Shutout! Bryzgalov, Flyers blank Devils

It's been a long, long time since the Flyers had a shutout.  85 games to be exact.  It's only fitting, then, that the supposed savior between the pipes ends the drought.  Ilya Bryzgalov stopped all 20 shots he faced as the Flyers blanked the Devils, 3-0, to remain unbeaten through two games.  Here are a few of my thoughts on the game:

-Bryzgalov gets credit for the shutout but he didn't have to do much work as he had some long stretches between shots.  That is often more difficult for goaltenders to have sporadic work than to be in the middle of the action for the entire game so Bryz certainly earned his shutout.

-Plenty of credit for the shutout should also go to the penalty killers, who were a perfect 5 for 5.  The Flyers continue to give the kids, Sean Couturier and Matt Read, plenty of penalty kill time and they haven't dissapointed.  Read also notched his first career goal and will be fun to watch develop over the course of the season.

-I said after the last game that Claude Giroux would score 40 goals this season but I might amend that to 50 goals.  With the way he is already clicking with JVR and Jaromir Jagr, 100 total points really doesn't seem to far-fetched for Giroux.

-It's hard not to notice all the things that Wayne Simmonds does well on the ice.  He only got 12:52 of ice time but he made the most of it, picking up a goal, a fight and 4 shots on net.  If Brayden Schenn turns out to be the player everyone thinks he will be, the Flyers won't have any regrets about trading Mike Richards.

Two games in and 82-0 is still in play for the Flyers!  After the disappointment of the ending of the Phillies season, this hard-working Flyers team is the perfect thing to wash away the pain.
(AP PHOTO)