The Flyers Phailed.

Yesterday, I attended my first Flyers game of the year. Well, I did go to the Flyers-Canes Spectrum game, so I guess it was the second time. It's amazing what a pennant race can do to a city. The Flyers felt some effects as their one plenty of open seats in the arena.

Anyway, the Flyers seemed to control the tempo through most of the first two period. The tem was playing well, killing penalities, and even scored a power play goal.

However, things changed in the third period. Montreal completely dominated and used their great speed to get the puck through the neutral zone exploding for four 3rd period goals. A 2-1 Flyers lead quickly chnged to 3-2 Montreal in the opening minutes and later to a 5-3 defeat for the Flyers.

There are some people that I could sit here nd rant about, but I'll bite my tongue for now. Their names are Biron, Briere, Knuble, Kukkonen, and Eminger. 4 of those 5 names may be playing their last season as a Flyer. Too bad Eminger cost us a first round pick, but hey, he is still young.

The losses of Ryan Parent and Randy Jones are clearly hurting this team badly right now. Though he's been good, the Flyers have been forced to rush the development of Luca Sbisa. Who knows if they can rely on him once seasonal fatigue sets in.

Tonight, the Flyers will face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It'll be their first road test of the season and hopefully the change of scenery will do them good. This weekend they travel out west to play Colorado and San Jose.

For two straight games, the Flyers have played well for 40 minutes. The problem? The game lasts 60 minutes. If the Flyers want to be successful this season, they'll have to play more of a complete game. Continuing to allow multiple goal periods is going to put the Flyers in a boatload of trouble.