(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
A rare Sunday night game for the Flyers ended up being the type of game they really needed to have. They were due for one like this.
They had been burned late by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. They couldn't erase a deficit against the New York Rangers. The Flyers needed a win, but to get one in convincing fashion was a nice touch.
Here are 10 Postgame Points from the Flyers 5-3 win over the Flames.
- The big story coming into the game was Anthony Stolarz making his NHL debut. On the second shot he faced, a shorthanded 2-on-1, he let in a soft goal. But from there, the rookie bounced back and became increasingly more comfortable as the game progressed. Stolarz had a long journey to get here. He was a rising star in juniors when a bad cut to his leg threatened his development. He recovered, made it up to the AHL and had a rough first professional season. His next season was better and he got a chance to join the Flyers as the backup when injury struck then. He never made it into a game. This season, he was up for five games before finally getting his chance. It didn't start pretty, but he made it memorable with some key saves and a win. Congratulations to "Stolie the Goalie" on his first NHL win. There are more to come for sure.
- How on Earth did Roman Lyubimov not get into the lineup for seven games? The Flyers opted to bring Lyubimov back into the lineup for Scott Laughton, who had his share of struggles in Friday's loss to New York, and the difference was evident. Lyubimov didn't miss a beat, scoring a goal and adding an assist and made the Flyers fourth line an effective one. It's a travesty if he doesn't play in the week ahead for the Flyers.
- After Friday's loss, it seemed like Brayden Schenn just wasn't working out on the top line with Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek. The move to play with Lyubimov and Chris VandeVelde worked and while it's not an ideal line combination for Schenn to be on, it paid dividends in Sunday's win. Schenn doesn't stack up well against opposing checking lines. He's easily muscled off pucks and gets overtaken easily on the rush. Schenn won't stay there forever obviously, but placing him on a different line where he isn't facing the best defenders the opposition has could benefit his play.
- Speaking of the top line, Claude Giroux remains a mystery. Giroux had a 10-game point streak early in the season and was on a tear as the first month came to a close. The Flyers play their final game in November on Tuesday. In the month of November, Giroux has two goals and five assists. Seven points in 13 games. Of his 19 points this season, 11 of them are on the power play. Giroux is too talented a player and too dangerous to remove him from his current status, but it's clear he's not a major scoring threat at 5-on-5. At best, he's always looking to set people up and if you can take that away, it becomes easier to take him off the puck and possession to change hands. That's a problem. Much like Jake Voracek from last season, Giroux is not past his prime by any stretch. It would be nice for Giroux to find what Voracek has found this season.
- Another note on Giroux: he has as many goals this season as Chris VandeVelde. Both are now at four goals on the season, and the last two for VandeVelde have been about right place, right time. On each, he never made contact with the puck using his stick. Both were off his skate.
- And on to Jake Voracek, who is so much more improved than last season. Say what you will about Voracek's contract security last year. The most likely reason for Voracek's slow start and overall down year was health. He is healthier this season and stronger this season and it shows. Voracek has 19 points this season, but unlike Giroux, only seven of them have come on the power play. Voracek is much more of a force at even strength. And prior to Sunday's win, Voracek had gone pointless in six straight games.
- Coming into Sunday's game, the Flyers had allowed four shorthanded goals this season. They allowed two more on Sunday. With just over a quarter of the season gone, the Flyers are allowing goals while on the man-advantage at an alarming rate, something they must improve on. The Flyers all-time record for shorthanded goals allowed in a season is 16 in the 1990-91 season.
- Another area of needed improvement for the Flyers: scoring first. The Flames got a shorthanded goal to open the scoring, marking the 15th game this season of 23 where the Flyers have allowed the first goal.
- Sunday's game also marked the sixth time this season the Flyers have put at least 40 shots on goal. Winning the shot battle isn't what puts points in the standings, as Dave Hakstol has noted and the Flyers have seen first-hand, but for a team to be generating shots for an entire game and giving themselves a chance to put pucks in the net, that's certainly an improvement on teams in years past.
- The Flyers allowed the first goal, gave up two shorthanded goals and managed to hold on for a two-goal victory. And yet it was one of their best games of the season. The energy level, the physical presence on the forecheck, the determination in puck battles, winning the shot battle — those are what win games. Giving up three goals is probably just as much a product of a goaltender making his debut as it is defensive woes or allowing a shorthanded rush, but the Flyers were the better team for almost the entire game and that's a step in the right direction.
Bottom Line
The Flyers have played two games since their third-period meltdown in Toronto that they deserved to lose — their first loss to Tampa Bay on Nov. 19 and Friday's loss to the Rangers. They deserved a better fate in Tampa on Wednesday, suffered a tough loss to Ottawa almost two weeks ago and otherwise have played solid hockey in the past two-plus weeks.
But when the results don't resonate the level of play, it's easy to look past that and see what the standings tell you. The standings entering Sunday said the Flyers needed a win, something to get them back in the right direction and finish the month strong.
This next week will tell us a lot about the Flyers. They face Boston for the first time, rolling in almost every game Tuukka Rask starts. They get another chance at Ottawa, who has been among the best teams in the East and Craig Anderson is playing on top of his game. They get Chicago again, after putting up the comeback fight of their lives three games into the season and falling short in the end. It's a tough week, but for the Flyers to be viewed as a contender, they need to make a statement.
