Giroux bypassed in MVP voting

Another day, another Flyer bypassed in the voting for an NHL award.

Center Claude Giroux was the latest Flyer to be overlooked. He was not one of the three finalists for the Hart Trophy, given to the league's MVP.

After pretending he didn't know what the Hart Trophy represented, Giroux said. "At the end of the day that's not the trophy I want."

The finalists: Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos and the Rangers Henrik Lundqvist.

The voting was conducted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

In other earlier votes that narrowed it down to three finalists, Matt Read (Calder), Jaromir Jagr (Masterton) and Paul Holmgren (GM of Year) were bypassed.

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The Flyers, to a man, expect a much lower-scoring series against New Jersey than the one with Pittsburgh. The series starts Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center at 3 p.m.

"Against a team like the Devils, you have to be very patient," Danny Briere said after Friday's practice in Voorhees. "They're a team that likes to slow the game down. They don't take many chances; they play very tight defensively. And they like to frustrate teams, so for us, one of the keys is not getting frustrated, waiting patiently for our chances to come."

The Devils, who won a grueling 3-2 double-overtime decision in Florida on Thursday, were given Friday off.

Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.