Gagne Nets Hat Trick, Flyers Bury Rangers 6-0

What a difference a week can make.  Last week the Philadelphia Flyers, on a 3-13-1 skid, stumbled out of South Philly to kick off a 6-game road trip.  After the first 4 games, they surprisingly have yet to lose.

In probably their most complete effort of the entire season, the Flyers clicked on all cylinders for a full 60 minutes tonight in beating the New York Rangers, 6-0.  Simon Gagne led the way with his 3rd career hat trick (two of which were registered at Madison Square Garden), and Michael Leighton notched his first shutout of the year in winning his fourth straight game.  It was the first time Philadelphia shutout the Rangers at MSG in the decade, the last time being John Vanbiesbrouck back in October 0f 1999.

The onslaught started early when Blair Betts batted an Ian Laperriere rebound home at the 54 second mark of the first period as Philadelphia crashed the net.  It was Betts’ 4th goal of the year and 3rd on the road trip.  The Flyers doubled that lead midway through the first when Mike Richards slid a pass to a wide open Danny Briere in front of the NY net.  Briere had all the time in the world and deked Ranger netminder Henrik Lundqvist to the backhand side, came back to the forehand and tucked the puck in off of the right post for a 2-0 lead.  Less than 2 minutes later, Gagne took a shot towards the NY net that rebounded out into the slot.  Claude Giroux was there and his shot glanced off of Ranger Donald Brashear’s stick and past Lundqvist.  The first period ended with Philadelphia up 3-0, and that was all for “King Henrik” as NY head coach John Tortorella pulled his star goaltender in favor of Chad Johnson to start the 2nd period.

It was a rude welcome to the NHL for Johnson as Gagne scored his first of the game just 23 seconds into the second frame to push the lead to 4-0.  With Marc Staal and Wade Redden both in the penalty box giving Philadelphia a 2-man advantage, Gagne netted his second goal of the evening off of a beautiful feed from Briere to stake Leighton and the Flyers to a 5-0 heading into the third.

New York carried play for much of the third but Philadelphia never looked to be back on their heels as they had an answer for every wave the Rangers sent their way.  The Flyers were outshot 12-2 in the third and didn’t get their first shot on goal until 11:30, which ended up being Gagne’s third straight goal for the natural hat trick.  Simon now has 5 goals and a return to his play of last year will go a long way for this team as they continue to get back on track.

It seems that the team is fully buying into coach Peter Laviolette’s system and tonights game should be a good example of the results the team can achieve when they carry out his aggressive, puck pressure style with pinpoint precision.  The energy and jump exhibited by each line kept the Rangers pinned deep in their zone for much of the first two periods, and even when NY fought for more room in the third, the Flyers held their ground.

After tonights victory, Philadelphia vaulted past 3 teams, including the Rangers, and now hold the #8 spot in the Eastern Conference.

That’s four games in a row and the team appears to be regaining the confidence that it had lost for the better part of the past two months.  Next up, the Boston Bruins in the NHL Winter Classic on New Years Day.

My Three Stars:

#1 – Simon Gagne – Scored the natural hat trick and added an assist for good measure

#2 – Danny Briere – A goal and an assist, looks to be benefitting from Laviolette’s game plan

#3 – Mike Richards – Two assists and a +4

Taking a Flyer:  Team Canada named it’s roster for the 2010 Olympics Wednesday and included Richards and defenseman Chris Pronger, who will be wearing an “A” as an alternate.  Along with three other defensemen, Kimmo Timonen (Finland), Oskars Bartulis (Latvia) and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (Norway), the Flyers have 5 players that will be representing their respective countries in Vancouver in February…the Flyers record under Laviolette now stands at 6-7-1.

__________________________________________________________

You can follow me on Twitter, my user ID is @PhilaDAVEia, and “friend” me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/davidstrehle.  If you have any comments or questions, you can also contact me via email at davidstrehle@puckdrop.ca