Eric Hartline- USA TODAY Sports
The Philadelphia Flyers hosted the New York Rangers tonight at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers did not skip a beat from last night’s game, defeating the Rangers 4-2.
Backup Goaltender Steve Mason was brilliant, saving 38 of 40 shots, and making a handful of highlight reel saves in the process. Mason got his first win in a Flyers uniform, and was handed a game puck in commemoration of his victory. He set the tone for the rest of his team, who gave him plenty of goals to help earn a very much-needed win.
The Philadelphia skaters came out flying, scoring two goals in the firstperiod against star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Flyers defenseman Erik Gustafsson scored his second goal in two games. The 24-year-old Swede has been in rare form of late, showing flashes of offensive brilliance reminiscent of former Flyers captain and fan favorite Eric Desjardins.
This is very promising for the franchise as they have been waiting for Gustafsson to break out of his shell and show the offensive prowess the Flyers have been waiting to see. He is a tremendous skater and is very dangerous as the trail man when joining the attack. Gustafsson is the also a great puck handler and could potentially be the future quarterback of their power play.
He certainly has all the tools to do so and the Flyers are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that the plans they have had for him all along come to fruition. It is frustrating to see such great play from the young Flyers team with their season most likely over, but nonetheless, the team’s future is looking brighter and brighter.
The Flyers are now five points behind the Rangers with Five games to go. If they can stay hot and win out the rest of the season, there is still hope for the broad street bullies. However, they need a lot of help from a lot of teams, and need to take care of their own business as well — something they have had trouble doing all season.
