One Down - Flyers Win Opener Behind Solid Effort From Rookie
Someone sang the National Anthem.
Then Mario Lemieux poured water on center ice at the Penguins' new house. They said it was melted ice from Mellon Arena. Maybe it was, maybe it was Evian. We'll never know.
There were these fancy introductions for the Penguin players.
Finally, the lights came on, and Sergei Bobrovsky took his place in the crease.
And the game was won before the opening faceoff.
The first ten minutes of the first period were sketchy for Philadelphia. The Penguins looked great, and spent most of this time in the Flyers' defensive end. Bobrovsky looked like a Vezina winner, not a 22 year old kid making his NHL debut. He single handedly kept Pittsburgh out of the net through the first.
Peter Laviolette took his timeout midway through the period, and lit a fire under Philly. The defense tightened up, the Flyers started getting physical, and finally started getting chances. The game was scoreless after 20 minutes.
The Flyers finally got on the board at 2:51 of the second, when Danny Briere slipped one in on the power play. Mike Richards and Ville Leino got the assists. Blair Betts scored towards the end of the period, sending Pittsburgh to the dressing room staring at a two goal deficit.
The Penguins finally got on the board early in the third, but Claude Giroux scored a shorthanded goal to put the lead back at two. Pittsburgh scored once more, but it wasn't enough to overcome Bobrovsky's goaltending, despite 1:30 of a 6 on 4 empty net attack at the end. The game ended with the Flyers winning 3-2.
The young goalie was low key after the performance.
"It wasn't anything too extraordinary," Bobrovsky said after the game. "I wasn't too nervous. I was ready for this."
The Flyers next game is Saturday night in St. Louis, when they play the Blues.
Moose's Three Stars -
Third Star - Kimmo Timonen
Led all skaters with 25:34 of ice time. Without Pronger in the lineup, Kimmo is the big dog in the yard. He quietly held up his end of the deal all night.
Second Star - Danny Briere
Scored the first goal of the night, and set the pace for the rest of the night by creating several chances.
First Star - Sergei Bobrovsky
Stopped 29 of 31 shots. Absolutely masterful debut, plain and simple. The defense looked decent tonight, but you can see they need some time to gel. "Bob" carried the load for the D, and got Philly this win.
Then Mario Lemieux poured water on center ice at the Penguins' new house. They said it was melted ice from Mellon Arena. Maybe it was, maybe it was Evian. We'll never know.
There were these fancy introductions for the Penguin players.
Finally, the lights came on, and Sergei Bobrovsky took his place in the crease.
And the game was won before the opening faceoff.
The first ten minutes of the first period were sketchy for Philadelphia. The Penguins looked great, and spent most of this time in the Flyers' defensive end. Bobrovsky looked like a Vezina winner, not a 22 year old kid making his NHL debut. He single handedly kept Pittsburgh out of the net through the first.
Peter Laviolette took his timeout midway through the period, and lit a fire under Philly. The defense tightened up, the Flyers started getting physical, and finally started getting chances. The game was scoreless after 20 minutes.
The Flyers finally got on the board at 2:51 of the second, when Danny Briere slipped one in on the power play. Mike Richards and Ville Leino got the assists. Blair Betts scored towards the end of the period, sending Pittsburgh to the dressing room staring at a two goal deficit.
The Penguins finally got on the board early in the third, but Claude Giroux scored a shorthanded goal to put the lead back at two. Pittsburgh scored once more, but it wasn't enough to overcome Bobrovsky's goaltending, despite 1:30 of a 6 on 4 empty net attack at the end. The game ended with the Flyers winning 3-2.
The young goalie was low key after the performance.
"It wasn't anything too extraordinary," Bobrovsky said after the game. "I wasn't too nervous. I was ready for this."
The Flyers next game is Saturday night in St. Louis, when they play the Blues.
Moose's Three Stars -
Third Star - Kimmo Timonen
Led all skaters with 25:34 of ice time. Without Pronger in the lineup, Kimmo is the big dog in the yard. He quietly held up his end of the deal all night.
Second Star - Danny Briere
Scored the first goal of the night, and set the pace for the rest of the night by creating several chances.
First Star - Sergei Bobrovsky
Stopped 29 of 31 shots. Absolutely masterful debut, plain and simple. The defense looked decent tonight, but you can see they need some time to gel. "Bob" carried the load for the D, and got Philly this win.
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