Sunday, January 27, 2013

Flyers end weekend with loss in Tampa

January 27, 2013

Box Score (from Flyers.NHL.com)


The NFL's Pro Bowl is notorious for being perceived as a game where the players don't try.

Why mention the Pro Bowl you ask?

Well, because the Flyers turned in a half-hearted performance in a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night. Coincidentally, this happened on the same night as the Pro Bowl.

Sean Couturier (2, 0:59) scored a minute into the first period off of a tough angle shot that mange to just slip by Tampa Bay goaltender Andres Lindback.

The early goal made it appear that the Flyers were building off their dominant 7-1 win over the Florida Panthers the night before. 

A fight between Luke Schenn, who got more than his fair share of punches in, and Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier reinforced that idea.

Plus a rare triple minor penalty call to Tampa Bay's B.J. Crombeen made it look like things were going to go the Flyers way, which is crucial when dealing with one of the highest scoring teams in the league.

But special teams continued to haunt the Flyers in the still young season. 

The Flyers had no goals to show for on the power play, failing once again to generate offense with a man advantage.

On the penalty kill, the Flyers gave up two first period goals to the Lightning. 

Teddy Purcell (1, 14:34) and Vincent Lecavalier (2, 18:55) scored Tampa's power play goals, and Eric Brewer (3, 16:10) scored at even strength between the two. The Lightning had a 3-1 lead over the Flyers by the end of the period.

Michael Leighton, who was starting in place of Ilya Bryzgalov in net, was in over his head.

Despite making some good saves, Leighton only managed to save 21 of 26 shots. He allowed goals by Victor Hedman (2, 0:58) and Steven Stamkos (3, 12:29) in the third, following the three goals he surrendered in the first and and a scoreless second.

Wayne Simmonds was one of the more notable players on the ice Sunday night, but for the wrong reasons.

Simmonds was called for three penalties over the course of the game. He was called for roughing in the first period when he tackled Crombeen to the ice after he held and interfered with Flyers' captain Claude Giroux.

Simmonds was then called for unsportsmanlike conduct later in the first, and was ejected in the third with 3:08 left for a game misconduct penalty.

The Lightning handed the Flyers (2-4-0) their fourth loss of the season. 

Head Coach Peter Laviolette's team will head back to the northeast to play the New York Rangers (2-3-0) at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

The Flyers beat the Rangers 2-1, at home, for their first win of the season on Thursday night. However, the Flyers will definitely struggle against New York if they play the same way they did in Tampa.

(Image from Flyers.NHL.com)

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