One game after being drubbed 7-1 in Sunrise; the Philadelphia Flyers got back to home ice and defeated the Florida Panthers, 1-0 behind Michal Neuvirth 31 saves.
Photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman
“I thought I had a good pregame skate,” Neuvirth said. “And I think the last game helped me a lot. I was coming into the game more relaxed. I was just feeling good the whole day. Guys helped me, they did an outstanding job, great sticks, so many blocked shots. Great team effort.”
Brayden Schenn scored the only goal of the game.
For the Flyers new head coach, Dave Hakstol, it was his first NHL win.
“I think we said it before the game, said it after the morning skates: We have all the confidence in the world in [Neuvirth],” Hakstol said. “He’s done a good job for us all the way from Day One through camp through preseason. He went out tonight and he played a heck of a game.”
Philadelphia won on the strength of their penalty kill that went 6-for-6 on the night.
“Our killers were great,” Flyers forward Sam Gagner said. “And [Neuvirth] was the calming influence back there making a ton of saves. It’s big to get that kill, and all the kills throughout the game were huge for us.”
Photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman
Roberto Luongo was almost as good as Neuvirth with 32 saves
“They came out hard and we didn’t play our best game,” Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. “It happens. We knew it wasn’t going to be like the first game at home. But we still had some chances. Luongo kept us in the game all the way through. They always had a one-goal lead. We could have come back. One goal could have been good.”
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