Claude Giroux

The Philadelphia Flyers (24-12-4) have struggled since the start of the New Year. They have surrendered leads in all four of their games in the month of January and are 1-2-1 during that span.

Tonight they will look to turn things around against the Carolina Hurricanes (14-22-7), a team who they have dominated in the past. The Flyers have won two of the three meetings this season and are 35-13-7 overall and 17-3-3 since the 2006 season (9-1-1 in Carolina).

In order to keep this trend going the Flyers will need a bit more production from their top line as they did not manage a point in the weekend series against Ottawa.

Here we go again.

A phrase that fans of the Philadelphia Flyers became very familiar with during Thursday night’s 5-4 victory over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.

The first time they uttered the phrase came three minutes into the first period when Jimmy Hayes put the Blackhawks up by one.

The second time they cursed it when the Blackhawks tied the game on the back of two goals that occurred within 25 seconds of one another with six minutes left in the third.

The third time they erupted with it when James van Riemsdyk scored his second goal of the game to put the Flyers ahead for good with 33 seconds remaining in regulation.

As Claude Giroux’s beautiful backhanded flip went over the shoulder of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, Philadelphia’s Winter Classic seemed like it would be a total success. The Flyers had taken a 2-0 lead on Giroux’s team-high 18th goal in front of their home fans. In Citizens Bank Park, the majority of almost 47,000 people were ecstatic.

With just 5:39 remaining in the second period, the Flyers were in the driver’s seat to victory.

Instead, they let the Rangers sit behind the wheel for the last 35 minutes en route to a 3-2 New York victory.

Mike Rupp scored his second goal of the season just 30 seconds after Giroux’s pretty tally which brought New York within a goal after two periods. A little under three minutes into the third period, Rupp doubled his season goal total and tied the game at 2-2.

Claude Giroux is a bona fide star and he has the numbers and the highlights to prove it.

But his contributions to the Flyers go much further than his stick handling, tight passing and dazzling goals.

When the Flyers traded Mike Richards and Jeff Carter over the summer, the expectations for Giroux grew exponentially. With an NHL-leading 43 points in 30 games, it’s safe to say that Giroux has not only risen to the challenge, but has far exceeded it.

Giroux excels on the ice no matter the circumstance. He is a brilliant playmaker, a calculated goal-scorer, and his smarts and flexibility help him on defense when the situation calls for it.