Flyers overcome Downie, Lightning in overtime

(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

The Flyers knew that Steve Downie would try to make his presence known in the physical portions of tonight's game but they probably didn't expect him to have as big an impact as he did in the scoring department. After getting his team in an early hole by taking a dumb penalty early (sound familiar Flyers fans?), Downie forced overtime by scoring a goal near the end of the 3rd period. The Flyers went on to win the game 4-3 in overtime when Mike Richards scored a beautiful goal, his second of the game, during a rare overtime powerplay.

Also scoring a pair of goals for the Flyers was the red-hot Jeff Carter. Carter now has 18 goals on the season which ties him for the league-lead with Thomas Vanek of Buffalo. Tonight was just more proof that Carter has finally broken out and become a star in the NHL.

Also from tonight's game, here's a video of the bizarre Scott Hartnell glove-throwing incident that happened at the end of the 3rd period. Can't say I've ever seen that happen before!


Tonight also marked Danny Briere's return to the ice after missing nearly a month. Briere only played 8 minutes and didn't have much of an impact before he had to leave the game. Briere likely felt soreness or re-aggravated his injury, either way the Flyers figure to ease him back into the line-up slowly as he continues to recover from his groin issues.

A game against the slumping Lightning was just what the Flyers needed to get back in the win column. The Flyers are starting to close in on the Penguins for second place in the Atlantic; they currently sit two points behind Pittsburgh. Everyone is still chasing the Rangers who have played three more games than the Flyers.

Flyers hope to shore up defense with acquisition of Matt Carle

The Flyers are one of the best offensive teams in the NHL this season, scoring 3.67 goals per game, tying them for the highest average in the NHL. Their big problem, and the real reason they have started so slow this season, has been their defense. Since the injuries to Randy Jones and Ryan Parent, the Flyers have been playing with a makeshift defensive group that includes two guys who shouldn't be regulars in the NHL in Steve Eminger and Andrew Alberts. GM Paul Holmgren knew he couldn't sit around and wait until Jones and Parent got healthy so he made a big move today that should go a long way towards fixing their defensive woes.

The Flyers acquired defenseman Matt Carle and a third round pick from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Steve Downie, Steve Eminger and a fourth round pick. Carle, a former Hobey Baker Award winner, is a 24 year old defenseman who has played four years in the NHL, most of them with the San Jose Sharks. He has great upside and is a huge upgrade over Eminger. Carle hasn't shown a lot of consistency while playing with the Sharks and Lightning, but he is strong with the puck and won't turn it over as much as Eminger.

Losing Downie won't hurt the Flyers much in the long run. Downie is a complete headcase at this point and has been jerked between the Phantoms and the Flyers so much I doubt he knows what's going on. Ever since his meltdown in the playoffs last season, Downie has been a liability and can't be trusted to make the smart play on the ice. He was never going to amount to much in Philadelphia so maybe a chance of scenery will do him good in Tampa.

Eminger was acquired this past offseason for a first round pick but never really proved he was worth that price. Like Carle, he's been inconsistent, but I don't see enough in his game to fret over his loss.

The move puts the Flyers right up against the cap. Eminger and Downie made a combined 2 million while Carle is nearly a 3.5 million dollar cap hit. Carle is under contract through the 2011-2012 season, another reason to like the deal if he plays to his ability. Making this deal does not rule out the possibility of Brendan Shanahan from signing with the team, in fact it clears up a forward spot. The Flyers would have to make some sort of move to clear up more cap space, but Shanny could be a Flyer yet.

Overall, I like this deal. The Flyers get rid of a pair of underachieving players and bring in a young defenseman who can solidify the back end. Hopefully this can begin to fix the goals against problem and the Flyers can get back to their winning ways. If it doesn't, I expect more drastic moves to follow.

Flyers send Downie, Ross to the minors

Five games into the season, the Flyers remain winless and continue to search for answers on how they can improve their play. They made a few personnel moves today, demoting forwards Steve Downie and Jared Ross to the Phantoms and bringing Andreas Nodl up to the big club.

Downie's demotion was one I called for after his effort Saturday night against the Sharks:

"Steve Downie needs to go play for the Phantoms for a while. He had two penalties on the night, including a dumb slash, and had only 5 minutes of ice time. He needs to get his head straightened out with the Phantoms."

Downie has yet to score a point this season and has played on a different line seemingly every night. He needs to go find some consistency with the Phantoms and hopefully he can be a useful player sometime down the road.

Ross will also go the Phantoms. He was a surprise addition to the club but didn't do anything to distinguish himself in his two games played. Nodl is younger and has more upside.

The Flyers will likely call up one more forward to add to the mix because they now have only 12 forwards on the roster. It's probably too soon for Claude Giroux to come up, so look for the Flyers to bring someone like Darroll Powe up.

Flyers remain winless after blowing 2 goal lead to the Sharks

(AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Despite a better effort for the Flyers last night in San Jose, the result was still the same. The Flyers, who had a 3-1 lead at one point, lost 5-4 to the Sharks in overtime. While the Flyers did manage to earn a point against one of the best teams in the league, it's already the time of the season where they can ignore moral victories and only be happy with actual W's.

The game was filled with both positives and negatives for the Flyers.

Positives:

-The reunited Simon Gagne/Danny Briere/Mike Knuble line played well with Briere scoring 2 goals and Gagne having several good scoring chances. It seems like whoever Briere plays with continues to have a hot hand.

-Antero Niittymaki, despite giving up 5 goals, had a good game. None of the goals were his fault except one where he gave up a juicy rebound to Joe Pavelski in the third period. Niitty made several big stops throughout the game, including an amazing diving save in the third. He faced a barrage of 45 shots and saved 40 of them, basically if he could see it, he stopped it.

-Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn played great as they were reunited as the top defensive unit. The rest of the defensemen? Not so much.

-You could tell the Flyers were making a concerted effort to play the Sharks tough. They had a bunch of hits and got into several scraps after the whistle.

Negatives:

-The Flyers defense is in shambles. Besides the top two, the Flyers are relying on an 18 year old, a guy who didn't play in the NHL last year and 2 AHL-quality players. Luca Sbisa and Ossi Vaananen have played well at times but they should be the teams 3rd pairing of D-men, not 2nd. Andrew Alberts and Steve Eminger are not NHL caliber players and they made a ton of mistakes against the Sharks. The Flyers need to do something to shore up their D because Randy Jones and Ryan Parent aren't coming back any time soon. They need to make a trade to bring in someone who can be a top 4 defensemen, even if it means trading one of their better forwards.

-Too many penalties. The Flyers had 27 penalty minutes on the night, including 11 minors and 1 fighting major. They gave the Sharks a ton of power play chances and they did well to kill some of them but they still gave up three power play goals.

-Steve Downie needs to go play for the Phantoms for a while. He had two penalties on the night, including a dumb slash, and had only 5 minutes of ice time. He needs to get his head straightened out with the Phantoms.

The Flyers have 3 days off now before they face the Sharks again, this time in Philadelphia. It will be interesting to see if the team makes any personnel changes or if they continue to tinker with the lines to find the right combination. You can only re-arrange the lines so much before you realize that maybe this team simply needs some new players. We'll see if they come from the minors or if they come via a trade.

Flyers kick off exhibition season with win

(AP Photo/H. Rumph, Jr.)

The Flyers are back on the ice! It's only preseason, but the Flyers kicked off their exhibition season with a 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Monday night. Steve Downie scored a pair of goals for the Flyers, who played the game without most of their star players. In NHL exhibition games, teams only have to suit up a few veteran players, so you won't be seeing much of Danny Briere and Kimmo Timonen, especially early on. Besides Downie, the veteran Flyer players that did play included new captain Mike Richards, forwards Jeff Carter, Scottie Upshall, Scott Hartnell, and Riley Cote along with defensemen Braydon Coburn and Ryan Parent and newcomers Ossi Vaananen and Steve Eminger. Martin Biron also played some of the game in net and rookie Cluade Giroux suited up. Richards and Upshall scored the other two goals for the Flyers and Biron shut out the Devils for two periods. The Flyers next exhibition game is Wednesday against the Senators. It's great to see the Flyers back in action again, I can't wait to see what they can do for an encore this year!

Flyers Beat Penguins 4-3

The Flyers needed to bounce back after Tuesday's miserable game against the Devils, and they did so in a big way. They defeated the Penguins 4-3 to move into a first place tie with the Devils. It was a total team effort again, as the Flyers continue to reverse last years trend of losing every game against the Penguins. They are now 4-0 this season against their cross-state rivals. Some other notes from the game:

*R. J. Umberger owns the Penguins. The Pittsburgh native loves going home, as he picked up a goal and two assists in the game. He was also First Star of the game.

*Steve Downie is the MAN. Dirty Penguins forward Georges Laraque hit Downie from behind, forcing Downie to slam head first into the boards. He was clearly knocked out from the hit. Downie then came back later in the game and scrapped with Ryan Stone before getting tossed from the game. He is everything Flyers fans should love, and all guts guy who leaves everything on the ice. He gets knocked out, and not only goes back into the game, but gets into a fight. Laraque better watch his back next time he plays the Flyers. If he isn't still suspended for tonights cheap shot.

*The Flyers power play is red hot. They have scored a power play goal in 10 straight games. This is one of the main reasons for this seasons huge turnaround.

*Scott Hartnell continues his solid play. Watch the highlights of this game and watch the pass he made to set up the third Flyers goal. When the Flyers acquired him in the offseason I had no idea how good this guy was. He had an assist earlier in the game to continue his hot streak.

The Flyers got a big win heading into the all-star break. Their next game is next Tuesday against the Kings. Should be a fun second half of hockey

Watch the highlights here.

Devils Deal With Flyers

The Devils, the team the Flyers just haven't been able to figure out for what seems like a decade, ripped the Flyers 7-3 yesterday. The Devils took over sole possession of first place with the win. The game actually started out competitive, with the Flyers getting an early powerplay goal from Danny Briere. The first period was pretty entertaining, with five total goals scored and two fights. From there, the game was ugly. The Devils dominated the Flyers in the last two periods, out-shooting and out-hitting them while trapping their way to victory. Antero Niittymaki looked normal again, so it looks like it's time for Marty Biron to step back into the No. 1 goaltending job.

The most entertaining thing in yesterday's game watching Steve Downie mix it up. He was caught a few times on microphone swearing and taunting at the Devils. He fought David Clarkson in the first period and taunted him the whole time. Downie has been a really nice surprise this season. We knew he could goon it up after hearing about all of his antics in the minors, but his play on the offensive end has been strong. He has teamed up with Scott Hartnell and Mike Richards to form the most potent line on the the team in the last few games. I hope Downie plays with these guys for the rest of the season, even when Joffrey Lupul comes back, and if/when Peter Forsberg is added.

Other than Downie, not much else went right. The Flyers look to bounce back and stay in the mix for the top spot in the Atlantic when they play the Penguins on Thursday. The Pens are without Sidney Crosby, so the time to strike is now.

Highlights of the Devils game here.

*In other Flyers news, Winger Jesse Boulerice has served his 25 game suspension and is ready to play again. He was a healthy scratch yesterday. To make room, the Flyers sent Denis Tolpeko down to the Phantoms. Boulerice should add some more grit to the fourth line, and probably will replace Riley Cote as the team goon.