What a great Flyers win. I’m gonna write about the Flyers today. I’m not gonna do it after every game, but today, the Flyers deserve a recap.

Hey, the Flyers are 3-2-1. They beat the Blackhawks, played quite well against the Stars, and last night completed a two-goal third period comeback against an admittedly depleted Bruins team. Mike Milbury, who didn’t find anything wrong with Zac Rinaldo’s attempted decapitation of Sean Couturier*, called the Flyers “a bubble team at best,” which seems a bit harsh for a squad that returns a core of Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, and the headless body of Sean Couturier that has been intact for four years now. The defense looks… not awful. There are two capable goalies. And the coach, an unknown, seems determined to change the culture. I think the Flyers have a higher ceiling this year than they are getting credit for. Anyway, the game:

Coots

Zac Rinaldo is a piece of shit. I hated him when he was here and railed against the Flyers for extending him, prematurely… what was it, twice? They extended Zac Rinaldo twice. Somehow, though, he’s more hatable on the other team, as last night he launched himself into the cranial area of a vulnerable and already-tied-up Sean Couturier, who undoubtedly has a concussion. Rinaldo, given his history, should get a 10-game suspension. Because he’s never going to “mature”:

G

Oh, Claude. The captain inexplicably did that boneheaded thing he’s prone to do… twice… in the first period. First, a no-look, behind-the-back pass behind his own net which led to an easy Bruins goal, and then a double-minor high-stick… which also led to a Bruins goal.

But, like a good little captain, he got them back:

And then, the OT winner:

He’s do deadly from that spot. Sometimes swings his stick like a wild man, but deadly.

Mason

Steve Mason replaced Michal Neuvirth after Neuvirth took a stick to the helmet (yep, upper-body). Mason let up a couple of softies, including a Michael Leighton-esque sider, but settled down and made this spectacular save:

Hakstol

He has already perfected the art of saying nothing. In an interview with Pierre McGuire, who today may be on the search for the perfect Zamboni hose, Hakstol “explained” the decision to put Mason in net in the second period:

Love it.

Sooth

Is what I’m a sayer of. This text conversation with my buddy came at 9:22 p.m., just after Steve Mason saw a Big Bear and let one in the side:

Well…

Wayne Simmonds and Giroux scored in the third, and Giroux blasted the winner home during a 4-on-3 power play in OT. 5-4, good guys.

*This just minutes after explaining how he nearly choked Dave Schultz to death.