Merry Christmas!!!

Here's hoping you got everything you wished for yesterday. Me, I got exactly what I wanted...a day to sleep in until 10:00 before my one-year old twin cousins dropped by for a visit. Actually, only one of them was able to come as the other one was sound asleep back home. Probably for the best.

Anyhoo...yes, it's been a while. And I did promise I would do a follow-up after every Flyers game this season. Two things here. One, things are ridiculously busy at the job. And two, with the way the Flyers have been playing, what else is there to say? We've got scoring, we've got defense, we've got special teams, and we've got two goalies who I assume will split time for the rest of the year. There's really nothing to gripe about or get all worried about. I can't believe I'm saying this about a Philadelphia sports team, but at the moment I am...content with my hockey team.

Flyers start their six-game, cross-continent road trip tonight in Chicago.

Flyers 2, Hurricanes 1 (OT)

(AP photo)

I wonder if we can petition the league to move down to the Southeast division.

The Flyers, who seem to be playing the Hurricanes every other day, got a nice 2-1 victory in overtime off of Jeff Carter's 19th goal of the season. Which means more fantasy points for yours truly and moves us two points behind Pittsburgh in the East. Carter got the game's first star, but really it should have gone to Antero Nittymaki, who stopped 35 shots and looked much more confident in goal than Biron has recently. And before you ask, no, there is no goalie controversy in Philly. If Nitty's playing better, start him. Mike Richards scored the opener in the first, getting his 11th of the year and netting another shorty for this team, which is remarkable seeing as how the special teams guru known as Terry Murray is out in LA. One negative that stood out for me last night was how the Canes were able to completely dictate the play after they tied the game. The Flyers couldn't clear the puck, couldn't keep Eric Staal in check and let Sergei friggin' Samsonov skate rings around them. Other than that, it was a good win on the road.

Islanders up next.

Flyers 4, Bolts 3 (OT)

(Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Well, that was...interesting. I missed a good part of the third period because I was holding my hands in front of my eyes, but here are some key observations I had from last night:

- Scott Hartnell owes Marty Biron a steak dinner. For the rest of the year. My goodness, could you imagine if Ryan Malone had scored on that penalty shot?
- Jeff Carter may be a sleeper pick for the Richard Trophy if he keeps this up.
- Get rid of the black sweaters. Keep the orange.
- I am starting to notice a slight decrease in attendance at the Wac lately. I know that no one really gets jazzed up for the Lightning around here, but you have to wonder if ticket prices are becoming out of reach for more and more people. Just a thought...
- Putting Luca Sbisa on the ice against Vinnie Lecavalier may have seemed like a good idea, but there were a couple of times where the young boy got schooled. All part of the learning process, I guess.
- Finally, you knew that third Tampa goal was coming the minute Biron failed to control the rebound. I swear, failure to control rebounds has been the downfall of every Flyers goalie in my lifetime. Unbelievable.

New Jersey up next.