Flyers Ruin Pens Home Opener with 3-2 Win

Despite a sloppy start, the Flyers ruined the second chance that the Pittsburgh Penguins had to win their first game on home ice in a new arena with a 3-2 win at the CONSOL energy center. Danny Briere scored a beautiful re-direct goal off a Mike Richards shot on the powerplay, giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead early in the second period. Blair Betts followed suit with a garbage goal to get some breathing room. Tyler Kennedy of the Penguins scored an angle shot while Flyers rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was caught too far out of the net at the start of the third, breaking Bob’s shutout hopes.

Claude Giroux scored a shorthanded goal from an awful turnover from Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, which helped protect the lead in a game that was a little too close for comfort. The two goal lead was blown seconds later when a shot from Pens defenseman Alex Goligoski bounced by five bodies and through Bob’s five hole. The Flyers held on for the win, including killing a penalty with a minute and a half remaining in the game.

The decision to start with Sergei Bobrovsky in net for the first game of the season seemed, to me, destined for failure. Having played in all or part of just five meaningless preseason games in North America, I did not believe that Bobrovsky would be prepared for both the sustained pressure of an elite NHL team in the Pittsburgh Penguins and the pressure of starting the season in a brand new arena teeming with Pens fans.

Bob proved me wrong.

Bobrovsky is the third Flyer goaltender (and youngest) to start the season as a rookie. He was sharp, he had good eyes on the puck (for the most part), he was agile, and most important of all, he made the saves he was supposed to. I’m still not ready to ride him for the season, but as it’s been pointed out to me, the Flyers know what they’ve got in goaltender Brian Boucher and they don’t know what they have in Bobrovsky. Regardless of who the team is playing, every goalie has to be tested some time. With question marks floating regarding the severity of Leighton’s back injury, the sooner that coach Peter Laviolette can assess what he has, the better prepared the team will be.

I’m not sure if it was nerves stemming from having an untested goaltender or if they’re still shaking the rust off, but the team as a whole did not play particularly good defense. The VS. announcer commented that the Flyers looked they were trying to break records for the amount of times they iced the puck. Laviolette called a timeout at the 9:21 mark of the first period to try and calm the team down, but it didn’t have the best results. The forwards took too many liberties getting back to the defensive zone and the bottom three defenseman need to be sharper while Chris Pronger continues to rehab his knee.

Flyers enforcer Jody Shelley needs to provide more than just a big body on skates. He missed coverage, was upended several times, was called on a goaltending interference penalty, and ultimately did not enforce anything as Danny Briere was knocked around numerous times. Shelley serves a role when playing with rough and tumble teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs or the New York Rangers, but serves little purpose against a team like the Penguins. Andreas Nodl would have eaten up penalty kill time from Mike Richards, who looked tired after the first period.

The Flyers travel to St. Louis to take on the Blues on Saturday.