Flyers Cough Up Lead, Game

               The Flyers met their in-state rival Pittsburgh Penguins last night at the Wells Fargo Center, and as usual it was a high scoring affair.  The Penguins unfortunately came away victorious by a score of 5-4 in a game the Flyers seemed to have complete control of in the first period.
 The Flyers jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first period after scoring 3 times in the final five minutes of the period.  Things weren't so smooth for the Orange and Black after that however.  The Penguins held the Flyers scoreless for the remainder of the game, and scored 4 unanswered goals to steal a win in a game the Flyers had in their hands.  The loss dropped the Flyers to 11-13-1 on the lockout-shortened season.  If the Flyers have any aspirations of making the playoffs, they will need to turn this season around immediately and start playing complete games, not just dominating for a period then looking lackadaisical for the remainder of the game.  While the loss was a complete disappointment, there were a few bright spots and silver linings in the game.
                Jakub Voracek continued his onslaught of scoring with a two goal game, to notch his 11th & 12th goals of the season.  Voracek continued to impress in the shortened season and the Flyers will need him to continue this great play if they wish to turn the season around.  Zac Rinaldo added a goal and an assist in the game, while Kimmo Timonen notched a goal and 2 assists.  After a busy first period, the Flyers got completely shut down by the Penguins and saw their lead slip away.  If the Flyers want to be a playoff team and compete for the Stanley Cup, they will need to play a full 60 minutes of good hockey every night, and not just have an occasional dominant out spurt followed by lackadaisical play.  The time to turn the season around is now, and the Flyers must take the opportunity as they are too talented of a squad not to make the playoffs.  In another note, Matt Read returned four weeks ahead of schedule from a rib injury that still hurts him to breathe and sneeze.  I commend him on showing the toughness that Philadelphia asks for from it's athletes, and hope maybe Andrew Bynum will learn from him that sometimes you have to play through pain for the better of the team.  The Flyers will be back in action tomorrow as they visit the Boston Bruins.