Flyers Fall To Oilers

Last night, Ilya Bryzgalov had a fantastic game.  Although he allowed 2 goals, he had some truly unbelievable saves on odd man rushes, and on the power play.  The defense in front of him had some obvious lapses, but for the most part Bryzgalov stayed strong and allowed just two goals.

The two goals allowed by Bryzgalov both came in the second period.  The first goal came on the Oilers' power play when Taylor Hall snapped a tough angle shot right past the left pad of Ilya Bryzgalov.  Bryz knew what was coming but unfortunately couldn't react and get to the spot in time.  The second goal surrendered by Bryzgalov is one that he definitely should have saved.  But in his defense, the Flyers were in transition and getting ready to shift into offense when miraculously Jordan Eberle of the Oilers kept the puck in the zone, got it back in the slot, and shot one through the five-hole of Bryzgalov.  Again a save Bryz probably should have made, but not a terribly weak goal by any means.

Unfortunately, as has been the case so many times this year, the Flyers offense went cold while the defense played relatively well.  But it wasn't as if the Flyers didn't get their fair share of chances against Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk.  The Flyers got a ton of quality odd man rushes but either made too many passes or just didn't finish and were never able to find the back of the net.  Wayne Simmonds had numerous chances, as did Brayden Schenn and Danny Briere.  But quality chances don't get you goals, and unfortunately the Flyers were shutout in this one by a final of 2-0.

You really can't get too angry at any player in particular after this tough loss.  Bryzgalov played great, the offense had numerous chances, and overall if the Flyers could have had a couple pucks bounce their way they easily could have won this one.  If I had to call out any one player or group of players I would probably call out the defense.  I know that with newcomers Pavel Kubina and Nicklas Grossman the Flyers defense is still adjusting, but there were times during the game where the Flyers simply couldn't get the puck out of the zone.  And a costly defensive lapse led to the Oilers' second goal of the night as well.

But overall the Flyers just have to continue playing hard.  Bryzgalov's solid outing is encouraging, and hopefully the Flyers can right the ship when they head to Calgary on Saturday night to take on the Flames.