Flyers net five on Boucher, beat Hurricanes

October 30, 2011

Former Flyer Brian Boucher signed with the Carolina Hurricanes over the off-season as the backup to their starter Cam Ward.

After completing a 3-0 shutout over the Chicago Blackhawks Friday night, Ward was awarded with a night off, which set Boucher up for a start against his former team.

Boucher was the starter for Philadelphia when they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2000.

In the 2009-2010 campaign, Boucher returned to the Flyers and platooned with journeyman Michael Leighton to help them reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

Then there was last year's goalie carousel where Boucher, Leighton, and rookie net-minder Sergei Bobrovsky were constanly switched as the team's starting goaltender. The incosistentcy in goal only let Philadelphia get past Buffalo in first round.

So after a crazy ride the past two years in Philly, "Boosh" made his first return to the Wells Fargo Center since.

The storyline should have been about Boucher's return Saturday night, but all eyes were focused on the Flyer's current goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.

Bryzgalov did not perform all that well in Thursday night's 9-8 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. He did not start the game, but he was sent in as relief for Sergei Bobrovsky who could not catch a break against the Jet's offense.

With the score already 5-1 when he came into the game, Bryzgalov allowed four more goals. Although the Flyers made it a game (There were 17 total goals by the end), Bryzgalov was clearly frustrated with himself after the loss.

He said he was "lost in the woods." That statement made everyone uneasy, but after Saturday night's win, it looks like he made his way out.

Bryzgalov made 24 saves out of the 25 shots that Carolina made.

After the game Bryzgalov simply said,"I found the way pretty quick, huh?"

He may have been able to get the shutout, if Hartnell did not knock him out of the net in the second period.

Hartnell dove to the ice to try to deflect a loose puck away from the net, but he slid into Bryzgalov and knocked him out of the net.

Defenseman Kimmo Timmonen picked up on what was happening and went to push down the net, but Carolina's Jussi Jokinen (3) was able to put the puck in in time (3:11).

After a review by the officials, the goal stood and the game was tied up at one in the second.

Before Hartnell let the Hurricanes get on the board, he scored (4) in the first (6:57) to give the Flyers an early 1-0 lead.

The Flyers did not score any more goals in the first or second period after that.

The third period was a different story.

Jaromir Jagr continued his hot streak, scoring twice in the third for his 115th career two goal game.

Jagr's first goal (3) came 39 seconds into the period to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. Then he scored the Flyer's go-ahead goal (4) to give them a 5-1 lead (12:17).

Maxime Talbot scored a shorthanded goal (3) following Jagr's first goal to make it a 3-1 game for the Flyers (5:46).

Claude Giroux made it 4-1 for Philadelphia when he scored (7) 7:36 into the third period. He also had three assists on the night to give him 15 total points this season.

Giroux's 15 points is second in the NHL (the Toronto Maple Leaf's Phil Kessel leads with 18).

Boucher had a rough homecoming, only making 29 saves of the 34 shots the Flyers piled on.

The Flyers won 5-1 to improve their home record to 3-3-1.

The team will go on the road to Buffalo next, for a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Quarter Finals against the Sabres Wednesday night. The Flyers won last year's series in seven games.

Flyers.NHL.com
http://flyers.nhl.com/club/recap.htm?id=2011020145

ESPN.com
http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=400047702