Ilya Bryzgalov threw his stick in anger twice during Thursday’s 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers (see game recap).
He threw it first after giving up the penalty shot goal to Jonathan Huberdeau in the first period, which gave Florida an imposing 3-0 lead.
The Russian goalie threw it again when pulled from the game after the fourth goal. This time he skated to the bench and hurled it in the tunnel.
At the morning skate in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Bryzgalov threw it at the glass after three Flyers had scored on him in a scrum.
Bryzly Bear coming unglued here?
“I was mad because I just missed him on the poke check a little bit and he [Huberdeau] goes through his legs and I can’t regroup fast enough,” Bryzgalov said.
“It was 3-0. There is a big difference. I knew it. I almost had it and [bleep], it’s in the net, and I was so upset.”
Huberdeau is a very talented rookie. He also scored on Bryzgalov in the shootout during the Flyers' 3-2 loss to the Panthers on Feb. 7.
“I love being in the shootout,” Huberdeau said. “So, I protect my puck and they gave me the opportunity to have a shootout, so I just took it and I’m glad I scored a goal for the team.”
Bryzgalov said he could see the Flyers were emotionally spent from their victory in Pittsburgh.
“I think we spent lots of emotions and energy on [Wednesday’s] game,” he said. “All of us. Maybe we were playing today like … a little bit tired, without emotion. Games against Pittsburgh take lots of energy and emotions to beat them.”
He also said the team discussed not having a letdown before the Panthers game.
“You try to tell yourself everyone is fine, everything is OK. We’re ready to go and we’re absolutely fine,” Bryzgalov said. “We step onto the ice and maybe everybody start to feel differently.”
Read goes down
Matt Read will miss a projected six weeks with a rib cage tear suffered in Pittsburgh (see story).
Every time a winger goes on the top line with Claude Giroux, they end up getting injured -- Scott Hartnell, Wayne Simmonds and now Read.
The line of Read, Giroux and Jakub Voracek had been strong in the past couple games.
“It’s tough,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “That line had gotten put together and there was so much chemistry with it.
“You go back at the end of the game and look at the scoring chances that line created and they were in the teens together. When that gets pulled apart, it’s a little difficult to stick somebody in there.
“I thought Tye [McGinn] did a good job tonight. He went out and tried to give us some skating and physicality on the line, but certainly there was some chemistry with Matt.
“To take him out of the lineup, he is a guy that we just answered question a couple days ago, that he is a guy that does everything. He plays point on the power play. He can play left wing, center and right wing on penalties, so he’s a valuable piece to the puzzle.”
Record-setting rivalry
Wednesday night's wild 6-5 Flyers victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins was the highest-rated regular-season game in the history of NBC Sports Network, scoring a 0.55 household rating.
In addition to the rating score, the game averaged 901,000 viewers, making it the second-most watched game in the station's history.
Locally, the game was the highest-rated for NBC Sports Network in both Pittsburgh and in Philadelphia, earning a 14.50 household rating in Pittsburgh and a 4.84 rating here. The channel was rated No. 1 overall in Pittsburgh during the game, and was tops among cable channels in Philadelphia.
Loose pucks
The Comcast Network will air Friday’s Adirondack Phantoms vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins live at 7 p.m. Calling the game will be Brian Smith and Todd Fedoruk. ... The Phantoms' new home in Allentown -- it opens for the 2014-15 season -- got its name on Thursday: PPL Center, as in the electricity carrier in Pennsylvania. ... Nick Grossmann dropped gloves with heavyweight George Parros in the second period and lost. Grossmann has three NHL fights now -- two against Parros. ... Luke Schenn scored late in the third period. He has two goals as a Flyer. ... Florida’s Peter Mueller had two goals. ... The Flyers had 34 shots on Panthers goalie Scott Clemensen. ... Giroux had 10 attempts at the net but only two officials shots. … Voracek has a four-game scoring streak. … Grossmann had five of the Flyers' 12 blocked shots.