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Flyers: In Case You Missed It (Week Ending 4/9)

April 10, 2011

Welcome to this week’s edition of Flyers: In Case You Missed It. In this column, we’ll briefly recap the Flyers games from the past week, as well as report on any current team news. Photo Credit: AP Photo Tuesday, April 5th – Senators 5, Flyers 2 This season, the Ottawa Senators were not a very good team (okay, that’s an understatement, but I’m trying to be nice). On Tuesday against the Flyers, though, they looked like one, which is saying a lot about what the Flyers looked like. Mike Richards scored the only two Flyers goals, while five separate players scored for the Senators. Sergei Bobrovsky, who had been announced as the official starting goaltender for the playoffs, ...

Flyers Clinch the Atlantic At Last

April 10, 2011

Alicia Sprenkle

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Photo Credit: AP Photo It wasn't easy, and as Flyers fans know it never is with this team. But the Philadelphia Flyers clinched the Atlantic Division title and the second seed in the East Saturday night. This game was a wild one and it was that way right from the get-go. The Flyers did exactly what everyone had hoped they would do. They came out early like a team on a mission. Before the game was even a minute old, the Flyers jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Kimmo Timonen scored his 6th of the season and Scott Hartnell scored his 23rd. The Flyers went to the attack off the opening face-off. Kimmo Timonen fluttered a shot into the glove of Rick DiPietro. He dropped the puck after de...

Yet Again Another Chance For Philly

April 9, 2011

Larry DAngelo

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The Philadelphia Flyers (46-23-11) enter their last game of the season at home tonight against the New York Islanders (30-38-13) with yet another chance to grab first place, this time in the Atlantic Division only. The Flyers have squandered multiple chances to clinch both the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division in the last week and with one game left their is a lot more than first on the line for this team. They need to improve upon the effort they gave last night, although a pretty solid effort they did play poorly at the start of the second and third periods. The Flyers surrendered two goals and the lead in the first four minutes of the second, the first of the two com...

Flyers Improve, Yet Lose in OT

April 9, 2011

Mark Trible

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There is quite a fine line between a win and a loss in the NHL, especially in overtime. The Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres proved that once again on Friday night in a thrilling 4-3 Buffalo victory. Although the Flyers skated away with only one point, they showed the ability to sustain a high level of play, something that was very much in question before Friday. With one game remaining, the team can clinch the Atlantic Division with a win over the New York Islanders on Saturday. The team has won 20 of their last 21 meetings with the Islanders, but nothing is a given for the Flyers anymore. Despite being outplayed for the very beginning of Friday’s game, the Flyers...

Is It Too Leight For The Flyers ?

April 8, 2011

Larry DAngelo

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With just two games left in the regular season the Philadelphia Flyers (46-23-11) will try to get back on track tonight when they travel to Buffalo to take on possible first round opponent, Buffalo Sabres (41-29-10) at 7:30 PM EST. The Flyers, losers of four straight and 13 of their last 19 games managed only 17 points in that span. The Sabres have been playing well down the stretch, they are 7-1-2 in their last ten. They need one win to clinch a playoff spot and can finish as high as the sixth seed if Montreal stumbles. Matchup This will be the fourth and final meeting of the regular season for these two teams with the Flyers taking two of three and the Sabres taking the m...

Quit Hatin' On Leighton

April 7, 2011

Kim Pollock

4 Comments

On Tuesday, the Flyers announced that goaltender Michael Leighton had been placed on re-entry waivers. He was not claimed by any other team, and rejoined the Flyers on Wednesday. According to Leighton, it was a move that the organization had been planning for a few weeks. It was somewhat of a risky move, placing him on waivers with just two games left in the season, but the organization got the end result they wanted - he was back. The announcement was met with a large amount of criticism. Judging from what I saw on Twitter and read on various blogs, not many people were happy about Leighton being called up. The apparent hatred for Leighton is nothing new; in the past few weeks, I’v...

Which Scotty Will it Be?

April 6, 2011

Alicia Sprenkle

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Since the 07-08 season, the Philadelphia Flyers have been a team that prides themselves on their offensive depth. Having so many 20 goal scorers certainly has been a bragging point. Scotty Hartnell has passed the 20 goal mark three times since 07-08. This season marks his fifth 20+ goal season in the NHL. But the reality is that there is more than one Scotty Hartnell, and no one knows which one we will see next week and hopefully into June. Last season was Hartnell's first season since the lockout in which he scored less than twenty goals. That season should have an imaginary asterisk next to it. Everyone knows what a tough year personally it was for Hartnell, and when personal baggag...

Hapless Flyers Drubbed in Ottawa

April 5, 2011

Mark Trible

2 Comments

Tuesday night, the Philadelphia Flyers held a 2-1 advantage over the Ottawa Senators despite being outplayed for much of the first two periods. Then, with less than two minutes remaining in the second stanza, the Senators scored two goals and retook the lead. They continued to outplay the lethargic Flyers until the final horn sounded. After a humiliating 5-2 defeat, the Flyers have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. The Eastern Conference smells blood, and it’s leaking out of every pore. There has been no secret that the Flyers have struggled throughout the second half of the season this year. Their play has been lackluster and the results been indicative of that. Tuesday ni...

Game Day: Flyers / Senators

April 5, 2011

Larry DAngelo

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The Philadelphia Flyers (46-22-11) will play their last three games of the season this week starting tonight up north in Canada (where you tip strippers with coins) to face the Ottawa Senators (30-39-10). The way the Flyers play in these three games should give some indication on how they will perform in this years playoffs. When it comes to finishing on top of the division and conference the Flyers control their own destiny. Don't be fooled thinking that the Flyers would be happy with the one or two spot as Laviolette has mentioned all year long how he wants the top spot. The Flyers need to win out if they would like to accomplish this goal without depending on any other team. ...

March Introspective

April 4, 2011

Matthew Brigidi

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The following post contains data based upon Philadelphia Flyers games from March 3rd-March 31st. The Flyers played 15 games in March and amassed a record of 6-5-4. 5 of the 15 games had to go to an overtime to be decided. 4 of the 5 overtime games went to a shootout. The Flyers lost every overtime game this month with the exception of beating Dallas in a shootout on March 19th. The Flyers home record was appalling. The Flyers went 1-4-3 in the eight games played at the Wells Fargo Center this month. Seven of the eight games were decided by a single goal. The most goals allowed in any game this month was 7, when the New York Rangers defeated the Flyers, 7-0 at Madison Square Ga...