Mason - Doom and Gloom about the Team aside...

[coords]

To me looks like we have our goaltender.  Kind of an empty feeling in the midst of being 1-7, 2-7, 3-7...but I think we have our goal tender.

 

Hope the hole isn't too big to dig out of because if we can get the offense we've had plus this defense we can scare any team.

 

 

[OccamsRazor]

Hope the hole isn't too big to dig out of because if we can get the offense we've had plus this defense we can scare any team.

 

72 games left to be played seeding ain't handed out in october, they have a game in hand on the 8th seed Isle and are only 3 points behind them so slowly but surely if they keep working on their game and keeping trying to limits mistakes they have plenty of time just imagine how good they can be once they get G finding the twine too.

[AndyS]

He's been solid.

 

If the rest of the team starts to gel, look out!

 

G needs to just score a goal, no matter how ugly.

 

And the PP unit needs to get it going.

[brelic]

Mason has looked great. Honestly, he's the only reason we were still hanging on in most of our games. 

 

If he can show this over a full season, lock him up. 

[canoli]

so true Brel - he was the reason all the games before last night were 1-goal games heading into the 3rd. He finally got some goal support last night and got a well-deserved win. And he had to be good. The Isles had some great chances where Mason had to come up big and he did.

 

I also reallly liked:

- the PK; the Isles have the best PP in the NHL and the Flyers kept them off the board. It sucks they gave up a shorty - 2-on-1 against when you're on the PP is asking for trouble (and Nielsen has been on fire) but other than that sequence I liked the PK a lot.

- Face Offs - other than Schenn (35%) the Flyers dominated the FO circle. The Isles played the night before but it was still great to see Giroux (67%) and Couturier (59%) win most of their draws.

-Luke Schenn shooting from the point, getting involved offensively

 

and then the obvious highlights - VLC, Voracheck, Giroux with a couple assists.

 

A much tougher challenge comes up on Tuesday...Anaheim is getting scoring from all over their lineup and they're averaging over 3 goals/game. Should be a great game and a big test for Mason facing Perry and Getz, Perrault, etc. We get a break with Silfverberg getting hurt but the Ducks have plenty of firepower to cover while he's out.

[OccamsRazor]

Mason has looked great. Honestly, he's the only reason we were still hanging on in most of our games. 

 

If he can show this over a full season, lock him up.

Feel strange to type this and there is lot that can still go wrong...but i will anyways this RIGHT HERE is the most secure I've ever felt with who is guarding the crease since I've followed the Flyers mind you I've only followed since the year before they got Lindros but none the less me likey....so it is a change I can get use to, plus it will me time to find something else to bitch about!!!!!

[mojo1917]

I was hoping to see some feedback about the first game of the year that the flyers pot more than 2 goals because I didn't see the game. Last pony football game of the year.... was everyone else watching Oregon vs UCLA ? Where' s the analysis?

Looking at the box score only tells a guy so much. The Isles blow their load vs the Pens? Did the Flyers skate? Everyone's fingers cramped up from the game chat?

Only @canoli with some comments, thanks bro.

[canoli]

kind of weird isn't it? I popped into game chat last night in the 3rd and it was like a morgue in there.

 

Maybe the best thing I saw was how well guys were moving without the puck; the offense finally had some fluidity to it, some unpredictability. It wasn't just the usual "dump deep, cycle back to the point" over and over. The passing / shooting lanes were constantly opening up and changing; the puck-carrier actually had options. It was really nice to see for a change. I never imagined Lecavalier would fit in so smoothly on the wing but it seems they're both benefitting from it already; they're making it work; Giroux found Lecavalier twice for assists (1 primary 1 secondary).

 

I guess we can't get too excited though. The Isles did play an emotional, tough game Friday night against Pittsburgh - they won it in the last minute on a rush, 2-on-2 Bailey and Okposo, Bailey getting the goal on a great 2nd effort. They didn't look spent but they lost a lot of draws and didn't control the puck much in the 3rd. Partly the Flyers' good execution (passing was about 100% better all game) partly the effects of back-to-back games by the Isles.

 

That's why I threw in the bit about "tougher challenge coming up." I haven't seen much of the Ducks but they're playing well and getting goals from all over the lineup. Mason's going to have his hands full.

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

kind of weird isn't it? I popped into game chat last night in the 3rd and it was like a morgue in there.

 

 

 

 

Sorry, I wasn't able to make it and keep it lively.

[Spinorama]

G needs to just score a goal, no matter how ugly.

 

couldn't agree more haha

[fanaticV3.0]

To me looks like we have our goaltender.  Kind of an empty feeling in the midst of being 1-7, 2-7, 3-7...but I think we have our goal tender.

 

Hope the hole isn't too big to dig out of because if we can get the offense we've had plus this defense we can scare any team.

 

You know what I really like about him? That he's playing solid, but not doing something we all know he's going to come down from. He's not on some Leighton PO streak or one of Boucher's 6 game shutout streaks. He's playing well, but not so well to where you know the clock is eventually going to strike midnight on him.

[canoli]

that's a good point.

 

But the irony is just ridiculous. Goaltending has been the Flyers' weakest link since - Bernie! (practically). Now we finally have a guy who can get the job done and our offense disappears. If you wrote that story, made it into a treatment or a screenplay nobody would buy it: "too implausible, no team is that cursed."