Flyers Get Much Needed Win

On a night when the Flyers were without Chris Pronger, another defender, Andrej Meszaros stepped up big. Meszaros made his contribution early on in the game during a 5 minute major power play. The Flyers were awarded the power play thanks to Leafs defender Mike Komiserak who landed a cheap shot on Dan Carcillo. Komiserak was also ejected from the game for the illegal and dangerous hit. Although the Flyers were not able to further take advantage of the 5 minute major, they continued to play physical hockey through out the first period and really controlled the entire tempo of the game. In the 2nd period the Flyers continued to play strong. Meszaros again got involved offensively, especially on the power play. Midway through the 2nd the Flyers made it a 2-0 game thanks in part to a great play by Matt Carle. Carle made a great play at the blue line, keeping the puck in the zone which eventually set up Darroll Powe who caught the Leafs goalie off guard and scored on a weird angle. It wasn't pretty, but the Flyers were happy to take a 2-0 lead. Minutes later, the Leafs scored their first goal of the game on a power play. The goal was actually a slap shot that deflected off Mikhail Grabovski's shield. Although he got a shot to the face, Grabovski was awarded the goal which made it a 2-1 game. The goal was a big momentum shift in the game. The crowd started to get into it, and the Leafs started to play with a lot of energy. Flyers goalie Brian Boucher did a great job of keeping the puck out of the net. He made a lot of big plays and picked up the slack for his teammates stopping a rapid fire of shots. On the offensive end it was Andrej Meszaros who was again getting involved offensively. He wound up for a big shot and his rebound bounced back into the slot where JVR passed it to a wide open Claude Giroux who blasted it home to give the Flyers a comfortable 3-1 lead. In the 3rd period the Flyers did a great job defensively, especially on their penalty kill. With 15 minutes left, the Maple Leafs were awarded a power play but couldn't find the back of the net. The Flyers did a great job of not letting the Leafs set up, and didn't even allow a shot during the crucial penalty kill. Although the Flyers did a great job on the penalty kill, quickly after the power play they were lazy getting back and former Flyer Joffrey Lupul made it a 3-2 game. Luckily the Flyers were able to hold off a late rush from the Leafs and hold on to a 3-2 victory. Overall, the Flyers did a lot of good things in this game. Carter and Versteeg did a great job offensively, while new comer Nick Boynton did a great job filling in for Pronger on the defensive end. Goaltender Brian Boucher had a big night for the Flyers. There were times during the game when the Flyers simply couldn't get possession or clear the zone, and Boucher came up big stopping a flurry of shots in both the 2nd and 3rd periods. It was good that the Flyers were able to win their second in a row, and the Flyers will try to make it 3 consecutive when the take on the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday.