Philadelphia Flyers Week in Review
After another week of hockey for the Flyers they proved to us how much of an up and down team they have been this season.
In the last few days of October they picked up their second win of the season against the New York Rangers on Thursday the 24th by a score of 2-1. Matt Read picked up his first goal of the year in the form of a short-handed goal after a lot of chances didn’t go his way in the first few games. Beating the Rangers also snapped a four game losing streak in the process.
On Sat. the 26th the team traveled to Long Island to battle the Islanders. Former Islanders captain Mark Streit made his return to Nassau Coliseum, the Isles’ home rink, this time as a Flyers defenseman. The Flyers made his homecoming a positive one by beating the opposition 5-2. Jake Voracek scored his first goal of the season along with Vincent Lecavalier recording his fourth career hat trick and first as a Flyer. It seemed as if Philadelphia had finally gotten its offense going.
The next game for the Flyers started out well as they played their best period of hockey all year so far, the score was 2-0 in favor of Philadelphia after the first period. Anaheim, the opposition that night had other plans for the rest of the game. They came back from the two goal deficit and beat the Flyers 3-2. Philly stopped skating in the last two periods and the Ducks took advantage of the huge lapse. October ended on a bad note for the Flyers but the first game of November was even worse.
Nov. 1 rolled around and the Washington Capitals came to Philadelphia. Fans were surprised to see Flyers forward Max Talbot traded to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Steve Downie. Downie is back in the orange and black for a second stint after being drafted by the Flyers in 2005.
The Capitals ruined Downie’s return and crushed Philly 7-0. The whole game was a mess for the Flyers. Joel Ward recorded his first career hat trick for Washington and goaltender Brayden Holtby posted his eighth career shutout. Things got interesting when a full on line brawl broke out as Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Vincent Lecavalier and even goalie Ray Emery, all dropped their gloves and fought. It was definitely a sight to see and showed the fans that the Flyers were frustrated and tired of how they have been playing all season. The next game on November third would show a positive note as the Flyers bussed to New Jersey to face the Devils. Brayden Schenn scored the lonely goal for Philadelphia and that was all that was needed as Ray Emery put up a fourteen save shutout to give the Flyers their fourth win on the year.
This past week was another up and down week for the Flyers but there is still a great chunk of the season left to improve themselves. Their next game is Tues, Nov. 5 against Carolina at 7:30 p.m. Fans are hoping they can build on their win from the previous game.
