Flyers Hold On Against Islanders

Tonight, Ilya Bryzgalov's impressive shutout streak finally came to an end.  Although Bryz wasn't able to get the shutout, he did set the Flyers franchise record for shutout streak.  But toward the end of the third period, things started to fall apart in a hurry.

Zac Rinaldo got the scoring started in the first period when he wristed one from the corner right in between the five hole of Evgeni Nabokov.  It was really a freak goal and one that Nabokov probably would have liked to have back.  Also in the first, Giroux lifted one over the shoulder of Nabokov to give the Flyers a 2-0 advantage.

In the second period, the defense continued to play well.  The offense also kept up the pressure by adding another goal thanks to Scott Hartnell.  Hartnell skated ahead and got a clear break away and was able to find the back of the net with a wrist shot.  But it wasn't all smooth sailing in the second as the Islanders were awarded back to back power plays toward the end of the period.  Luckily the Flyers killed off the first power play, but toward the end of the kill, Nicklas Grossman was called for a penalty and the Islanders went right back to the man advantage. Luckily the Flyers were able to again keep the puck out of the net and preserve Bryzgalov's shutout streak.

In the third everything was going just fine until around 6 minutes left when Michael Gabner scored snapping the shutout streak and making it a 3-1 game.  Shortly after, John Tavares scored for the Islanders cutting the lead to 1 and putting some pressure on the Flyers.  Luckily the Flyers were able to successfully defend in the final few minutes and hold on to the victory.

In Bryzgalov's defense, after the first goal he allowed the defense got a little sloppy.  But let's not let the two goals that Bryz allowed take away from his record setting streak.  Give credit to Bryzgalov for coming out of his struggles and putting together a very impressive streak of games.

Offensively Giroux continued to play well as he added another goal.  Also Scott Hartnell looked great as he added yet another goal to his already impressive season.  And although the Flyers are a still a long shot to catch the Rangers, the Flyers did get two points tonight while the Rangers lost to Sidney Crosby and the Penguins 5-2.  The Flyers are currently 6 points behind the Rangers with 12 games left to play.  The Flyers could definitely catch the Rangers especially considering the two teams play each other in early April.  

And the quote of the night comes from Ilya Bryzgalov: a reporter asked him how he felt when he gave up those two goals and Bryz quickly responded with,

"If you think teams were never going to score against me again, you were mistaken."

Overall congrats to Bryz for a very impressive streak.