Ilya Bryzgalov earns first shutout as Philadelphia Flyers blank New Jersey Devils 3-0 -NHL Update
Philadelphia Flyers were one of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) transformed teams coming out of the preseason and it truly showed in their second matchup against New Jersey as they shutout Devils, 3-0, on Saturday night, October 8, at the sold-out Prudential
Centre in Newark, New Jersey.
Ilya Bryzgalov, Philadelphia’s newly acquired goalie from Phoenix Coyotes earned his first shutout of the new 2011-2012 regular season by blocking all 20 attempts on his net by New Jersey, showing that his acquisition was not in vain.
"I'm not looking back and thinking about my contract", said Bryzgalov, referring to the nine-year, $51 million deal he signed this summer and the expectations to perform that come with it. "I just want to give the team a chance to win the game. That's it.
I don't care about the rest of the stuff. I don't worry about the stats. When we win the games, I'm so excited".
Bryzgalov’s counterpart in New Jersey, Martin Brodeur, certainly could not be blamed for the loss as the 18-year veteran faced more shots (29) and made 26 saves including a number of diversions on breakaway attempts by Philadelphia.
Flyers might be playing without their star forwards, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, both which were traded over the offseason to make salary cap space, but they showed more partnership and competency throughout for their second straight win of the new season.
"I have no problem with that", Jaromir Jagr said. "I think the key is five guys working together. Everyone knows what to do. It's not three guy’s offense, two guys defence”.
Claude Giroux opened up the scoring by potting Philadelphia’s first at the 12:05 mark of the initial period.
The scoring remained cold in the second period as both teams were fruitless in their attempts to penetrate the opposing defence.
Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds scored the final two for Philadelphia Flyers in the opening five minutes of the third and final period of regulation to bring the match to a close.
Philadelphia Flyers will be looking for a third consecutive victory when they return home for their season opener against Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, while New Jersey Devils face-off against Carolina Hurricanes on Monday.
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