Mar 10, 2012; Toronto, ON, Canada; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Claude Giroux (28) and left wing Scott Hartnell (19) look on from the bench against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. The Flyers beat the Maple Leafs 1-0 in the shootout. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

So I went on twitter a little while ago and almost had a heart attack when I saw this tweet from Claude Giroux wishing his teammate Scott Hartnell luck in St. Louis:

@hartsy19 good luck in St Louis. You’re a great teammate and friend. Just make sure you keep your head up next year.

— Claude Giroux (@28CGiroux) April 1, 2013

I searched frantically through my tweets and eventually came to the conclusion that it was April 1st and it had to be a joke. The Philadelphia Flyers have always had a comedic air especially Hartnell. Hartnell himself even went in on the joke tweeting this shortly after Giroux tweeted:

Thanks PHL. I love you all!!!!

— Scott Hartnell (@Hartsy19) April 1, 2013

Apparently a lot of people fell for it because a little while later Hartnell tweeted this:

Kidding everyone!!!!Would never leave this town!!!!!!!Go Flyers and as @28cgiroux would say “LETS GO”

— Scott Hartnell (@Hartsy19) April 1, 2013

And Giroux tweeted this:

Okay…..Joke is over.#hartnellstays#SorryNotSorry

— Claude Giroux (@28CGiroux) April 1, 2013

This is why I love the Flyers, they are entertaining on and off the ice. I am a little mad at Giroux for pulling this one over on me, but respect him for getting into the spirit of the day.

February 20, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux (28) congratulates right wing Jakub Voracek (93) after Voracek the game winning goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the CONSOL Energy Center. Voracek scored a hat trick on the night. The Philadelphia Flyers won 6-5. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

I hate to say I told you so (just kidding, I love it), but Peter Laviolette and the Philadelphia Flyers that we know and love are back with a vengeance (I told you all to be patient and have faith and those who have, have been rewarded) . All the haters who said to fire Laviolette after the loss in Montreal are now biting their tongues because he was an integral part of the Flyers win last night. Everyone who wasn’t convinced by the 7-0 win against the New York Islanders on Monday will have definitely changed their minds after the 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins last night.

Sure there were mistakes made, I myself was doubtful when the Flyers found themselves trailing 2-0 in the first period, but Peter Laviolette called a time out that seemed to put his boys back in the game. The Flyers came back with the weirdest goal I’ve ever seen. All five Penguins players were in the net and the goal was eventually scored by Nicklas Grossmann off of Kris Letang’s helmet. Simmonds had a beauty after that to tie the game at 2 going into the second period. After tying it the Flyers didn’t trail for the rest of the game.

Jakub Voracek was by far the star of the game getting a hat trick and scoring the game winner with 1:30 left in the 3^rd period.  There would be another hat trick to be had in this game as well, a Gordie Howe hat trick was earned by Wayne Simmonds (a fight, a goal, and an assist for those who don’t know).

Honourable mention goes to the Flyers penalty killers especially those involved in the insanely long 5-on-3 in the third period. If there is one thing the Flyers can do it is kill a penalty.

I hope these are the Flyers that come to play for the rest of the season. Claude Giroux has lead this team back to where they once were and with Scott Hartnell on his way back in we can expect play like this to continue. There will definitely be a playoff run this year for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Feb 11, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Claude Giroux (28) jumps the boards to start a shift against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs beat the Flyers 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Saturday’s embarrassing loss by the hands of the Montreal Canadiens seemed to be the last straw for the Philadelphia Flyers’ captain Claude Giroux. After the game Giroux called out his team saying “It’s just frustrating to see. I know it has to be better. On a team there are 20 guys, and we need everyone to show up”.

Claude then put his words into action in yesterday’s game against the New York Islanders scoring in the first 26 seconds of the game. The game would end with a 7-0 blowout win for the Flyers, with Giroux getting 2 goals and 1 assist and Danny Briere getting the same. Danny definitely thought their captain had a hand in how they played, saying “I think everybody took it personally, obviously, and that was the goal. But once again it’s the way he takes care of it himself to start the game and you have no choice but to follow suit”.

Giroux and Briere weren’t the only two to have a great game, Jakub Voracek had 4 assists, Brayden Schenn had a goal and an assist, Matt Read had a goal and 2 assists, Zac Rinaldo had a goal set up beautifully by Harry Zolnierczyk and Luke Schenn, and of course we can’t forget Ilya Bryzgalov who got his first shut-out of the season.

With this huge win under their belt it will be interesting to see what happens in Wednesday night’s rivalry game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Will the Flyers be able to step it up against and adversary as good as the Penguins? Will Captain Claude keep leading his team to victories? What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comment box below.