On the night of Kimmo Timonen’s retirement ceremony, the Flyers were better than the same Chicago Blackhawks that allowed Kimmo to lift the Cup as his last act. The Orange and Black took down the defending champs, 3-0. Here’s what I saw:
• When Claude Giroux scores an even-strength goal at home, you know things are going the Flyers’ way. In all seriousness, the captain buried a rebound in the second period to make the game 2-0 and was subsequently FLYERED UP about it (GIF via @BradyTrett):
• Speaking of even strength, the Flyers were solid 5v5 tonight (44-43 was the Corsi mark with two minutes left). That's well done against a team of Chicago's quality.
• Ron Hextall didn’t do much in free agency (financially he literally couldn’t) except pick up a quality backup goalie. Good thing he did. How about another shutout for Michal Neuvirth, this one on thirty shots? When you’re hot, you’re hot. Neuvirth made a critical stop all alone on Marian Hossa (GIF via @BradyTrett):
• One power play goal shouldn’t make up Dave Hakstol’s mind on these matters, but it’s going to be hard to take Sam Gagner out of the lineup when R.J. Umberger presumably returns. He brings an offensive element the Flyers don’t really have in the bottom-six.
• I haven’t read if something like this has occurred in other cities yet, but Patrick Kane heard pretty loud boos every time that he touched the puck. At a couple of points, there was also an audible “She said no” chant.
• In extremely important news, the Flyers made some tweaks to the pregame light show. Now, there are more images projected onto the ice. Much better.
Up next
A week off! The Flyers get a taste of life in the NFL (well, minus the monster television ratings, unguaranteed contracts, and a bunch of other stuff), as they won’t play again until next Tuesday at home against the Dallas Stars. Should be a good one. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are plenty fun to watch.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann