Flyers drop eleven round (!) shootout, game to Leafs in London, 4-3

These preseason games in London, Ontario always seem to entertain.

Tonight was no different as the Flyers dropped an eleven-round shootout to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bill Guerin and Marc-Andre Bourdon were credited with the real, in-game goals (more on that below), while Jeff Carter, Guerin and Joonas Lehtivouri scored in the shootout for the "hometown" Philadelphia Flyers.

Right to the bullets:

- Andrej Meszaros had a pretty weak game. The first Leafs goal was completely his fault, as he let Greg McKegg walk right by him in the slot to get to the loose puck. Brian Boucher had just made several nice saves, too, including a huge one in a three-on-one situation.

The second Leafs goal was probably Meszaros' fault too. He was screening Bob in front of the goal, and um, there was a guy behind him. The point shot went off of one of those guys and beat Sergei Bobrovsky. That's not how you play defense.

- James van Riemsdyk had a penalty shot opportunity in the third after being hooked aside by Luke Schenn while on a breakaway. The break was actually Schenn's fault too, thanks to an errant slap shot that came back the other way. On both the breakaway and the penalty shot, JVR proved why he doesn't participate in the shootout.

- Zac Rinaldo is crazy, and I'm not really sure if that's a good thing. He kind of seems like Steve Downie without the skill. In the second period, he clearly said something Schenn didn't like. Schenn pummeled him for a few seconds, and to Rinaldo's credit, he threw some solid punches from his back, got up, and bloodied Schenn pretty badly.

While that's all fine and dandy, he was thrown out of the game for not tying his jersey down. That's part of what I mean by the "not a good thing" part. He's Zac Rinaldo. He knows he's going to get in a fight. Why the hell wouldn't he tie his jersey down? That's bush league crap that can hurt a team when the games count.

- Mike Testwuide got a look on the penalty kill. Let's not do that again.

- Carter looks rejuvenated. He's carrying the puck more, taking smarter shots, backchecking and even using his size to his advantage more. The pretty shootout goal helps. This is obviously all good, because the Flyers really need him to step it up this year. Also, Scott Hartnell looks strong as well.

More bullet points and the comment of the night, after the jump.

- Other Flyers on the "had a good game" list: Andrew Rowe, Oskars Bartulis,  Bourdon (who even got in a fight). Andreas Nodl had an okay game, but for somebody fighting to become one of the first call-ups, he needs to be a bit better. Very borderline game from Nodl.

- Jon Kalinski had a rough game. Pretty invisible, two penalties including one borderline blindside elbow, etc.

- The first two Flyers goals were pretty fluky. Jonas Gustavsson put a bounce off the boards in off the back of his skate for the first one, and the second one was a Guerin shot off of a Leafs defenseman.

- You can't blame the Flyers goalies for either goal. Speaking of goalies...

- Boucher looked fantastic in two periods of work. Great positioning, quick movement, etc. Better than Michael Leighton did the other night ... *whistles* ...

- Sergei Bobrovsky looked good as well. Poised and confident. Nazem Kadri had a beauty in the shootout and Bob almost stopped him, and he also looked pretty good in the shootout overall. Of course, it doesn't go 11 rounds without some magic goaltending. It did look, however, that as the shootout progressed, the Leafs realized to go high glove on him. Something to work on.

- We'll be nice to the Leafs for a second: Luke Schenn is a fun player to watch -- fiesty, too. James Riemer had a great second half of the game in goal and a fantastic shootout, too. Jay Rosehill is a POS. 1967. I only said a second, right?

- As a side note, Meet The Flyers aired at 9 PM tonight on CSN. Bill Guerin was on stage, talking, etc. Why would they put a guy on stage if he's not really a Flyer? Answer: because he is a Flyer. Only a matter of time.

Comment of the Night

If Crosby scores in Pittsburgh… Bettman stains his sheets in Jersey.

>> Prometheus74, mocking the new NHL Center Ice commercials