Flyers Devils Game 1 Review

Today the Flyers took game 1 against the Devils winning in OT by a final of 4-3.  While I'm certainly happy with the victory I did notice a lot of things that the Flyers need to work on for game 2.  Here are my pros and cons from game 1.

What They Did Wrong

• The Flyers were extremely sloppy early on.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that they were rusty, but they definitely lacked intensity.  They simply weren't as amped up for the game as the Devils were.  
• The Flyers also gave up way too many shots in the early going.  In total the Flyers allowed 15 shots in the first period.
• Offensively, the Flyers got little to no pressure on Marty.  In fact they didn't get their first shot on goal until mid way through the first period.  The Flyers picked up the offensive intensity toward the end of the period but only managed a total of 6 shots to open the game.  
• The Flyers were just 1 of 6 on the power play.  What's worse is that on a few of their power plays they struggled just to get an extended possession.  
• Overall the Flyers were also very sloppy at times and gave up costly turnovers.  

What They Did Right

• Although the Flyers gave up a lot of early shots, Bryzgalov looked great and stopped most of the shots directed his way in the opening period.  The solid play early on gave Bryz a ton of confidence the rest of the game.  
• The Flyers had just 3 penalties in the game and did an excellent job of staying out of the box. 
• After being out shot in the first period 15-6, the Flyers out shot the Devils 30-11 in the remainder of the game.  
• JVR was a huge bright spot for the Flyers.  In the few games that he played in the Pittsburgh series, JVR was basically a non-factor.  But today JVR had multiple breakaways and even cashed in on a play where Marty got caught being too aggressive. 
• G.  One letter says so much.  G (aka Claude Giroux) was awesome today.  He cashed in on a one-timer power play goal, and overall he really stepped up as a leader today.  
• Danny Briere was the MVP of the game.  Briere had two goals; a breakaway goal and a slap shot in over time that won the game for the Flyers.  Briere was outstanding as he continues to put together an unbelievable post season track record.

Overall the Flyers did a great job of rebounding from an awful first period.  They fought off the rust and were able to outplay the Devils in the remainder of the game.  The Flyers now have an excellent opportunity to take a stranglehold on this series and go up 2-0 on Tuesday night.  

Make sure to heckle my buddy @czm26 on twitter.  He's a Devils fan.