FLYERS NEWS

With their top 2 scorers on the shelf and the defense struggling coming in the Flyers were in for a tough night against the big bad Carolina Hurricanes, or at least we thought they were. Apparently no one told the team they were supposed to be struggling now, as they blitzed Carolina from start to finish. By the end of the 1st period it was already 3-0 Orange Black, with scores by Scott Hartnell on the power play, Matt Carle, and recent Phantoms call up David Laliberte in his 1st NHL game. In the 2nd period Carolina tried to pick it up, outshooting the Flyers 20-9, but Ray Emery saved 19 of them, and James Van Riemsdyk answered the Carolina score, off an assist by who else Laliberte. Finally in the middle of the 3rd period Braydon Coburn scored twice within a minute of himself to finish off a 6-1 blowout victory. Perhaps the Canes were a little tired, but they still outshot the Flyers 40-28 and had 5 power play opportunities to 4 for the Flyers. So it should not have been such a lopsided win, and yet it was. It easy to see why too. The Flyer's killed off all 5 Hurricane power plays, Ray Emery was huge with 39 saves out of the 40 shots he faced, and the Flyer's actually won most of the faceoffs for a change. Thankfully, while Briere and Gagne went on the injured list, top faceoff man Blair Betts returned to the lineup and was just what the doctor ordered winning 13 faceoffs, Mike Richards won 12, and Jeff Carter won 7. So while they didn't step up their scoring, Carter and Richards did step up big time. The funny thing is when the Flyers started out 3-0 and looked to be headed for a great season, it was thanks in large part to Betts winning faceoffs and controlling the puck on the 3rd line. It was only when he went out that the Flyers began struggling. Now he's back and suddenly the Flyers look like that team again. So Betts is the key to Flyer's success this season. Who knew.