Flyers patch together a shutout

Their best defensemen, Chris Pronger, was at home with a concussion that has threatened his Hall of Fame career.

Their all-star defenseman, Kimmo Timonen, was nursing a sore back.

Their recently acquired 6-foot-4, 258-pound defenseman, Pavel Kubina, was out with an unspecified injury.

Oh, and the player who was named the team's top defenseman last season, Andrej Meszaros, was sidelined with what is believed to be a groin injury.

But the Flyers, with a patchwork defense that included a rookie making his NHL debut, persevered.

Easily.

Playing with a revamped defense, the Flyers won their fourth straight, defeating the Florida Panthers, 5-0, at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.

Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov continued his superb play, the makeshift defense was excellent, and Brayden Schenn (power play), Matt Read (19th goal, tops among NHL rookies), Scott Hartnell, Jaromir Jagr (power play), and Eric Wellwood scored goals to lead the Flyers.

No longer lost in the woods, Bryzgalov was serenaded with "Bryz, Bryz, Bryz" chants after he made a save with a little more than six minutes left.

"I was so concentrated on the game, I didn't hear it, but if they cheer for me, it's very nice and very kind from them," said Bryzgalov, who has a 1.25 goals-against average and .960 save percentage in his last four starts.

"I kind of woke up on the bench and thought we were in Winnipeg," joked Hartnell, referring to the mocking chants Bryzgalov received in that city. "We've always believed in Ilya in our dressing room and I think he's obviously winning some fans now. His confidence is growing and growing, and I don't think we've seen the best of Bryz yet."

Just a few weeks ago, Bryzgalov was hearing boos at the Wells Fargo Center.

"I can't say enough about Bryz - he's been great for us, and his attitude is great, right now," said Claude Giroux, who, along with Danny Briere (playing his 800th career game), collected two assists.

Bryzglaov, making his 10th straight start, recorded his second shutout in the last three games, and he became the first Flyer with two shutouts in the same week since Marty Biron in 2008.

Giroux smiled when talking about the Bryz chants.

"It's good to hear the fans are behind him and behind our team," Giroux said. "I can't even imagine how hard it was for him. At one point there he had a tough stretch, and he was pretty much getting booed at home ice, but now he's our best player - and we need our goalie to be our best player."

The Flyers had 18 blocked shots - 12 more than Florida. Matt Carle had four of the blocks and seemed to inspire the Flyers when he dropped his gloves in a first-period scrap with Jack Skille.

"It all starts with Bryz," Carle said. "He made a lot of big stops. I thought we had a few letdowns, a few breakdowns, but he was always there to make the big save for us."

"Great effort by the team - diving for pucks to block the puck, protecting the passing lanes, and trying to make my job as easy as possible," Bryzgalov said. "They removed the players from the slot and let me see the shot."

Defenseman Brandon Manning, who was plus-2 in his NHL debut after being recalled from AHL Adirondack earlier in the day, drew praise from Bryzgalov, who kiddingly confused the 21-year-old with NFL free agent quarterback Peyton Manning.

"Brandon Manning was released by the Colts and he played tonight here, he stepped up and played very good," Bryzgalov deadpanned before mentioning the rest of the defense.

Three of the Flyers' goals (Schenn, Read, and Wellwood) were scored by rookies, who have produced a league-high 49 goals this season.