Morning Pens Buzz: On Jagr's big night; Flyers team speed was the difference in win; Post-Game tidbits, Analysis

Jagr stars On and Off the Ice in Win: The Philadelphia Flyers could not have scripted last night's 4-2 win any better. Flyers players and coaches knew this game meant a ton to Jaromir Jagr and Jagr delivered.

"I'm sure [Jaromir] was happy to come in and be a factor the way he was," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said afterwards.... "Max had a great game too, so for both of them to contribute that way was {really] nice to see, " Laviolette added as Talbot played a strong defensive and sealed the win with an empty net goal.

The story of the game though was Jagr. All eyes were on him and he didn't shy away from the spotlight during his two days in Pittsburgh. On the ice, Jagr was among the best players on the ice and the Flyers top line of Jagr, Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell dominated at times in the puck possession game and were a scoring threat all game.

Giroux and Jagr combined for a goal and two assists and Jagr's beautiful backhand goal at 6:03 of the second period follwed by a salute to a woman in the crowd. "She didn't like it much, " Jagr joked after the game. As for his play... "I felt pretty good, I had so many chances, " Jagr said. I could have scored five goals, but I just couldn't score. Fifteen years ago I would score five..... But not anymore."

"I think it was important not just for him but for the whole team that he got that goal, " star center Claude Giroux said on Jagr's goal."

One thing that became clear to fans who haven't seen Jagr live in years is that he remains a top-6 winger. Since 2008, Jagr hasn't lost much of anything. In fact, scouts believe he is quicker than he was in 2008 as Jagr is not as heavy and bulky. The only aspect of his game that still isn't there is the velocity of his shot but his shot is still good enough as evident last night.

While Jagr was excellent offensively, he made it clear after the game that he wanted people to recognize his defensive play on James Neal where Neal had two cracks on a puck near the crease in what was a wide open net and on the second opportunity for Neal to tap the puck in, Jagr lifted Neal's stick to negate the goal. "Everybody!!! "Selke right here, " Jagr blurted out after the game. "If somebody says I don't backcheck, show them that clip. I think that was the best play of my career."

Philadelphia's team speed was the difference: Philadelphia overcame Pittsburgh scoring 44 seconds into the game on Jordan Staal's 15th goal of the season and a big reason they quickly titled momentum after Pittsburgh's early tally was because of the Penguins undisciplined play, but a pivotal reason for the Flyers taking over the game was their team speed.

Philadelphia was the faster, more explosive team, especially in the transition game. They consistently backed the Penguins up who were too worried about getting beat wide. The Penguins made some adjustments in the third period and were lucky that Philadelphia didn't have a 4 or 5-1 lead after two periods instead of just a 3-1 lead.