Game #75 Review: Bruins 4 @ Flyers 3 3/27/09

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Bruins won both in Philadelphia, and the Flyers won both in Boston. So much for giving the home town fans a good time.

• So the Flyers didn't win. Not apocalyptic. They played pretty well (minus one), and it's not the playoffs. Losses are allowed. While catching New Jersey for the division title would be nice, losing that possibility isn't worth crying over.
• What is worth crying over is Antero Niittymaki. His last three starts at home he has surrendered three goals in the first period. Twice now his three goal leaks have cost the Flyers the lead. All three of these home starts he has lost. Throw in his last road game, and he's 0-4 in his last four starts.
  
• Yes, both teams had to play back-to-back games, but the Flyers had to play three in four nights, where this was only the Bruins second game in seven days. Another reason not to worry about this loss.
  
• Claude Giroux is really good at this game. Really, really good.

A couple days off, then a home-and-home with Toronto. Should win both, but one is acceptable. Toronto is all over the place these days, so expect some weird, crappy, high-scoring hockey.

The Hat, Part Deux

Ed Moran of the Philadelphia Daily News today broke the story of the Flyers' ugly orange Player of the Game Hat. Oh wait, that's not right. Yours truly was all over this story weeks ago. And I don't even write about this stuff for a living...

In my continuing efforts to be the preeminent source for all things related to The Hat, I now present the updated gallery of all The Hat winners in 2009:

New Jersey 3/23/09 -- Jeff Carter (1 goal, his 40th of the season).

Pittsburgh 3/22/09 -- Ryan Parent (1 assist, held Malkin and Crosby to zero shots)

Buffalo 3/20/09 -- Danny Briere (2 goals)

NY Rangers 3/14/09 -- Arron Asham (2 goals)

Buffalo 3/10/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.


Nashville 3/7/09 -- Joffrey Lupul (2 goals).

Boston 3/3/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Los Angeles 2/25/09 -- Martin Biron (34 shots, 34 saves in the shoutout).

Washington 2/24/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Buffalo 2/19/09 -- Mike Richards (2 goals and 3 assists)


NY Rangers 2/15/09 -- Claude Giroux (1 goal and 2 assists)

NY Islanders 2/14/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.


Atlanta 2/8/09 -- Scott Hartnell (2 assists and ZERO(!) penalties)

Boston 2/7/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.


Tampa Bay 1/30/09 -- Antero Niittymaki (42 shots, 41 saves, and an assist).

Atlanta 1/21/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Florida 1/16/09 -- Antero Niittymaki (34 shots, 32 saves)

Toronto 1/10/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Minnesota 1/8/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Anaheim 1/2/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Game #67 Review: Flyers @ Rangers 3/15/09

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Et tu, Justin St. Pierre?

• I'm really not big on blaming the officiating. I don't know that I ever have on here before. But holy crap, there were some absolutely terrible calls in this game. A blood drawing high stick on Braydon Coburn gets ignored, then he hits the guy behind the play and gets a game misconduct. The fourth, backbreaking goal, was a result of the Flyers letting up thinking a call was imminent on the hook against Matt Carle.
• The Flyers gave up four power play goals to the team ranked 28th in the league on the power play. Horrendous.
• This weekend made the goalie situation even clearer. Martin Biron played well yesterday, then today Antero Niittymaki was mediocre at best. Lundqvist started both games this weekend--should Biron have as well?
• Jeff Carter and Ryan Parent were both on the ice for three Rangers goals. Shame.
• Daniel Briere makes his linemates on the fourth line look real good. Not because he's a great playmaker, but because he makes them look good by comparison. He's been absolutely awful and out of shape, and needs to be a healthy scratch until he can skate faster than a sled hockey player. The only thing he contributed was a penalty.
• There were some real odd combinations out there late in the game. Every single Flyer, including Darroll Powe and Riley Cote, played on the penalty kill. Bizarre.
• Speaking of Riley Cote, he saw less than three minutes of ice time today. There has to be a better use of a roster spot.
• Having Sean Avery score four goals on his team is something no hockey fan should ever have to experience.

Real big week ahead. At Detroit, At Buffalo, At Pittsburgh. Need at least three points there.

Game #66 Preview: Rangers @ Flyers 3/14/09

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The two games this weekend vs. the Rangers obviously count the same in the standings, but I get the sense that Sunday's means more. It a nationally televised, network game at Madison Square Garden. But before tomorrow comes today, and today looks pretty good.

Why the Flyers Will Win:

• The Rangers, who were way out in first place to start the season at 10-2-1, had fallen out of playoff position to ninth before just recently getting back up to seventh. The Flyers have been much steadier throughout, and that counts for a lot.
• The last time these two teams met it was an absolute ass kicking.
• Martin Biron has been very solid of late, and he gets the start today, with Antero Niittymaki getting the nod for tomorrow.
• I really refuse to believe they're in any danger, but the Flyers technically are only five points ahead of ninth place. They're mentioning how tight it is in press conferences, which has boded well in the past.
• Sean Avery.

Why the Rangers Will Win:

• I'm betting Daniel Carcillo is going to do something real stupid with Avery. Stevens foreshadowed it pretty explicitly in his presser, and Carcillo is certainly still looking to make a name for himself.
• The last time the Rangers visited the Wach was a long time ago. When she was still relevant.Sarah's spirit still haunts the building, and the presence of two Alaskans (Matt Carle and Scott Gomez) is certain to awaken it. Maybe Ed Snider can pipe in some more deafening applause and patriotic music as an offering. Comcast-Spectacor will need to do something to keep the Ghost of Palin Past at bay, because she can't be happy about her daughter being dumped by her son-of-a-meth-dealer baby daddy.

Prediction: Rangers 3-2. Not feeling this one.

Oh, and if anyone can count the number of times Jeff Carter shrugs in the below clip, please post your estimate in the comments. I appreciate the help, because I just can't count that high.

Flyers Geography / In Defense of Randy Jones

Back in November, the Flyers were named by the Finnish Embassador to the United States as "the most Finnish team in the National Hockey League", due to the league high presence of four Finnish Players (Antero Niittymaki, Kimmo Timonen, Lasse Kukkonen, and Ossi Vaananen), as well as Finnish-American team President Peter Luukko. Add some past Flyers like Illkka Sinisalo and Sami Kapanen, and you've got yourself quite the Little Helsinki on Broad Street.

The Finns knew the Flyers were especially deserving of this award, as they did not allow any player who is not Finnish, Canadian, or American player into their lineup. The Flyers expressed their gratitude for this honor by putting Vaananen and Kukkonen on waivers.

The Flyers currently only have players from three countries, sharing the title of least international team with the Calgary Flames, who incidentally also only have Canadians, Americans, and Finns. Not a Swede, Czech, Slovak, or Russian to be found for miles.

This isn't to say that the Flyers don't have some demographic uniqueness. Randy Jones is from Quispamsis, New Brunswick. And despite the fact that there are 736,000 Canadians from New Brunswick, Randy Jones is the only New Brunswicker to currently be in the NHL. Out of the 476 Canadians currently in the NHL, Randy is the only one from a population that, proportionally, should have ten. Even Prince Edward Island, with a population of only 140,000, has more NHLers than New Brunswick (2).

I'm definitely not a Randy Jones hater. He got the highest vote total in the dump the chump poll, sure, but he's a pretty solid, physical defenseman who led the team in +/- last year, and is fifth in the team this year at +12, behind only Richards, Gagne, Carter, and Timonen, even though Randy has played only 32 games this season. None too shabby.

He's clearly overcome some major obstacles making it out of the hockey black hole that is New Brunswick. Props, Mr. Jones, Props.

(I wrote all this not counting Andreas Nodl, because we all know he doesn't matter).

The Hat

"This is the first time I've had the hat...and I make it look pretty good."
--Joffrey Lupul (at 2:45)

So said yesterday's two time goal scorer Joffrey Lupul in a post game interview, setting yours truly on an odyssey through the Flyers TV video archives of unprecedented ambition. I had noticed the ugly orange Flyers trucker hat before, but had never thought too much of it. It looks like it was probably made in the 80s, and found in some old supply closet at the Spectrum. My dad has a bunch just like it in his closet at home, though mostly in black, not that beautifully Flyersy orange.

The hat clearly serves as a sort of player of the game award, likely bestowed by John Stevens after each win. I had never heard the hat directly referenced before Lupul's comments, so hadn't picked up on any patterns previously. So I went digging.

And now, I present to you, the results of my research into every Flyers win in 2009, in order to forever immortalize the men whose triumphs earned them each The Hat.

Nashville 3/7/09 -- Joffrey Lupul (2 goals).

Boston 3/3/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Los Angeles 2/25/09 -- Martin Biron (34 shots, 34 saves in the shoutout).

Washington 2/24/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Buffalo 2/19/09 -- Mike Richards (2 goals and 3 assists)

NY Rangers 2/15/09 -- Claude Giroux (1 goal and 2 assists)

NY Islanders 2/14/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.


Atlanta 2/8/09 -- Scott Hartnell (2 assists and ZERO(!) penalties)

Boston 2/7/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.


Tampa Bay 1/30/09 -- Antero Niittymaki (42 shots, 41 saves, and an assist).

Atlanta 1/21/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Florida 1/16/09 -- Antero Niittymaki (34 shots, 32 saves)
Niitty appears to be the only two-time hat winner

Toronto 1/10/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Minnesota 1/8/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Anaheim 1/2/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

I skimmed a few 2008 videos, but The Hat doesn't seem to make any appearances. before that Florida game in January.

As should go without saying, The Flyer Frequent is THE place for any further updates on any The Hat related developments, as well as stats, charts, graphs, projections, and polls on future The Hat winners. Stay tuned.

Game #64 Review: Predators 1 @ Flyers 4 3/7/09

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Didn't see this one coming.

• The bounce back from that flameout Thursday was pretty unbelievable. A very commanding win over a team on a six-game win streak is exactly what the doctor ordered.
• Martin Biron was at his lights out best. Flashy as hell, with absurdly overly dramatic glove saves and that absolutely nuts goal line stop that leads off the above recap vid. He let in a soft goal, sure, but the swagger was great to see. Asked why he made so many big saves, Marty replied "I just want to be on TV." Martin was in the SportsCenter Top Ten for his save on Jokinen vs. Calgary on Thursday, and is clearly already addicted to the fame. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but it looks like the goalie controversy has subsided for the time being. Sorry Niitty, but Montreal and Calgary were both real shitty efforts.
• Easily Joffrey Lupul's best game of the year, as he becomes the sixth Flyer to hit 20 goals on the year. And he gets the hat? More on that later, as the FF's crack research team is hard at work pursuing all leads hat related. We're on to something big here.
• Poor Riley Cote clearly feels his usefulness diminishing to nothing. Daniel Carcillo arrives Thursday, and Riley feels threatened so he fights on Thursday. Carcillo drops the gloves tonight, and Riley feels threatened so he has to have an even bigger fight the very next shift. Carcillo got a point tonight too, which has to stick in Riles' craw all the more. Honestly, Riley can't possibly get any ice time in the playoffs, so it should be only a matter of time before Holmgren lets him get comfortable with the Phantoms.
• Flyers gained a game on the Devils tonight to boot. Because they lost to the Islanders. They lost by four. They lost to the ISLANDERS by FOUR. Sit back and enjoy this.

Huge set of games coming up. Sabres on Versus, Capitals, Rangers, Rangers on NBC, Red Wings on Versus, Sabres, Penguins, Devils on Versus, and Panthers, all in the next eighteen days. Should be fairly awesome stuff.

Game #63 Review: Flames 5 @ Flyers 1 3/5/09

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So this is how good the Flyers are after the trade deadline. Pathetic.

• While the Flyers were busy giving up FOUR goals in the first period, a guy you may have heard of named Scottie Upshall was busy scoring a goal up in Boston, and leading his lowly Coyotes to a win over the mighty Bruins. Remember when he was scoring goals for the Flyers? That was nice. The video is below, if you wanna twist the knife some more.
  
  
• As much as I'm ready to hate him, Daniel Carcillo wasn't all bad tonight. Didn't do much special, but didn't do anything worse than anybody. Then again, his new teammates set the bar perilously low.
• This was the second REAL bad first period in a row for Antero Niittymaki in as many home games. Gave up four to Calgary after giving up three to Montreal. The goalie carousel keeps turning...
• These Flames look damn good with their new acquisitions. You gotta like their chances of making it out of the West.
• Riley Cote fought early for a reason. He really has to prove his relevance now with two capable fighters in Arron Asham and Carcillo in the line up, both of whom can occasionally put a puck in the net. Something Riles can't even imagine doing.
• More on the Briere injury disaster later. I don't hate myself enough to write about it now.

In conclusion, this game was absolutely gross and horrible. Paired with wins from Pittsburgh and the Rangers, this night went just about as badly as it possibly could have.

Game #62 Review: Flyers 4 @ Bruins 2 3/3/09

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Huge.

Huge.

Huge.

Big big game. Right to it.

• This was a real reassuring game for a team with a whole lot of drama surrounding it. The drama won't necessarily end in these last fifteen or so hours before the deadline, but this game might take away some of the urgency Holmgren is probably feeling.
• I'm one to play favorites, but I really haven't had one Flyer stand out for me since Sami Kapanen left. I'm not looking for like a Carter or Richards who everyone knows is awesome, but somebody whose name isn't on a lot of jerseys. And damn, Scottie Upshall sure was that guy tonight. He's not big but absolutely leveled people out there, and he's not known for being a great goal scorer, but he had a real nice goal tonight, and if you remember he got a game-tying goal in Game 7 against Washington and the series winning goal vs Montreal in Game 5. He gets stuck on the third line mostly, but if he was on one of the top two lines he'd most certainly have ~25 goals a season.
• The NESN announcers made some reference to Scottie Upshall complaining that the media is obsessed with his good looks and should focus more on his hockey abilities. Did I miss his anointing as the Anna Kournikova of the NHL? Someone more informed on puck bunny culture needs to catch me up here.
• If they trade Scottie Upshall tomorrow after my above slurping, I won't be amused.
• Simon Gagne had a huge game too, with two goals. Overshadowed now by the younger guns, but Gagne is a real reliable veteran presence that will be huge come playoff time, guaranteed.
• Kimmo Timonen makes such a huge difference. It still makes me slam my head into walls thinking about how that Penguins series would have gone had he been healthy for all of it...
• Here's how it had gone the previous four games. Great Niittymaki game, great Biron game, bad Niittymaki game, bad Biron game. And now, on the eve of a trade deadline game, a great game from Niittymaki. It might just be luck of the draw for Niittymaki, sort of a "she loves me, she loves me not" situation where his name happened to come up on the last petal. Biron's name has been swirling around more than anybody's most recently, and he's awfully pricy to be a backup. Niitty getting the start tonight and capitalizing on it might be the straw that puts Biron on a plane tomorrow night.
• Randy Jones might have been the only player with a real bad game tonight. I haven't been as hard on him as a lot of people have, but this was bad. He has to be pretty distracted by the trade rumors, and his morale is probably low from seeing the results of the poll here (53% of the vote as of now...ouch).
• But right after I write that, I see that Jones was a team leading +3 on the night. I'm full of crap, clearly.
• Daniel Briere, the biggest name potentially on the trade block, had a pretty decent game given that it was only his second back. That Giroux-Briere-Upshall line is a thing of beauty, and should definitely see more time together.

Predicted 4-3, got 4-2. Not bad. The most Flyersy Western Conference team, the Calgary Flames, come to town on Thursday. Should be a good show.

Knuble, Richards, Timonen, and Stevens post-game reactions here for ya

Midas Touch

While the Flyers were busy rolling their eye's at current Flyer Finn Antero Niittymaki's craptastic effort vs. Montreal, former Flyer Finn Sami Kapanen stayed cool in his blinged out gold helmet, which he gets to wear for leading KalPa Kuopio in scoring. Stay cool, Sami.

If that wasn't enough, Sami is also majority owner of the team. Owner, top scorer, gold helmet wearer. Talk about your triple threats.

Game #58 Review: Flyers 4 @ Capitals 2 2/24/08

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My cell phone photography skills are unparalleled.

• Arron Asham's goal was real pretty, but what doesn't get talked about enough on that play was what a horrible effort it was by Jose Theodore. Theodore started solid, but once the goals came they came hard and fast. As much as they don't like to agree with the rest of the league telling them this, Caps need a goalie at the trade deadline.
• You know who doesn't need a goalie at the trade deadline? The Flyers. Antero Niittymaki has really locked up the starting job barring any huge collapse. The Flyers need to be ready to remove him from the role if necessary, but it's gotta be his for now.
• Huge night for Riley Cote, which I don't think anyone expected. Riley was a +1 for probably the first time in his life, getting an assist on Asham's goal AND avoiding getting his face broken in half again by Donny Brashear. NO idea why Stevens put him on the ice with under eight minutes left in a one goal game, but the demoralization his playmaking caused was probably the highlight of the night.
• The Flyers depth on defense is amazing. As good as Kimmo Timonen, the Flyers really didn't miss a beat with their #7 d-man, Ossi Vaananen, in his place.
• Jeff Carter was the #1 star, but really didn't deserve it after that horrible turnover that led to Ovechkin's goal. The #1 star should have been...
• ...Claude Giroux, who clearly has studied at the Daniel Briere school of standing next to the net behind the goalie. The Flyers don't need Briere with Giroux playing this well (though one of those angles he took a shot from was absurdly acute).
• Scott Hartnell (erroneously second star) still has one of the best shots on the Flyers (probably second behind Carter), but needs to start being fined for these penalties. He now leads the league in minor penalties (link I found all by myself, I'm awesome)

Flyers play the Kings tonight. Dangerous opponent, could very easily be a letdown game. Kings won in a shootout in Minnesota last night, so did way more traveling. Hopefully Flyers ride this wave well, and hopefully Martin Biron feels like he has something to prove, because he does.

Most Worstest Goal Ever For All Eternity

I like Marty Biron a lot. He's so damn chipper, was huge against most every game the Flyers won in the playoffs last year, and it's just so easy to get lost in those eyes. Seriously, have you ever seen anyone with eyes that color? He's clearly some sort of alien or reptile or something.

But the goal that Biron gave up with only a couple minutes left to squander a huge Flyers comeback against the Penguins really sucked. No goalie has any business ever being past the faceoff dots when any opposing player is within the FAR blue line, much less the near one. And just throwing the puck behind your back to avoid delay of game? Just skate around with it in your glove, press it up against a Penguin to emphasize that it's contested. Not hard to do.

Watching this video will almost certainly make you contemplate suicide, so unless that's something you're up for, you may just wanna scroll past it.




I'm not in the Philly area and only got the FSN Pittsburgh feed. Sweet fuck, those commentators are the most biased shits in the league. When Richards got tripped and fell he was "Greg Louganis." When Crosby didn't get tripped but fell anyway and drew a penalty it was "a great heads up play to get his team on the power play...so what if it was a little embellishment, eh?" When Hartnell got a puck to the face and went down, they cackled and said "couldn't happen to a nicer guy."


I hope those assholes are planning on paying their mortgages with the money they get from calling Penguins playoff games, because I would love to personally repossess their homes, belongings, and children and give them to the Octomom.


Watch Marty and Richie sound remorseful as they sandwich a Lupul interview that is just completely off. No one has ever sounded so giggly saying "we hate losing."



Niitty clearly gets the start vs. Washington. From there, who knows.

Here We Go Again...

The Flyers are nothing if not good for a goalie controversy every few weeks. Over the last couple decades duels such as Soderstrom Roussel, Hextall vs Snow, Hextall vs Vanbeisbrouck, Vanbeisbrouck vs Boucher, Boucher vs Cechmanek, Cechmanek vs Esche, Esche vs Hackett, Esche vs Niittymaki, and now Niittymaki vs Biron.

Martin Biron's rise and fall as the Flyers' go-to starter is a lot like Brian Boucher's. Real solid run to the conference finals in his first playoff effort, then scratchy play in the regular season that gives the backup a window.

Antero Niittymaki was sort of named the starter by John Stevens last week, but in a way that was hardly written in stone. And then he played crappy against the Senators, blamed it on the flu, opening the door for Marty Biron to get back to back wins this weekend over the two teams from New York (the Islanders may be the better of the two at this point).

So who is it gonna be in the future? I say let 'em duel for it. There's really no way of knowing. Biron was solid in the playoffs, and if it's a push I say let him start the post-season, though on a short leash.

What say you?

(I really should rename this thing The Flyer Infrequent. My computer is back from repairs and running and midterms are over for now, so hopefully I'll be back to my regular clip from now on...Thanks to those of you who keep checking even in my hiatus.)

Game #47 Preview: Flyers @ Panthers 1/27/09

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Flyers play their first game in a week (and only second in eleven days) tonight against the Florida Panthers. Do they still remember how to skate? Only time will tell...

Why the Flyers will win:

• Antero Niitymaki will hopefully start, and he's a crazy 8-0 against the southeast division this season, including the win last week over Florida.
• Jay Bouwmeester doesn't have the people skills it takes to win hockey games, as per Mirtle.

Why the Panthers will win:

• With trade rumors swirling around practically every Flyer who doesn't have a letter on his sweater (except maybe Hartnell), it would be pretty understandable for the Flyers to be pretty distracted.

That's all I got for this one. It's been a while, there's really no telling what the hell will happen. I'll predict Panthers by two, just in case the Flyers are as unpumped for this game as I am.

Game #45 Review: Flyers 3 (SO) @ Panthers 2 1/16/09

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Antero and Kimmo perform traditional Finnish victory dance.

Flyers halt their losing streak at two and get a shootout win over a very hot Panthers team, to go 1-1 on their first of two Florida swings this month. Wasn't pretty, but it's two points.

• A win is a win. But jeez, what a crappy win. Florida dominated the second and third periods, took fewer penalties, got way more shots. The Flyers have sort of made this their way (stealing wins), but it can't possibly be the right plan for the long run. Improvements have to be made, and sooner rather than later, before this rut gets too deep.
• God those penalties were awful. Three delay of game penalties? And one in the last minutes of the game from Lupul? That's just totally unacceptable.
• Definitely Simon Gagne's best game in a long time. That shootout move was real pretty.
• The shootout, never a strongsuit, has looked much better lately. And if and when Briere returns, it will be even more betterer.
• Niittymaki looked much more solid than Biron did yesterday, and especially looked improved in the shootout. This pair of games will undoubtedly get people thinking about whether or not there should be any sort of goalie controversy. Nowhere near time for that, I say. Biron still tends to play huge in the real huge games, and that's what matters most.
• Jeff Carter back in the league lead with 30 goals in 45 games. He's on pace for over fifty, which would be pretty awesome. Don't think I would've had him as one of the three most likely players to do that this season.
• Devils, Rangers and Penguins all won last night, too. Boo.

Bottom line: Winning is good, but shitty wins aren't as good. Shape up, boys. And don't even dream about losing to Atlanta at home.

Nine Best of 2008 -- #7

The only game on the countdown from the 2008-2009 season comes in at #7. Odd scheduling made it so that all four regular season games vs. the Carolina Hurricanes were to be played across only a sixteen day span. The match-up was a good one for the Flyers, and saw the team come away with seven of the eight available points.

No points came in more dramatic fashion than the final two. Flyers dug themselves into a 5-1 hole after two with generally crappy play, especially from Antero Niittymaki. But things started to turn around in the third, with the Wachovia Center remarkably not empty.



Scott Hartnell's first of what would be two hat tricks in a week got the Flyers to 5-3, and goals by Scottie Upshall and Simon Gagne tied the score, helped by way more solid play from Niittymaki.

Flyers won the shootout easily, 2-0, on goals from Gagne and Mike Richards, meaning that the Flyers put six unanswered pucks in the net.

With the Flyers currently in third and the 'Canes in seventh, a first round playoff meeting between the two teams is not totally out of the question. And based on this game, it's safe to say there's no one I'd be happier facing.

Game #40 Review: Flyers 1 @ Capitals 2 (SO) 1/6/09

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Fatty Backstrom struggles to keep up.

The game went exactly as I predicted. Shootout victory for the Capitals which left the Flyers satisfied and the Caps super happy.

What I didn't expect was the defensive effort from the Flyers, holding the Caps to only one goal. This was a really nice game for the Flyer D, who not coincidentally have avoided most of the injury wave. I'm not worried about the Flyers' ability to score goals come playoff time, it's the defense that gives me pause. And they played a real nice game tonight, from the goal line out.

• The Devils' regulation loss tonight really helped make this loss not so bad. We're a game away from the half-way point, and though making the playoffs is looking pretty safe, a division title since 2004 would be much appreciated.
• Hats off to Marty Biron. The one goal against was by far his lowest in some time, and tonight certainly represented his best effort since that shutout of Buffalo. He was pretty decent in the shootout as well, though in a losing effort. He had some absolutely atrocious technique in the second period, and needed a two-pad stack from Ossi Vaananen at one point to stop a Nylander shot, but other than that he was real good. This will be a good time for him to get a lot of games in, with the injury to Niitty hopefully ending in time for Biron to recover from all the starts during the all-star break.
• Two goals in three games for Braydon Coburn. No reason he can't get up to ten goals by the end of the season.
• Next to Ovechkin, the easiest player to identify out there on the ice tonight was Luca Sbisa. He's like a mini-Briere (yes, I realize normal-size Briere is like 5'7'') out there, minus the goal scoring ability. If he works on his finishing ability, he could be a real scoring threat. Until then, he's something of a liability because of the penalty taking. You think as a defenseman he'd be more of a backchecker.
• Thank god there's no shootout in the playoffs, or this would be a real issue. Three in a row makes me hate them even more. The Flyers just stink at these things. All three players tried the exact same move tonight, and all three almost scored on it. Almost doesn't cut it, though. There should be more going for broke in the OT to avoid them at all costs.
• Dontcha wish we got to play the Penguins sooner than a week from now? Let's pray they haven't recovered by then.

I really don't like sugarcoating all these losses like I've been doing. It's just that these losses really haven't been that sour. All the same, it's time for a new, more Philly outlook on things. So I say that from here on out, anything less than two points is unacceptable. Road trip is over, and 2-2-2 is about as mediocre as it could've been.

So wins only, from here on. Especially against Minnesota on Thursday. Git 'er done, boys, or I'll be one pissed-off fish.