BOX SCORE
NEWARK, N.J. -- Ilya Bryzgalov did something on Saturday night that no Flyer goalie had achieved all last season.
He got a shutout.
The Bryz was perfectly stellar in net facing just 20 shots during the Flyers' 3-0 victory over the Devils on Saturday night at the Prudential Center. The Flyers' newest goalie notched his 24th career shutout.
I heard it wasnt last year, said Bryzgalov, who far more subdued than expected given the achievement, but then again, he faced tougher shots in the opener at Boston.
The Devils had only three shots in the last period.
Sometimes you are going to be lucky and its one shot or one deflection away, he said. Hit the skate and it goes in after you played an unbelievable game. Sometimes you might not play so well but the puck hit the post or your defensemen help you.
NHL
Claude Giroux, standing at the other end of the room asked, When was the last time we had one shutout?
The answer: April 6, 2010, a 2-0 win by Brian Boucher in Toronto in the regular season.
The last Flyer shutout overall was on May 22, 2010, a 3-0 win with Michael Leighton in net, during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals at Montreal.
Playoffs dont count in the regular season record books.
Asked if he would have liked to have been tested more, like he was in Boston on Thursday -- a 2-1 win -- Bryzgalov shrugged and replied, The time will come.
Truth is, his teammates played outstanding defense, holding Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk to three shots each.
That made Bryzgalovs job that much easier.
I cant say enough about the team effort and work ethic, Bryzgalov said. They played unbelievable. They work extremely hard in the offensive zone and backchecked on defense. Its amazing.
Giroux scored a goal early and 25-year-old rookie Matt Read got one to start the third period, giving Bryzgalov some breathing room.
Wayne Simmonds, who like Read, is a first-year Flyer, coming over from Los Angeles in the Mike Richards deal, also scored his first goal of the season.
So, in two games, the Flyers have gotten a shutout and scoring from three different players picked up in the off-season. Jakub Voracek scored in the win over the Bruins.
What more could coach Peter Laviolette ask for?
Contribution from the new guys, Laviolette summed it up. Bryz was really solid last game. There wasnt much for him tonight. The ones he had to make he did a great job. I thought our guys played really hard in front of him.
When you hold a team low in scoring chances and a zero on the board, thats what you shoot forstrong defense. We got strong defense and good goaltending tonight. Thats a good combination.
Though he said he was hoping for a tad more work in the game, Bryzgalov saw was just seven shots in an opening period dominated by the Flyers, who ended it ahead, 1-0.
The chemistry among James van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux and Jaromir Jagr is legitimately scary, its so obvious.
These three, along with Matt Carle at the point, had a scoring shift where they looked like they were on the power play, cycling the puck.
JVR went behind the net with the puck, then outmuscled and spun Devils defenseman Henrik Tallinder around before tossing a no-look pass into the high slot. Giroux one-timed his second goal of the season before goalie Marty Brodeur could react.
Its always fun to get those kind of passes, Giroux said. It was a nice play by Reemer.
Bryz played great. We got that first goal and he kind of shut the door. He was pretty solid in there.
I know there were a lot of doubts about him. Some media said they werent too sure about him but he looks pretty good out there.
The period ended predictably, with the Flyers killing another penalty and Andreas Nodl getting a clean, shorthanded breakaway. As often is the case with Nodl, he didnt bury it as Brodeur made a nice save.
Brodeur faced 29 shots, many of them far more difficult than what Bryzgalov had to overcome.
Known for its trap, the Devils, under Peter DeBoer, play more wide open. So much so, they didnt press the Flyers on the breakout and seemed to concede ice and space for much of the game, allowing the Flyers to penetrate the zone and work the puck around.
The game tonight was more what I was looking for with regard to faster and tighter checking and more opportunity, Laviolette said. I thought we did a good job taking the next step. We have to keep pushing.
Bryzgalov faced a couple of deflected shots in the second period that hit him high, such as Petr Sykos snap shot off the blocker, which was a good thing
Minutes later, Bryzgalov had an identical save on Devils rookie Adam Larsson, then quickly smothered the rebound.
In the final seconds of that period, he also robbed Parise at the net.
That was all the Devils could offer.
Less than three minutes into the final period, Read took a pass from Scott Hartnell and ripped a shot off Brodeurs left shoulder into the net for his first, career NHL goal.
Its off your shoulders a little bit because you dont have to worry about getting one, Read said of getting his first marker out of the way.
Hartnell went and retrieved the puck for Read. No need for Chris Pronger to steal it.
Simmonds scored moments later on a rebound in the crease where he made three attempts to get the puck with Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov draped on him like a jersey.
To watch Waynes game tonight, he was really good, Laviolette said. Hes a young player. As you get older, you develop into roles. Hes a good skater, really strong on pucks, really strong on the battles. Hes a power forward.
Simmonds goal accounted for the final score.
From that point on, the Devils completely lost their composure, taking one bad penalty after another, including a couple for unsportsmanlike conduct.
As the game went on, our frustration at not being able to execute showed, DeBoer understated.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net