Wayne Simmonds Off to Strong Start

Wayne Simmonds is off to a strong start for the Philadelphia Flyers.  He ha seven points on the season.

Simmonds has five goals and two assists in seven games played this season.  He didn’t register a point in the home opener against the Boston Bruins nor did he get a point against the Dallas Stars.  The winger also has two multi-goal games against the New Jersey Devils and the Montreal Canadiens.

The power play is where Simmonds has done most of his damage with three of his five goals coming with the man advantage. One of the reasons for the success on the power play is that he plays on the top unit with Claude Giroux, Jake Voracek and Mark Streit.  Simmonds make himself comfortable in front of the goalie, looking for rebounds or deflections off of shots that the other three players can get to the net.  Simmonds just hacks away at the puck until he hear a whistle for the stoppage of play.  He’ll stand in front of the goalie as a screen and if the puck is coming he’ll try to deflect it or jump out-of-the-way.  He had scored a power play in three straight games this season.

At even strength, he is a plus three.  He is willing to battle along the boards and play physical.  Simmonds has been pretty solid in all phases of the game, so far, even with his center out hurt.  Vincent Lecavalier is out do to a lower body injury and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has taken his spot on the second line.

Simmonds is one of the few Flyers that have looked ready to go since the puck dropped on the season.  He never gives up on the play so that helps him get more points.  The winger had a career high in goals (29), assists (31) and points (60) last season, and was one of the Flyers most consistent players.  Of his 29 goals last season, 15 of them came while the Flyers were on the power play.

Only time will tell if this is just a hot streak for Simmonds or if it is the real deal.  If the Flyers can stay out of the penalty box this season then that would benefit Simmonds because he doesn’t play on the penalty kill.  The more that he is on the ice the better shot that he has of having another career year for the Flyers.