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Laviolette: Philly penalty parade “unacceptable”

PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 15: Ilya Bryzgalov #30 of the Philadelphia Flyers surrenders the overtime goal against Jack Johnson #3 of the Los Angeles Kings as Kimmo Timonen #44 of Philadelphia defends against Dustin Brown #23 of the Kings on October 15, 2011 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Kings defeated the Flyers 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Knock it off with all the penalties. That’s the message Flyers coach Peter Laviolette is sending his players as they prepare to face the Senators in Ottawa tomorrow.

Philadelphia dropped its first game of the season Saturday, losing in overtime to Los Angeles on – you guessed it – a Kings power-play goal.

Saturday’s defeat followed a 5-4 win over Vancouver in which the Flyers took five straight minors in the third period.

“The penalties put us in a jam two games ago, and we were able to win,” Laviolette said. “There’s not a lot that I didn’t like about our game against the Kings, except the penalties.

“If you break it down, if you put it in the simplest of terms, it cost us a point. That’s unacceptable. We’ve got to look at it and make sure we control that.”

Tim Panaccio of csnphilly.com notes the Flyers have spent 40:10 – more than two periods – on the penalty kill through just four games.

Of course, they’ve also spent 36:36 on the power play, so it’s not like they’re getting royally screwed by the referees. These things have a way of evening out. Except if you’re the Tampa Bay Lightning (39:17 shorthanded, 28:58 on the PP).

Regardless, Danny Briere knows the Flyers have to stop the parade of penalties, if only to maintain some semblance of rhythm.

“It takes away the flow of the game and it takes ice time away from a lot of players, too,’ Briere said. “When you’re sitting there, it’s tough to get back into the game. It disrupts the bench more than anything.”

Briere already has four penalties himself. But maybe some of them were coincidental minors for roughing?

*checks*

No, they were not.