Flyers Win 5th Straight

Kotite's Corner was live at the Wachovia Center to watch our Flyers beat the Dallas Stars to pick up their 5th straight victory overall, and continue to gain momentum after a slow start to the season.

Just three minutes into the game, Scottie Upshall gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead after some great forechecking by the Upshall, Lupul, Metropolit line that was playing together all night. Upshall and Metropolit forced a turnover as the puck was played from behind the net, which Lupul intercepted. Lupul immediately played a pass to Upshall on the opposite side of the net, and Upshall gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead. Dallas would respond, and scored a goal halfway through the 1st period to make it 1-1. Knuble scored a goal for the Flyers late in the first period, his first of two on the night to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead after the 1st period. The Flyers dominated the first period, and looked good with their forechecking, and getting the puck through the neutral zone.

As good as the Flyers looked in the 1st period, they came out flat in the 2nd. Three goals were scored in the 2nd, two by the Stars as they tied the game at 3 after the 2nd period, with the Stars dominating the play. The 3rd period was fairly evenly played, the Flyers had to kill off two back-to-back penalties halfway through the period. With about six minutes left, Mike Richards make a great play in the neutral zone, and brought the puck into the offensive zone. He skated in, was patient, waited for Knuble to break to the net, and then played a perfect pass, which Knuble put into the back of the net. The Flyers killed off a 6 on 4 power play in the final minute to preserve the 4-3 victory.

Overall, the offense continues to score, and play well in the offensive zone, forechecking and cycling the puck. Jeff Carter, Mike Knuble, and Glen Metropolit most notably did a great job offensively against the Stars. On defense, the Flyers are still very up-and-down. They will look good for a period, block a lot of shots, and keep the opposing teams chances down. Then they will look lost for a period, and struggle to get the puck out of their own zone, while leaving Biron with no chance to save a lot of the goals that are scored against him. In goal, Martin Biron played well, and the goaltending is getting better as the season is going on.

The Flyers still are in the very tough Atlantic Division, but are gaining ground on the Rangers and Penguins in the division. They need to keep up the momentum they have going, and continue to play well.