Kevin Hayes
When the dust settled from Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the scoreboard read 5-1 in favor of the Flyers. It hardly felt like a game that the Flyers had won by four goals in rather convincing fashion.
Claude Giroux became the Flyers all-time leader in power-play assists with 235, getting the record-breaker on a Jake Voracek power-play goal to cap the scoring in a 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Flyers next six games come against teams right in the thick of the playoff race. For now, the focus is simply on the next one, which comes against the Florida Panthers at Wells Fargo Center on Monday night.
“It was a strong team win, we had saves at the right time, but go figure, we were able to score seven tonight and weren’t able to score one last game.” Go figure is right. After getting shut out by the last-place Devils on Thursday, the Flyers scored seven goals against the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals. “It’s the beauty of the game,” Vigneault said with a smile.
The Flyers face the top team in the Metro, the Washington Capitals, on Saturday night. The Flyers have played two very competitive games against the Capitals this season, but also face a critical situation where they need to continue gaining points to keep pace in the division and playoff race.
The New Jersey Devils scored 13 seconds in for the only goal they needed. They also scored in the first two minutes of the second and third periods as well, cruising to a 5-0 win over the Flyers on Thursday night.
The New Jersey Devils come to town on Thursday night, as the Flyers look for their third straight win and fifth in the last six games. The Flyers are also looking to extend a five-game points streak.
The Flyers took care of business, getting a pair of shorthanded goals, including another from Kevin Hayes, while Brian Elliott made 16 saves in another shutout and the Flyers claimed the 3-0 win over the Red Wings.
For several weeks, the Flyers have been playing the league’s best teams on a consistent basis. The next two games present an opportunity to earn some points against some of the league’s worst teams. It starts on Monday night with a game in Detroit against the last-place Red Wings.
Nearly every goal the Flyers scored in their 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche proved to be timely in some way, whether because of a timely save by Lyon or just helping them always keep a grip on control of the game. The Flyers never trailed, but with full knowledge of how the game 24 hours earlier played out, a big swing could have been moments away.
