Tim “Thomas The Tank” Rolls Over Flyers with 3-0 Shutout

While not the worst effort that the Flyers have given this year, tonight’s loss to the Boston Bruins was a reflection of a team that couldn’t stay focused for 60 minutes. The Bruins didn’t dominate the Flyers, taking five penalties throughout the game that stymied their attempts at controlling the puck, but were able to generate pressure more consistently and were backed by another phenomenal outing by goaltender Tim Thomas.

My thoughts:

• Tim Thomas may be trailing Sergei Bobrovsky in the All Star voting, but he was easily the best player on the ice tonight. This game could have ended 6-2 with any other goalie in the net.  It makes you wonder how the playoff series with Boston would have ended if Thomas hadn’t been outplayed by Tuukka Rask during the regular season.
• The Mike Richards-James Van Riemsdyk-Andreas Nodl line got the Flyers off to a great start. The hardworking trio have been developing chemistry over the last few games and the scoring chances created by them all night is promising. Laviolette’s confidence in Nodl was evident in the third period as he threw the line out for extra shifts with Claude Giroux filling in for JVR.
• Nikolay Zherdev replaced Darroll Powe on the line with Claude Giroux and Jeff Carter. Zherdev’s puck handling skills complement Giroux’s tape-to-tape passes, but he didn’t stand out in any way that has cemented himself there yet.
• I’ve gradually been warming to enforcer Jody Shelley as the season’s progressed. He hasn’t won me over enough to feel that he deserves a roster spot, but his presence tonight felt somewhat relevant. Rather than get in a meaningless fight minutes into the game, Shelley fought with Bruin Shawn Thornton with two minutes left in the first period after leaving the ice earlier in the game from a nasty hit. Down 2-0, Shelley’s fight had the potential to spark the Flyers back into the game. Factor in his standing up for linemate Blair Betts after Betts took a big hit into the Bruins bench, and Shelley gets a plus for serving his role well.
• The first Bruins goal was simply a mis-play by Sean O’Donnell while trying to clear the puck from the crease during a penalty kill. It happens. The second Bruins goal, though, came off a pass from Michael Ryder to rookie center Tyler Seguin as Scott Hartnell looked on. The Flyers let the Bruins develop that rush and Hartnell failed to get back in time to cover his man. The defense all around wasn’t terrible, but could have been sharper for the whole 60 minutes.
• With four powerplays and a penalty shot, the Flyers once again blew it at special teams. After three days off and two practices dedicated to the powerplay, this is unacceptable. The powerplay needs a bigger shake-up than what coach Peter Laviolette’s tried thus far.

The Flyers have another two days off before their rematch with the New Jersey Devils in yet another Saturday matinee game.  Special teams will continue to be the focus of the Flyers as they prepare for another long stretch of games.