Last Thursday the Flyers extended Kimmo Timonen for another year, guaranteeing the defenseman will be wearing orange and black next season. Timonen, who will turn 38 next month, has been the Flyers’ best defender over the past six seasons (215 points, plus-38 rating), and his veteran presence should help the growth process of youngster Luke Schenn.
In other Flyers news:
- While his record may not reflect it, Ilya Bryzgalov (6-6-1, .913 SV%, 2.49 GAA) is off to a phenomenal start this season. His numbers are on par with his career totals (.915 SV%, 2.52 GAA) and unlike his shaky start last season, the goaltender appears to be locked in during the early going of this season. Bryzgalov has bailed the Flyers’ struggling defense out in multiple games this season and continues to be the team’s MVP to this point.
- Tye McGinn is adding to the Flyers’ recent success from rookies. In his first 11 games of NHL play, McGinn has put up 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) and a plus-3 rating. McGinn is averaging over 13 minutes on the ice this season and is becoming a serious presence in front of the net for the Flyers. On Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets, the young forward fell an assist short of a Gordie Howe hat trick (a goal, an assist, and a fight).
- Claude Giroux is becoming a beast in the faceoff circle. Giroux has now won at least 50% of his faceoffs in seven straight games, and has posted a 56.49% win rate overall on the season. It appears that his offseason wrist surgery has not had any negative impact on his faceoff ability.
- While Giroux is having success in the faceoff circle, he is having trouble finding the back of the net. Giroux hasn’t scored a goal since February 2; a drought of five games. In that time, the captain has only posted two assists while posting a minus-3 rating.
- The Flyers have gone 4-1-1 in their last six games. Part of their recent success can be attributed to the team’s much improved penalty kill unit, which has converted at a rate of 93.3% over that span.
The Flyers (6-7-1, 4th in Atlantic Division) will look to continue their recent success when they face the New Jersey Devils (8-2-3, 1st in Atlantic Division) at the Prudential Center Friday night.
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