A former Flyer was drawing accolades from even the home town announcers for his play against his old team tonight, but it wasn't Simon Gagne. Gags still had the spotlight on him though, including getting a loud cheer from the Wells Fargo Center crowd when he first took the ice, and a standing ovation�after a highlight film played over the big screen.� Daaaaaammmmnnn.� Gagne had a relatively quiet night on the ice, registering just one shot on goal in 23 shifts. Steve Downie provided a spark for the Lightning though, who ruined Gagne Night by beating the Flyers, 3-2.� Downie had a pair of assists, including a pretty helper on Steven Stamkos' goal to open the scoring. He also had a dust-up with Sean O'Donnell, a guy 16 years older, 4 inches taller, and about 40 pounds heavier than Downie.� Two of the goals Brian Boucher let up were on the softer side, both beating him to the five-hole. Despite coming through a screen, the Lightning's long game-winner was particularly cringe-worthy, erasing what had been a pretty decent game for Boosh until that point. There were "Bob" chants heard in the building...� The Flyers remain scoreless on the powerplay through four games this season, going 0/4 on the night. The PK once again looked dangerous though, creating scoring opportunities while also keeping the Lightning powerplay off the board. Despite limiting the damage, the timing of the Flyers' penalties and the minutes spent down a man kept them from sustaining even-strength pressure. If you're looking for a bright side, other than the great showing the crowd gave Gagne, Nik Zherdev scored his first goal as a Flyer. It was also his 100th career NHL goal, and it came as a result of some great work by Claude Giroux and JVR and a well-timed net crashing by Zherdev. Giroux can really draw some attention, and his linemate benefited from a sequence he started. Zherdev's role on the team is very different from what Gagne did, but fans are still looking to #93 to take away some of the sting of losing Gags by picking up his scoring production. Danny Briere stayed hot, scoring his third in four games. His line was once again applying solid pressure deep in the offensive zone.� For half the game, the Flyers were frequently knocking on the door. It seemed certain they'd break through at some point, but after dominating the first half of the second period, they let the Lightning back in and never recovered.�
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