We're a little light on the Flyers coverage this weekend, I'll admit. As you know by now, Saint Joseph's won the Atlantic 10 tournament this weekend, so I had to be present in Brooklyn to make some new enemies, mostly in the form of VCU and St. Bonaventure fans. On a weekend when the Flyers sweep the Penguins though, you deserve Flyers coverage, and Flyers coverage you shall get.
After dominating Saturday's game at home to the tune of a 4-0 victory the Flyers continued that momentum at the Consol Energy Center today. The Flyers stormed out of the gates on their way to a 4-3 victory. Brayden Schenn tallied the first goal 2 minutes in and Wayne Simmonds added 2, both on the power play. With 6:19 left in the first it was 3-0 Flyers. This was the curtain call for sorely overrated goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who allowed 7 goals in 4 periods of hockey this weekend. Rookie Jeff Zatkoff replaced him. Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik got one back at the end of the first, making the score 3-1 at the first intermission.
Mason didn't do so hot in the second period. The Penguins put 2 goals past him on only 5 shots. The goals were scored by Matt Niskanen and rookie Jayson Megna. Luckily the orange and black were able to stay on top thanks to a short-handed goal by Matt Read, who decided he would take on 2 defenders and managed to slap one past Zatkoff. The score going into the third period was 4-3 Flyers and that was the way it would stay.
Mason made 11 saves in the third to seal the victory. It was a hard-fought 6 periods of hockey in a short span for Mason this week. The victory makes the Flyers 10-2-1 all time at Consol Energy Center.
I will give the Penguins a little slack for their performance this weekend, given that Chris Kunitz and James Neal were both out. Dan Bylsma's inability to change strategy mid-game was exposed again today though. Four different wingers were tried on Crosby's left-side. It was akin to throwing darts at a wall hoping desperately to hit a bullseye.
Pittsburgh is still cemented as the number one team in the Metropolitan Division, but anytime the Flyers beat them twice in a weekend it is always something to bask in. The team is now back in the number 2 spot in the division, but face an incredibly tough Blackhawks team at home this Tuesday. Fifteen games left, the stretch run is in full effect, folks.
Shameless self plug: Now go fill out those brackets in the Broad Street Beat's ESPN group. You can find the link on our Twitter. Good luck.
-Ben Lebo
We have this Twitter that cool people follow, you're cool right?: @BroadStBeat
Mason didn't do so hot in the second period. The Penguins put 2 goals past him on only 5 shots. The goals were scored by Matt Niskanen and rookie Jayson Megna. Luckily the orange and black were able to stay on top thanks to a short-handed goal by Matt Read, who decided he would take on 2 defenders and managed to slap one past Zatkoff. The score going into the third period was 4-3 Flyers and that was the way it would stay.
Mason made 11 saves in the third to seal the victory. It was a hard-fought 6 periods of hockey in a short span for Mason this week. The victory makes the Flyers 10-2-1 all time at Consol Energy Center.
I will give the Penguins a little slack for their performance this weekend, given that Chris Kunitz and James Neal were both out. Dan Bylsma's inability to change strategy mid-game was exposed again today though. Four different wingers were tried on Crosby's left-side. It was akin to throwing darts at a wall hoping desperately to hit a bullseye.
Pittsburgh is still cemented as the number one team in the Metropolitan Division, but anytime the Flyers beat them twice in a weekend it is always something to bask in. The team is now back in the number 2 spot in the division, but face an incredibly tough Blackhawks team at home this Tuesday. Fifteen games left, the stretch run is in full effect, folks.
Shameless self plug: Now go fill out those brackets in the Broad Street Beat's ESPN group. You can find the link on our Twitter. Good luck.
-Ben Lebo
We have this Twitter that cool people follow, you're cool right?: @BroadStBeat
RSS Feed
