Flyers Tame Wild In Opener, 5-1

Special Teams & Giguere Lift Flyers

Philadelphia,PA- The Flyers got a couple of PP goals from Dany Heatley & two short handed goals, one each from Patrick Sharp & Jeff Carter, to go along with spectacular goaltending from J.S. Giguere, enroute to a 5-1 victory over the defending North West Conference Champions, the Minnesota Wild.

The Flyers came out with an 8-1 shot advantage to start the game, but by the time the period ended, the Flyers held a 10-9 edge in the 1-1 game. With Michal Rozsival in the box with the season's first penalty (hooking), Sharp had control of the puck & made two nice skating moves out of the zone, and was able to break in on Brian Boucher & beat him (G-14), to give the Flyers their first goal of the season & a 1-0 lead at 11:19. The lead didn't last long, 4 minutes later, Pierre-Marc Bouchard deflected A Jordan Leopold shot from the point past Giguere, who would make 31 saves & 12/12 GRs.

In second, the Wild seemed to control the play, outshooting the Flyers 14-7, but Giguere was unbeatable, and the Flyers broke the 1-1 tie when Dany Heatley scored on the Power Play at 17:10 to take the 2-1 lead into the locker room.

At 3:19 of the 3rd, Slava Kozlov scored his first of the year to make it 3-1. After the ensuing faceoff, Brent Burns took a frustration penalty when he slashed Flyer defenseman Braydon Coburn, putting the Flyers back up on the man advantage. On the PP, Heatley took advantage of a Nick Schultz giveaway & burried the puck in behind Boucher for the 4-1 lead at 4:16. With a comfortable 4-1 lead, Coburn took revenge on Burns at 7:53, but the ref saw it and blew the whistle. Coburn for 2...elbowing. The Flyers finishe the Wild off when Carter scored the team's 2nd shorthanded goal of the game at 8:37.

The Flyers' special teams shined, as Coach Keith Jones expected. 2-5 on the PP & 5-5 on the PK with 2 SHGs.

Next up for the Flyers: division rival Boston Bruins.