderson by Jeff Carter. The game would keep going the Flyers way after that as the Best Duo in the league Blair Betts and Darroll Powe forced the puck down the ice and Powe iced the game off with his 1st of the season on the empty net.

Bobrovsky got his second win in as many games tonight as he stopped 25 of 27 shots and kept the door shut after ketting in a dribbler early in the 3rd period off of a Milan Hejduk wrister.
Bobrovsky spoke through a translator after the game about his second career start saying: “I wouldn’t say great, but everyone on the team helped out. There’s more expectations here. You want to please everyone, so it’s a little more difficult.” This kid is young and he is feeling the pressure, but at the same time he understands that all he needs to do is just stop the puck, not be the 1st star, just win.
As he said earlier in the week: "I'm glad when the team wins. Whether I'm a star or not is secondary. My job is to just go out there and stop the puck."

Goalies: Anderson 34/37, Bobrovsky 25/27
Flyers Goals: Jeff Carter (2), Claude Giroux, Darroll Powe
Avs Goals: Brandon Yip, Milan Hejduk

My Players to Watch
Flyers
Danny Briere: 6 shots , ended a negative -2
James van Riemsdyk: 1 assist, 2 shots in 17 minutes

Avs
Paul Stastny: negative -1 with 4 shots in 21 minutes
Adam Foote: 2 shots in 21 minutes

The Banner was also raised tonight. Look for it behind the Flyers net, in the rafters next game.



Pictures from Flyers. Quotes from Tim Panachio and Teemu H.