Flyers Beat Panthers 4-2, Escape Florida with Four Points

[Box Score] - [Wire Recap] - [Game Page] - [Florida Reaction]
[Shift Charts] - [Head-to-Head TOI] - [Corsi and Fenwick] - [5-on-5 Faceoffs]

Tonight's game was quite a roller coaster. From great start, to finally getting Nodl into double digits, to trying not to think "shutout", to hoping for a regulation win, to finally breathing. This is what happens when the Flyers take a three-goal lead and let the Panthers get within one.

But these aren't the 2009-2010 Flyers. Giving up back-to-back goals in back-to-back games despite holding a lead might have crippled that team. Not this one. Instead, the Flyers were able to hold on, even when they got stuck in their own zone with Danny Briere on the ice. Even after they iced the puck, and Lavy didn't have a timeout. No, Briere and Andreas Nodl were able to do just enough to prevent Florida from tying the game, then connected to ice the game with an empty net goal by Briere.

Is it not ironic that the Flyers received goals from Mike Richards, Andreas Nodl, and James van Riemsdyk tonight? If only they did that when they were together. Oh well. Great game from all three of them, as well as a quietly great game from Braydon Coburn.

Jump for bullets, Questions with Answers, Comment of the Night, and a new feature, Shutout Jinxer(s) of the Night.

• Andreas Nodl had himself quite the game. Even if his goal wasn't the thing of beauty I imagined it as, he had a typical Nodl game. Strong defense, strong forechecking, but better luck. And oh, he stopped three Panthers shots while standing behind Bob. Plus-3 in my book.
• Sergei Bobrovsky had himself a great game. More than a couple of fantastic saves, which is great to see.
• Part of the reason the Flyers let the Panthers back into the game were turnovers. They had more than their share of bad turnovers in their own end in the third. They can't do that.
• If you check out the Corsi and Fenwick scores above, you'll see that Matt Carle had himself a great game. Again. With more defensive zone faceoffs than offensive. Again. And very quietly. Again.
• Lastly, while it was nice to see Nodl score while filling in for Ville Leino, why wasn't Nikolay Zherdev in that spot, with Nodl back on Richards' wing? Vent your frustration in the Leino thread.

Questions with Answers

1. After the emotion of last night's big game, can the Flyers avoid getting caught tonight? They did, but it wasn't without a scare.
   
2. Vokoun was brilliant against the Flyers before the holiday break. Bob wasn't so good that night. The entire team played like crap that night, actually, but in particular, can the goalie matchup shift a bit? Vokoun was good (as usual), but Bob was fantastic. So yes.
   
3. Versteeg's second game. No points yet. Can he get on the board tonight? He can. Assist on the first goal.
   
4. How much does Peter Laviolette shift up the lines tonight? He kept them pretty steady last night, but is tonight a different story as he tries to get some different looks with his shiny new player? He kept the lines steady almost the entire game.
   

Shutout Jinxer(s) of the Night - Sit in the box and feel shame.

phillies0100
mantis toboggan

Comment of the Night

You’d think Panthers players wouldn’t break their sticks on the goal after last year

>> Skramz