Flyers Ruin Devils Home Opener with 3-0 Shutout

The Flyers followed a respectable win on Thursday with a 3-0 shutout (!) win in Newark tonight against the New Jersey Devils.  Across the board, the whole team deserves praise for putting as complete of an effort as one can in the NHL. The offense, defense, special teams, energy, forechecking, and goaltending were phenomenal. The only issues that still need to be addressed are the number of penalties being taken and the team’s issues with winning face-offs.

• Claude Giroux scored his second goal in as many games, skating into the crease and firing a pass from James Van Riemsdyk past Martin Brodeur. His line with JVR and Jaromir Jagr is going to be fun to watch all year.
• Matt Read tallied his first NHL goal to pad the lead in the third period. He was trailing the play into the offensive zone and took a pass from Scott Hartnell before firing it on net.
• One concern heading into the season was whether Jake Voracek and Wayne Simmonds could take their respective games to the next level. Both have gotten off to fantastic starts, as Voracek was setting up Danny Briere all night and Simmonds scored the third goal of the night on the powerplay.  Simmonds also cleanly won a bout with David Clarkson when the agitator tried his best “Sean Avery” impression.
• Speaking of the powerplay, remember when that was a joke? Rather than relying on the point man to take the shot from the blue line, this team has been much better at cycling the puck around and across the ice.  The improved east-west movement has allowed the team to take more shots with the man advantage; the Flyers spent almost 1:30 in the Devils’ zone on the first powerplay of the game.
• Andreas Nodl and Max Talbot were beasts on the fourth line and the penalty kill. While neither has the best finishing abilities, they were noticeably effective at tiring the Devils in their own end with their tenacity. Nodl had a great shorthanded breakaway attempt late in the first as well, but couldn’t solve Brodeur.
• Zac Rinaldo settled nicely into his role as the game progressed, taking a penalty in the first before drawing two later in the game. He still looks like he’s learning where “the line” is and how to play effectively without crossing it, but I’m impressed.
• The team’s face-off winning percentage finished at 40% tonight, but much of that has to do with Talbot and Sean Couturier’s numbers.
• Ilya Bryzgalov was able to do what neither Sergei Bobrovsky nor Brian Boucher could do all of last year- earn a shutout. Even though it’s a meaningless honor, it’s comforting that the Flyers were able to earn one after just two games.

The Flyers finally come home on Wednesday, as they welcome the Vancouver Canucks to the Wells Fargo Center.

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