It only took seven games, but Steve Mason was finally able to put a '1' in his win column tonight. Mason turned away 35 shots en route to a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Jakub Voracek provided Mason with some offensive support, scoring two goals in the first period. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare & Luke Schenn added goals for good measure in the second. Voracek pulled back even with Sidney Crosby for the league lead in points with 18.
Voracek did not waste much time, scoring only 3:09 into the game. It was nice to see the Flyers draw first blood, not a common trend for the team this season. After fumbling around for the puck with an Edmonton defenseman Voracek was able to locate the puck and put it off Oiler goalie Viktor Fasth's skate on a wrap around.
Voracek's second goal came after a deflected shot. Jake was in the right spot at the right time and caught the puck off his skate to fire it past Fasth. Voracek was so close to a hat trick. Right before that goal he had another wrap around attempt bank off the post.
Everyone's favorite Frenchman, Pebbles, made it 3-0 in the second period. Fasth got a piece of his slap shot from the left circle, but it still made it past him. The entire fourth line had a part in that goal. Assist went to Chris VandeVelde and Zac Rinaldo, who was a goal away from a Gordie Howe hat trick after fighting with Matt Hendricks. No clear winner of the fight, but boy were some haymakers thrown.
Former first overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins gave the Oilers their only goal of the night after beating Rinaldo and Streit and popping it over Mason's right leg.
Luke Schenn would follow that goal up 2 minutes later with his 100th point in the form of a goal that his brother Brayden assisted. Brayden was falling down, but was able to poke the puck out from the trapezoid and hit Luke, who slapped it past Fasth.
The Flyers did not have a single power play this game, but they did kill all 4 the Oilers had.
Latest defensive add-on Carlo Colaiacovo played his first game with Philadelphia tonight. He posted a +1 with 1 shot on goal in 17 minutes. Not a stellar performance, but he did look comfortable out there.
Mason saved 35 of 36 shots faced tonight and improved his record this season to 1-4-1. It'll be interesting to see who gets the start between him and Emery on Thursday when the Flyers have a rematch agains the Florida Panthers at the Well. Please don't lose to the Panthers twice in six days, Flyers.
-Ben Lebo
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat
Voracek's second goal came after a deflected shot. Jake was in the right spot at the right time and caught the puck off his skate to fire it past Fasth. Voracek was so close to a hat trick. Right before that goal he had another wrap around attempt bank off the post.
Everyone's favorite Frenchman, Pebbles, made it 3-0 in the second period. Fasth got a piece of his slap shot from the left circle, but it still made it past him. The entire fourth line had a part in that goal. Assist went to Chris VandeVelde and Zac Rinaldo, who was a goal away from a Gordie Howe hat trick after fighting with Matt Hendricks. No clear winner of the fight, but boy were some haymakers thrown.
Former first overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins gave the Oilers their only goal of the night after beating Rinaldo and Streit and popping it over Mason's right leg.
Luke Schenn would follow that goal up 2 minutes later with his 100th point in the form of a goal that his brother Brayden assisted. Brayden was falling down, but was able to poke the puck out from the trapezoid and hit Luke, who slapped it past Fasth.
The Flyers did not have a single power play this game, but they did kill all 4 the Oilers had.
Latest defensive add-on Carlo Colaiacovo played his first game with Philadelphia tonight. He posted a +1 with 1 shot on goal in 17 minutes. Not a stellar performance, but he did look comfortable out there.
Mason saved 35 of 36 shots faced tonight and improved his record this season to 1-4-1. It'll be interesting to see who gets the start between him and Emery on Thursday when the Flyers have a rematch agains the Florida Panthers at the Well. Please don't lose to the Panthers twice in six days, Flyers.
-Ben Lebo
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat