Flyers stunned by Panthers

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Monday night’s game at the Wells Fargo Center saw a team show up, but it wasn’t the first placed Flyers.   The visiting Panthers overwhelmed the uninspired hometeam, and shut them out 5-0. After winning five straight against rivals including, Toronto, Boston, Pittsburgh, Montreal, and the NYRangers, the Flyers dropped what should have been an easy one to a low ranking Panthers (14-15-0). “You’d like to think that as professional athletes you come and play hard 82 nights, but there’s some nights where it’s just — it’s no excuse, but we had some real tough games lately,”   said defenseman Sean O’Donnell.   “The Rangers, Pittsburgh, Boston and Montreal. We did well. We weren’t able to get up for this game. “Fortunately it’s one game here. You know, when you win you celebrate for a couple of minutes and put it behind you. We’re just going to have to do the same thing tonight.”The 22-year-old Russian, Sergei Bobrovsky, saw only his second start in the last six games, before being pulled after allowing 4 goals in 22 shots midway through the second period.   The veteran Brian Boucher came in relief.   This is the second time Bobrovsky has been chased from the Flyers net.   The first being against Tampa Bay when he allowed 3 goals on 16 shots in what went on to be a 8-7 loss. Boucher came in and stopped 17-of-18.   The veteran has started four of the last six games for the Flyers and played well, only allowing 5 goals on a total of 116 shots. The Panthers are a team struggling to stay out of the cellar in the Eastern Conference.   They’ve played below .500 hockey all season, and they’re longest winning streak, earlier this month, was three in a row.The problem for the Panthers isn’t on defense.   They held the Flyers to 26 shots on the night by boxing out the middle.   They’re tied for fifth in the league in goals allowed at 78.   And on a team with a losing record, only six players have a negative plus/minus rating. The Panthers problems come on offense, where they have zero players with 20 or more points.   And none are in the double digits in goals.   The power play is ranked last in the league at an abysmal 9.3% (10-for-108). “We thought this would be a cakewalk before Christmas and they would give us an early Christmas present with the two points,” observed Scott Hartnell. “Obviously, they were hungry.” The Flyers on the other hand have been rolling over the league with offense.   They’re second in goals for at 117.   And with their meager power play ranked 18, at 16.9% (24-for-144), they’ve had to score at five-on-five, where they’re second in the league with 80 goals. Depth is what makes their goal scoring so impressive.   Six different players have over 20 points, two of which have over 30—Mike Richards (32) and Claude Giroux (31).   Five different Flyers are in the double digits in goals.   Danny Briere and Giroux are tied for eighth in the league at 16 apiece.This isn’t the first give-me game the top team in the league has let slip away.   Earlier, after defeating two inter-divisional rivals, New Jersey December 4 and NYRangers on December 5, they took on the Western Conference San Jose Sharks, a team struggling to stay among the top eight in their conference at the time.   The Flyers had a 3-1 lead going into the third and let it slip away only to lose in the shootout. On October 25, the Flyers were playing .500 hockey.   They went on to an uninspired loss against Columbus, a struggling Western Conference team. The Flyers are a passionate team.   They are ranked 13 in the league in hits (761), tied for first in blocked shots (584), tied for sixth in penalty minutes per game (15.0), and second most in minor penalties (166).The problem with the team on Broad Street is they raise their game against teams like Pittsburgh, NYRangers and Montreal.   They bring a whole different attitude of grit and fire to the ice.   But when the game doesn’t mean as much or the opponent isn’t much of a rival, they treat it like just another game in 82.   They go through the motions. “It’s disappointing that’s for sure,” Richards said. “Obviously, not a game expected to have. The timing couldn’t be any worse. Be nice to get that win and go in on the break on a high note.” The team will have a whole week off to think over the tough loss.   After that, they’ll see three away games in four nights starting with the Vancouver Canucks. Contact Chuck.Tay@prohockeynews.com Photographer Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com