Inside Hockey/ Rob Marks

The Flyers fell 5-3 to the New Jersey Devils for their fourth loss against an Atlantic Division opponent but the biggest loss wasn’t in the standings.

Kimmo Timonen never returned to the ice after the second period. Paul Holmgren didn’t say much other than he is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

If Timonen is on the shelf for even a few games, it will be a huge blow to the already depleted Flyers blue line. Not only is Timonen their best defenseman, he has helped turn Luke Schenn’s game completely around.

The defense has been the weakness all season and this game was no different. The Flyers made costly turnovers and after the first period, their forecheck was basically non-existent.

Travis Zajac opened up the scoring for the Devils just 40 seconds into the game but the Flyers came back with three goals scored by Wayne Simmonds, Matt Read and Mike Knuble in less than three minutes to finish the first with a 3-1 lead.

The Devils made it a one-goal game 26 seconds into the second period when Martin Brodeur lobbed a dead-on pass to center ice to Ilya Kovalchuk who fed it Alexei Ponikarovsky. Patrik Elias tied the game at three after yet another Flyers turnover.

The Flyers have been tied after two periods four times this season. They have come out with zero points in each.

David Clarkson broke the tie with his tenth goal on the season and Steve Bernier put the cherry on top with an empty netter when Peter Laviolette pulled Ilya Bryzgalov with a little less than two minutes left to play.

Bryzgalov has been the Flyers best player so far this season and even in a game where he looked a little rusty, the players in front of him didn’t help make his job any easier.  Between the leaky defense and the offense going cold, the blame can be spread all around the locker room.

The Flyers are headed to Montreal to play the Canadiens Saturday night for the second game of this back-to-back.

Photo: bridgetds/Flickr

The Flyers will look to continue their winning streak to three games Thursday night when the Florida Panthers come to the Wells Fargo Center.

Meanwhile, Kimmo Timonen is close to signing a one-year, $6 million contract extension according to Tim Pannacio of CSN Philly.

This would make Timonen the highest-paid defenseman on the Flyers at 38 years old. Since joining the team in 2007, Timonen has only missed 12 games.

The price may seem high especially at Timonen’s age but considering it’s only a one-year deal, the higher cap hit is expected. There are injury concerns and with the cap going down to $64 million next season, there is a strong chance he could become a liability.

There is no doubt, however, that Timonen is a much-needed veteran presence on such a young team. His influence is clearly already apparent on newcomer Luke Schenn and even with Timonen’s lack of speed, he is still an asset to any blueline.

The Flyers are expected to make an announcement later this week.

Inside Hockey/Bob Fina

It’s been over a week since the Flyers were eliminated and we last updated. Both equally suck so apologies on being MIA. Luckily during our hiatus, there was little to no news on the Flyers.

Claude Giroux advanced to the final four in the NHL ’13 cover bracket. He beat out Kings center Anze Kopitar who is too busy playing his way to the Stanley Cup Finals. Scott Hartnell sadly didn’t make it. You can vote for Giroux here.

Paul Holmgren finally released the list of players who needed surgery. Here is the list:

• Giroux needed surgery on both of his wrists to repair torn cartilage (right) and remove bone spurs (left). He should be fully healed after six weeks.
• Wayne Simmonds had surgery to fix his broken left index finger. This sort of explains why he was basically a no-show for most of the playoffs. Simmonds’ recovery time is 4-6 weeks.
• James van Riemsdyk will have surgery next week to repair a torn labrum in his right hip. JVR was visibly ailing when he returned from his foot injury in the Penguins series. He should be fully recovered in six weeks.
• Matt Carle didn’t really show any signs of pain but he had surgery to repair a torn stomach muscle. He is expected to make a full recovery for next season. Whether or not Carle will be in a Flyers uniform is another story.
• Last but certainly not least, Kimmo Timonen will also have surgery next week to remove a disc fragment from his lower back. It seems as if Timonen is always laboring through injuries so hopefully he will be as close to 100% healthy as he could possibly be by training camp.

That pretty much wraps up what has been going on in the last week. In case you shut down once the Flyers were eliminated, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and the LA Kings are just win away from going to the Finals.

Inside Hockey/ Kris Mendoza

Less than 48 hours after being bounced from the Stanley Cup Playoffs four games to one to the New Jersey Devils, the Philadelphia Flyers cleared out their lockers Thursday and reflected on the season.

Paul Holmgren and Peter Laviolette also met with the media and had some interesting things to say.

Here are some of the highlights:

Paul Holmgren

• The biggest quote of the day came when Homer told reporters Ilya Bryzgalov is responsible for stopping the puck, not entertaining the media and fans, saying it isn’t “Comedy Central.” Homer said it in a jokingly manner, well, as jovial as Homer can possibly be. He expects Bryz to perform much better in 2012-13 after having a season in Philly under his belt.
• Holmgren wouldn’t commit to naming a new captain for next season, stating that Chris Pronger is still the Flyers’ captain, even though he is still experiencing concussion symptoms. Homer said he would like to stay optimistic and believe that Pronger could return.
• With several players potentially filing for free agency, Homer said he expects to re-sign Matt Carle at a discount and that while they would love to bring Jaromir Jagr back, he knows that there are many teams that would want him, meaning his salary is likely on the rise.
• After shipping them out of town last summer, Holmgren said that he hopes Mike Richards and Jeff Carter win the Stanley Cup with the LA Kings, who are facing the Phoenix Coyotes in the Western Conference Finals. He did make sure to add that he is happy with the trades and he doesn’t regret it.

» Continue reading “Flyers Clean Out Lockers, Reflect on Season”

Inside Hockey/ Bob Fina

The Philadelphia Flyers were embarrassed out of their own building after the Devils completely owned them to take Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals 4-1.

The two biggest questions this postseason have been whether Ilya Bryzgalov is capable of stealing games and if the Flyers can get out to a good start and play a full 60 minutes.

Both of these questions were answered.

The Flyers came out guns blazing completely outworking the Devils from puck drop. Matt Read gave them the early lead with an angle shot just 2:53 minutes into the first period.

It looked as if the Flyers would finally play a full 60 minutes like they have been talking about for so long.

Then the second period happened.
» Continue reading “Flyers Fail to Show Up, Devils Take Game 2″

Inside Hockey/Bill Stahl

Before the first-round started, we took a look at the matchup between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins and chose three reasons why the Flyers would win the series and three reasons why they would lose. Now that we are three days removed from the heated series, let’s take a look at how those six factors contributed to the Flyers’ victory.

Mr. Universe: It’s safe to say that if the Flyers plan on bringing home the Stanley Cup,  Ilya Bryzgalov has to be better than the he was against the Penguins. He did earn all four wins and looked really solid in between the pipes in Game 6, giving up only one goal out of the 31 shots he faced. That being said, in six starts, Bryzgalov had a .871 save percentage and a 3.89 goals against average. Not necessarily Con Smythe material. The reason this didn’t send the Flyers packing is because Marc-Andre Fleury was even uglier, finishing the series with a .834 save percentage and 4.63 GAA. Chances are the Flyers aren’t going to get so lucky next time.
» Continue reading “Why the Flyers Beat the Penguins”

Inside Hockey/ Bob Fina

Almost ten months ago exactly, this is the vision the Philadelphia Flyers had when they signed Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine year, $51 million contract. Bryzgalov held the Pittsburgh Penguins to just one goal to send his team to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

After failing to close out the series the past two games, Claude Giroux and the Flyers finally finished off the Penguins with the 5-1, total team effort, win in front of the sea of orange and black fans.

Giroux set the tone by nailing Sidney Crosby in the first seconds of the game. Crosby and the Penguins never had an answer. Before Crosby could even shake off the hit, Giroux fired one from the circle and went top-shelf on Marc-Andre Fleury to give the Flyers the 1-0 lead. It was the Flyers’ first even-strength goal since the early seconds in Game three’s third period.

Danny Briere was sent to the box for hooking to give the Penguins the first power-play of the game. Despite great puck movement, the Penguins couldn’t get one past the Flyers’ defense who finally decided to show up.

The Flyers combined for a total of 40 blocked shots, 30 of them coming from the defense which was missing Nicklas Grossmann for the second straight game.
» Continue reading “Flyers Advance, Send Penguins Home”

Inside Hockey/ Bob Fina

It took five games but playoff hockey was finally played between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers. Defense and goaltending win games in the postseason and that is how the Penguins staved off elimination for the second straight game and beat the Flyers 3-2 at the CONSOL Energy Center.

For the first five minutes after the puck dropped, it looked as if it was going to be another high-scoring game with both teams flying down the ice and back and forth play.

The biggest thing the Flyers wanted improve on from the embarrassing loss in Game 4 was the amount of penalties. They felt that the best way for them to end the series was to play five-on-five hockey.

They may want to re-think that idea.

The Flyers haven’t scored an even-strength goal since 27 seconds into the third period in Game 3.

The Flyers took the lead when Matt Carle fired one from the point on the power-play in the middle of the first period. Penguins Steve Sullivan evened it up on the man-advantage with Braydon Coburn in the box for interference. With Craig Adams and Evgeni Malkin in the box for tossing Brayden Schenn to the ice, the Flyers had a 5-on-3 late in the first. Scott Hartnell put the Flyers up 2-1 heading into the first intermission. Surprisingly, it was Hartnell’s first goal of the series.
» Continue reading “Fleury, Penguins Take Series Back to Philly”

Inside Hockey/ Bill Stahl

They may call the Flyers the comeback kids but even they couldn’t come back from a seven goal deficit. In a decisive Game 4 where the Flyers could have sent the Penguins home in embarrassment, they laid down and let the Penguins score 10 goals to send the series back to Pittsburgh.

Flyers fans packed in the Wells Fargo Center with brooms in hand and “we hate you too” shirts on, anticipating a sweep. Instead they were subjected to the most decisive home playoff loss in team history.

It wouldn’t be a Flyers playoff series without a goalie change, would it?

Ilya Bryzgalov was pulled after giving up five goals on 18 shots. His replacement, however, actually made him look like a Vezina Trophy winner. Sergei Bobrovsky gave up four goals on just 13 shots.

The referees set the tone early, calling the game’s first of many penalties just 17 seconds into the game. Unlike the first three games, Claude Giroux put the Flyers on the board first with a power-play goal, his fifth of the series.
» Continue reading “Penguins Score 10, Embarrass Flyers”

InsideHockey/Rob Marks

Game one’s epic comeback will go down as one of the top moments in Flyers’ playoff history. Sure it was only the first game of (hopefully) many, but it was against heavily favored – and hated – Penguins.

While it’s exciting after the fact, giving up early leads and having to climb a multi-goal deficit is not the recipe for success in the playoffs. It’s safe to say that the Flyers are in the Penguins heads at least a little bit. If, but at this point it’s only a matter of when, the Penguins gain a lead, it is always going to be in the back of their minds that these Flyers can come back from anything.

During the regular season the Flyers allowed opponents to score first 46 times and fell behind by at least two goals eight times in their last 13 games, including Game 1. It worked for them during the first 82 games of the season, however. They erased a two or more goal deficit ten times and won nine of them.

That being said, while this formula may get the Flyers past Pittsburgh, it’s not going to fly for the next 12 games they have to win to get the Stanley Cup. During the 2011 postseason, the Flyers found themselves in the same situation, rarely jumping out ahead early. In 11 playoff games, the opponents scored first seven times, with the Flyers losing six of the seven. If you remember, the one win came against the Sabres on Easter Sunday when Ville Leino scored the game winner.
» Continue reading “Flyers Playing With Fire”