Ilya Bryzgalov and Philadelphia Flyers shutout Florida Panthers 5-0 -NHL Update
Ilya Bryzgalov not only silenced Florida but a lot of his critics as well with perfect 28 save performance Thursday night, March 8, 2012, as Philadelphia Flyers shutout Panthers in a huge 5-0 win at the sold-out Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Losing the match was not the only concern for Florida, instead, it was the weakening of their position as the top team in the South Eastern Division with 74 points. Luckily, Panthers were able to maintain a top spot in the Eastern Conference due to their teams in the SE struggling to win games.
Now, Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals are a game away from levelling Florida, which could force them to face a sudden drop in rankings and even go below the playoff divisional line, something which would devastate a turnaround season for Panthers.
Bryzgalov was feeling the heat from fans a few weeks ago as Flyers struggled to win against some lower ranked teams but now the same fans were chanting in favour of the veteran goalie.
"It's very nice and very kind from them," Bryzgalov said. "From hating to love in one step and the same in the other direction."
Philadelphia came out strong right in the opening period as Brayden Schenn picked up his night of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season on the power play midway through the first.
Matt Read widened the gap 3:06 into the second while veteran forward, Scott Hartnell, grabbed his 32nd of the year on a turnaround breakaway through Florida’s Jose Theodore.
Jaromir Jagr was not expected to play Thursday night against Florida after taking a hard hit in their contest with Detroit Red Wings, but the superstar showed up and added their fourth goal on the early power play in round-three.
It was not hard to see that the match was pretty much over halfway through the third but Eric Wellwood added the insurance goal just for the fun of it at 18:33.
Being a leading team, Florida has not been able to show such momentum against some big teams this season which not only puts their postseason performance on the down low but even making the playoffs at risk.
"We made too many mistakes. You do that, and you're going to lose on any night against anyone," Panthers defenseman, Brian Campbell, said. "We have to keep battling. We have to keep finding some chances any way we can. Any good team in this league is going to take advantage against us, if we keep playing like this."
Philadelphia will be heading towards Toronto to face-off the struggling Maple Leafs team on a four-game winning streak on Saturday.
Florida has the next against Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, which certainly does not put them in the favourite position.
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