Atlanta Blanks The Flyers In Philly

Added on Dec 21, 2010 by J Merrill in

NHL

The Atlanta Thrashers goalie Tomas Vokoun made 26 saves, and 5 different players scored, to give them a 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Thrashers played spoilers to the Flyers and their fans, as this was their last game before the winter break. This was a tough pill for Flyers fans to swallow, as the Thrashers are currently in 27^th place in the NHL.

Thrashers coach Peter DeBoer thinks they may have caught Philadelphia at the wheel on Monday night. He explained, “I’m sure we caught them with one foot out the door for Christmas break but we’ll take it. I’m not going to complain. Our guys came to play and got that early lead. It might have been a different story if they scored in the first 10 minutes and got the crowd into it, but we got some big saves when we needed them and some timely goals.”

Reporters bombarded Flyers coach Peter Laviolette with questions about if this game was a wake up a call to the Flyers. Laviolette disagreed, he said “I’m not sure getting shut out in your building is a good thing, so no it shouldn’t be a wake-up call. I’m failing to see the silver lining in it. Right now, we’re going into a break and it’s unacceptable. I thought Florida played a good game. They were first in all areas, they were first on puck on faceoffs, first to loose pucks, first on the forecheck, first to open ice. They played and competed at a high level and our level wasn’t where it needed to be.”

Flyer captain Mike Richards obviously didn’t like the outcome of the game, but he also felt the timing was terrible. “I think you can never settle for a loss, especially on a way like that. You want to go into the break feeling good about yourself and this is going to leave a bitter taste in your mouth. It’s disappointing, obviously, especially at home where we have played so well lately. But, we are going to have some time to get some rest, recover, heal up some bumps and bruises that we’ve had. We have a pretty critical stretch after Christmas so maybe this is going to kick our butt into gear a little bit.”

Florida, meanwhile, has outscored its last two opponents, 11-2, and they have put together two straight wins. DeBoer is happy that his squad is finally getting used to scoring, he said “Scoring three or four goals is something we’re not used to. We’ve chased some really good goalies in Ward (Carolina on Dec. 15), Miller (Dec. 17) and now Bobrovsky. It’s nice to get the points. We talked about getting to the break at or near the .500 mark and I like the way our schedule sets up next month.”

What has been the difference in the last few games? Deboer insists its secondary scoring, he said “You know, secondary scoring was the difference. We had depth scoring tonight; when we’ve got the guys sitting at home, Dvorak, Stillman, and Olesz, you know, we’re really relying on some of these American League guys to come in here and eat up minutes.”

Goalie Tomas Vokoun agreed, and was happy to see other team mates step up. He said “We need that secondary scoring. We can’t put pressure on one or two players. Our problem in the past was secondary scoring. When your top players aren’t putting the puck in the net, it’s nice to see other guys having success.” Vokoun also felt there was always a good chance to beat them giving the circumstances of the game. He concluded “We knew it would be tough for them in their last game before their break at home for Christmas. I think we started patient and, the key lately has been the ability to put the puck in the net. That takes the pressure off our defense, off our penalty kill and, obviously, it’s easier to play when you have a lead.”

The Atlanta Thrashers (15-16-0,30pts), who are now 5th in Southeast Division, will face the Pittsburgh Penguins(22-10-2,46pts) on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh. The Philadelphia Flyers (22-8-5,49pts), who are 1st in Atlantic Division, will face Vancouver (19-8-4,42pts) on Tuesday December, 28.