Claude Giroux Scores A Beauty As The Flyers Down The Blues On The Road
Flyers 4, Blues 2 | (12-11-6)
It was another game, another not so great start by the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers didn’t get outshot in the 1st period as they were even at 10-a-piece, but the St. Louis Blues for sure got the better of the chances to start the game. Lucky for them, “backup” goaltender Michal Neuvirth has been playing better than anyone could have ever imagined and get the game knotted up at zeroes through the first frame. But of course, it took the Flyers to go down early in the 2nd period before everything to start clicking. The Flyers are a much better team when they are pushed back on their heels. This can tend to get a little problematic, but at the moment, it really seems to be working for them and after giving up that 1st goal of the game, the Flyers were dominant for the majority of the night afterwards. Especially on this gift from Santa Claude which I’m pretty sure you’ll be seeing time and time again in every highlight video for the rest of the year.
For a season that hasn’t quite been going the Flyers way, Claude Giroux has been having quite possibly the best of his career. Through 29 games, he’s closing in on scoring a point-per-game with 27 on 11 goals and 16 assists. Only 2 of those goals have been registered as game winners so far, but I’d say at least half of them have been the dagger put away goal. Claude Giroux has elevated his game to another level this year and it’s been on display all season long. And with the 2nd line doing their thing lately, maybe this season won’t be a complete waste after all.
17 -14 – 24 Continue To Impress
The one line that continually gets extended pressure in the offensive zone shift after shift is the Simmonds-Couturier-Read line. The line really started to come together in that New York game the Saturday after Thanksgiving. But in the 5 games so far this December, Simmer Coots and Read have combined for 9 points and a +9 rating. Typically they’ve been considered a shutdown line in the defensive zone and are given the task of locking down the opposing team’s best players. But over the past few games, they’ve been shutting down their opponents by spending the majority of their time deep in the offensive zone which is a beautiful sight to see. Also, so is this…
Michal Neuvirth Continues To Be Worth The Price Of Admission
Like I said up top, the Blues were peppering Neuvy with chances early in the 1st period. But he was sharp early on and sharp throughout the entire game. He stopped 35 of the 37 shots that came his way and the only two goals that got past him were right on the doorstep as the Flyers defense left a man all alone (one of which was Gostisbehere’s fault who hasn’t really had the best stretch of games lately). The Flyers haven’t announced who will start tonight in Dallas but I wouldn’t be surprised if Neuvy gets the nod if he’s feeling up to the task. He’s earned back-to-back starts with how he came in relief for Mason the other night and how he played in St. Louis last night. He ertainly hasn’t been playing like a back up.
All The Lines Started To Click Last Night
I’m still gonna stick to my guns here and say I’m a proponent of bringing Jake Voracek back up to the 1st line to see if he and Giroux can finally find that chemistry they had last season again. But at the moment, Michael Raffl and Brayden Schenn are making it pretty damn difficult to drop them from playing with G. Baby Schenn has been up on the top line for 9 games now and during those 9 games, he has 7 points and Claude has had about infinity. They seem to be elevating each other’s game right now so I guess we’ll just have to wait until that wears off for Jake to get his chance again. But as for the rest of the team last night, all 18 skaters registered at least 1 shot on net. All of them. I don’t know if that’s ever happened in the past 2 seasons. The top line is going to work. The 2nd line has been dominant. Jake – Bellemare – VandeVelde are getting their chances. And then the fourth line is staying gritty with Ryan White and RJ Umberger back in the lineup which is unexpected to say the least.
The Other Guys
– I thought Radko Gudas had himself a great game last night. Typically I’m a little hard on Gudas’ game just because I think he’s more of a thug out there than anything. But if he keeps playing like he played last night, well then maybe that 3-game suspension actually taught him a lesson because he played mean last night but he also played clean. If you can be a big physical presence out there without ending up i the penalty box, then you’ll earn your stay around this team.
– Watching the Flyers play in the 3rd period with a lead is more of a cardiovascular activity than any sort of running you could ever do. It’s like that Eagles-Patriots game. They have the lead but in the back of your mind, you know that they’re going to find a way to fuck it all up. Especially with sequences like this that almost make you question whether or not you can continue to watch the team without dying.
– Ryan White sealed the deal with the empty netter at the end. This means that Ryan White is now on a 2-game goal streak. I know that everyone is captivated by Patrick Kane’s current streak but honestly, I think this one is more impressive.
– Again, Ghost seemed to look human out there last night. He’s a rookie so I’m not expecting him to be amazing night in and night out. But the play in the defensive zone in general wasn’t anything to be proud about aside from Neuvy last night. Especially not the way they broke out of the zone because I almost lost count of how many times they turned the puck over at their own blue line.
– Claude goal one more time.
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December 17th, Flyers vs Canucks, All you can eat/drink. Should be the best of time for all involved.
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