A night after Flyers' head coach Peter Laviolette watch his team lose their 4th in their last 5 games, the Flyers responded with a win against Buffalo. After Monday's 2-1 defeat which saw the Flyers lose to yet another back-up goalie, Lavi chewed out his team, saying among other things they played mindless hockey. On tuesday the Flyers fell behind early, but were able to battle back and win 6-3 at home.
The Flyers game up an early goal, as they have often lately, to Tomas Vanek. However the Flyers leading scorer Danny Briere tallied his 6th of the season to tie it before the end of the 1st. The Flyers then scored 4 straight goals on one of the NHL top goaltenders in Ryan Miller. The Sabs battled back with 2 goals late in the 3rd but the game was iced away with Andreas Nodl's empty netter.
Flyers goals were scored by Briere, Zherdev, Powe, Giroux, Carter, and Nodl. Carter also tallied 2 assists, finishing with 3 points on the night. After fighting for his spot in training camp, Darroll Powe now has 2 goals this season, he finished with 9 goals in 63 games last season.
Andreas Nodl has played in 3 games this season and got his 1st goal last night, almost had a 2nd. Nodl is an excellent player in both ends and can play with any line on this Flyers teams. After his performance Tuesday it will interesting how Lavi decides to utilize the 23 year old. Nodl subbed for Dan Carcillo in all of his starts this season.
Sergei Bobrovsky got the start in net and bumped his record to 3-2-0. He saved 32 of 35 shots fired his way, giving up only 1 even strength goal. On the Powerplay Bobrovsky saved 1 of the 3 shots he saw.
Here are last night's highlights via NHLVideo
I'm glad Zherdev played good. I think it’s going to take him awhile to adjust to the NHL and gain some confidence. At times he shows flashes of "Giroux like" stick handling. At other times, especially in his own zone, he lacks confidence. If he can score 15-20 goals this season, he was worth the $2M. The jury is still out. I’m rooting for the guy.
ReplyDeleteI’m really disappointed in JVR thus far. I keep waiting for him to have a breakout moment, but it never comes. His has hands are made of stone! I agree with Lavy- he looks faster and stronger this year. I don’t understand why he can’t put the puck in the back of the net. He averages 14 minutes a game, which is plenty of ice time. Hopefully it will come. It's still early.
Powe has been the most improved thus far. He is playing great. He goes to the net hard and back checks hard. The dude has wheels! I hope he can keep it up.
Is it just me, or does Bob sit way too far back in the net. Every goal scored (against Buffalo) were slap shots taken just inside the zone or at the blue line. Although, the last goal that Buffalo scored was a complete breakdown by the Flyers defense- Timonen/Coburn were backed up way too far. They got caught staring at the puck.
Zherdev can be very effective when he plays with confidence, but at times you can tell he's off. I think he can be a top 6 forwards, and hope he will be.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else my expectations are huge for Jvr. I'm glad to see him getting out in front on powerplays. He seems out of place without a good passer like Giroux though.
I love Powe. He makes plays happen just through his hustle.
Bobs does get beat from out far a lot. Could just be him adjusting to shooters with much harder shots than he was seeing in russia.
Thanks for the comment! Lets go Flyers!