The Philadelphia Flyers look to improve to 3-0 for the 11th time in franchise history in their home opener Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. against the Vancouver Canucks.
Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov will be making his first start in front of the home crowd after signing a nine-year, $51 million contract this offseason. He drew praise from center Claude Giroux while racking up a 2-0 record and allowing just one goal through two games.
"The way he plays, he's always under control and never out of position," Giroux told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "He works hard, and when one of your best players has that attitude, obviously everybody is going to follow."
Jaromir Jagr echoed Giroux's praise while asserting that it's difficult to win in the NHL without a top-shelf goalie.
"I didn't see the last three years, so I don't know if you guys were missing goaltending here, but in my experience, it's tough to win something if you don't have the goaltender," Jagr said. "You need to have a [strong] goaltender, especially in the playoffs. There's not many goals scored, and the goaltender will make a huge difference. And if he plays like this. . .."
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