The Flyers needed a win this afternoon in the worst possible way. After Claude Giroux called out his teammates after Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, it was put-up-or-shut-up time for the Flyers. Well the captain certainly brought his game on Monday afternoon. Just 26 seconds into the game, Giroux took a great pass from Matt Read and promptly deposited it over Evgeni Nabokov’s shoulder to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. The Flyers were swarming early but shots were going just wide and they could not capitalize when Kimmo Timonen was whistled for a weak interference penalty. Wayne Simmonds was then given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which gave the Islanders a 5-on-3 for 2:00. The Flyers valiantly killed the penalty and took the momentum. There was a flurry at the end of the first period but Philadelphia could not score.

The second period got off to a faster start than the first when Giroux’s shot was blocked but ended up on the stick of Matt Read who did not miss for his team leading seventh goal of the year to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead. Just over seven minutes later, Brayden Schenn scored on the power play to give the Flyers a 3-0 cushion. Schenn’s goal snaps the Flyers five goal goalless drought on the power play. Seven minutes after Schenn, Giroux scored again to take a 4-0 lead into the second intermission.

The third period saw the Flyers get on the board early again. Harry Zolnierczyk went speeding up the outside and took the Islanders’ defense with him. That left Zac Rinaldo alone with an empty net and he put the Flyers up 5-0. Seven minutes later Danny Briere redirected Sean Couturier’s shot on the power play to put the Flyers up 6-0. Notice a theme? Seven minutes later, Briere would score again to make it 7-0. They Flyers then went to work to keep the Islanders off the board for goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov . Bryzgalov stood strong as he stopped all 19 New York shots for his first shutout since March 13, 2012.

Quick Hits:

• It was Bryzgalov’s 30th career shutout.
• Jake Voracek had an assist on each of the first four goals.
• The line of Giroux, Voracek, and Read combined for three goals and seven assists for 10 points.
• Rinaldo’s goal was his first in 25 games dating back to last season.
• The Flyers were 2-for-4 on the power play.
• The Flyers went 5-for-5 killing penalties today taking them to 21-for-21 in their last six games.
• Five different Islanders were -3 today.
• It was the worst loss of the season for the Islanders.
• Braydon Coburn and Erik Gustafsson were the only two Flyers over 20 minutes of ice time.

The Flyers get back at it on Wednesday at 7:30 pm as they travel to Pittsburgh to take on Paul Martin and the Penguins.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
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