A couple days ago, Ilya Bryzgalov said he was lost in the woods after the 9-8 catastrophe against Winnipeg.
Two nights later against Carolina, it was a completely different story as Bryzgalov had 24 saves during a defensive-conscious effort by the Flyers that produced a 5-1 victory (see story).
I found the way very quick, huh? Bryzgalov said of getting out of the woods.
Did you seek help from moose and squirrel?
It was the iPhone compass, he said.
Yep, the sense of humor was back.
But it took some tome and a little badgering from the media to draw Bryzgalov out. His initial comments were boring. Then again, that may be what goalie coach Jeff Reese wants. Less mediaBryz and more gameBryz.
What do you want I got to say? he asked. It's a good sign. Everybody just stepped up and played a hard game. Everybody focused on his own job. Like the goalie has to stop the puck, the forwards got to score the goals and the defense has to protect the goalie and clear the pucks and let me see the pucks.
NHL
It seems like we played really well tonight. I hope we are going in the right direction and continue to improve. Everything will be fine. You can say I am pretty boring but I got nothing for you tonight.
His secret to re-focusing?
Believe it or not, I just spent a couple of days in the steam room, Bryzgalov replied. I know I can do all the things ... I did it before. Sometimes you need to turn the switch on in your head.
It doesn't mean you have to work the next two years to get in shape. You have to build to play. You need to fix your head and turn the switch on and go on.
Loose pucks
Jaromir Jagr posted his 115th career two-goal game. Jagr now has 101 career points against the Carolina franchise (34-67-101).
Claude Giroux, Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn were all plus-4 tonight. Three players at plus-4? Thats a Flyer first for the season.
The Flyers have now won 10 of their last 11 against Carolina. They have won six in a row at the Wells Fargo Center and have at least a point in 10 straight games against the Hurricanes at home (8-0-2) dating back to a loss on Dec. 19, 2006. They are 16-1-3 overall against Carolina since that loss.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net