Mason, Blues shutout Flyers 4-0

Posted 12:22 AM ET | Comments 1

First of all, I would like to say that I'm not happy at all with the effort and the way the Flyers played tonight. It was as craptastic of an effort that you could ever see from the Flyers. It was a bad, bad game for the Flyers as Chris Mason made 36 saves for his third shutout of the season to help the Blues beat the Flyers 4-0 tonight. Even though the Flyers had 36 shots on goal against Mason, the effort was not good tonight. Not only that, but I do not want to hear the excuses about how the Flyers were tired and depleted. This is the NHL and you get paid a ton to go out there and win games. No excuses, just results. Braydon Coburn and Randy Jones did not play because of the flu, but there are no excuses for the Flyers, you have to play with the players you do have.

Very early in the first period, the Flyers had a 5 on 3, two minute power play and they could barely get a shot on goal in that time frame, then when T.J. Oshie and Brad Winchester left the box, they went on a breakaway, and Jay McClement was there to get the goal. That goal gave the Blues a 1-0 lead. What is really irritating is the fact that the Flyers could barely muster anything on the two minute, 5 on 3 power play. You have to take advantage of that and strike gold, because by not being able to score on that, the momentum shifts to the Blues. Later in the period, Arron Asham and Cam Janssen dropped the gloves right after the whistle was blown for a Riley Cote hooking penalty.

In the second period, it got worse for the Flyers. Carlo Colaiacovo scored his second goal of the season when he took a shot from the faceoff zone to the left of Antero Niittymaki. Later on in the period, David Backes scored a power play goal to give the Blues a 3-0 lead. That was the boiling point for Mike Richards, as he dropped the gloves with agitator Dan Hinote. I know some people thought that it was a stupid decision to drop the gloves, because B.J. Crombeen was called for hooking right when Richie dropped the gloves. However, I can understand the decision because the Flyers needed a spark at that time, and being the captain of the Flyers, Richie needed to do something, and he did so.

The third period was not much better. Patrik Berglund scored a power play goal with 4:33 left in the game. However, the Flyers did manage to get 15 shots on goal against Chris Mason. It was too late though, because the Flyers had dug a deep hole already. Mason was strong in this game, as he made the saves that he needed to make, and he was in the right place at the right time when the puck came to him. It was just one of those nights where the Flyers couldn't get one past Mason. The key is to get the puck to the net against Mason, and the Flyers did that, but Mason did the job.

Another issue I want to talk about is the penalties. I have tried to be as patient as I could with the Flyers, and the penalties that have been occuring in the last week or so, but I'm starting to get tired of it. The penalties that the Flyers are taking are not smart penalties. Some of them are where the Flyers are not moving their feet, and then they have to take a penalty so that the opposing team doesn't have a chance to score. Other penalties are the type where they don't use their head. At some point, the Flyers need to stop blaming the refs, and just stop taking unneccesary penalties. At the same time, I have to admit that some of the penalties are phantom calls, but you can't put yourself in that situation in the first place, plain and simple. In the last two games, three of the five goals that the Flyers have given up have come on the power play, that can't happen.

Game Summary
First Period
Scoring
STL- J. McClement(5), Asts: B. Winchester(3), T.J. Oshie(8) 4:05 Blues 0-1
Penalties
STL- B. Winchester, Tripping 2 min 1:56
STL- T.J. Oshie, Hooking 2 min 1:56
PHI- R. Cote, Hooking 2 min 11:18
PHI- A. Asham, Fighting(major) 5 min 11:18
STL- C. Janssen, Fighting(major) 5 min 11:18
PHI- A. Alberts, Interference 2 min 15:55
STL- D. Backes, Cross Checking 2 min 19:49
Second Period
Scoring
STL- C. Colaiacovo(2), Asts: K. Tkachuk(17), B. Boyes(18) 2:45 Blues 0-2
STL- D. Backes(17), PP Asts: A. Steen(12), C. Mason(1) 8:37 Blues 0-3
Penalties
PHI- M. Knuble, Slashing 2 min 7:09
STL- B. Crombeen, Hooking 2 min 9:12
PHI- M. Richards, Fighting(major) 5 min 9:12
STL- D. Hinote, Fighting(major) 5 min 9:12
STL- T. Strachan, Hooking 2 min 10:44
PHI- C. Giroux, Hooking 2 min 10:49
STL- J. McClment, Holding 2 min 11:07
PHI- M. Carle, Interference 2 min 16:49
PHI- S. Gagne, Hooking 2 min 19:24
Third Period
Scoring
STL- P. Berglund(15), PP Asts: B. Boyes(19), T.J. Oshie(9) 15:27 Blues 0-4
Penalties
PHI- D. Powe, Holding 2 min 8:20
STL- B. Winchester, Slashing 2 min 9:42
PHI- J. Lupul, Interference 2 min 13:38
PHI- S. Hartnell, Roughing 2 min 13:58
PHI- A. Asham, Unsportsmanlike Conduct 2 min 13:58
STL- J. Woywitka, Roughing 2 min 13:58
STL- A. Steen, Interference 2 min 14:29
PHI- R. Cote, Misconduct 2 min 17:11
STL- A. Steen, Unsportsmanlike Conduct 2 min 17:11
STL- B. Crombeen, Roughing 2 min 19:45
STL- Team, Abuse of Officials- bench 2 min 19:45

Goalies
Philadelphia Flyers
#30 Antero Niittymaki(L): 31 Saves on 35 Shots
St. Louis Blues
#50 Chris Mason(W): 36 Saves on 36 Shots

THREE STARS OF GAME(St. Louis Media):
1. #50 Chris Mason STL
2. #74 T.J. Oshie STL
3. #18 Jay McClement STL

Next Flyers game: Wednesday night Vs. Boston Bruins 7pm CSN-HD

Filed Under: Blues Mason Berglund Richie Flyers