Flyers make it to first Stanley Cup Finals since 2018

Claude Giroux plays hero, again

Captain Claude Giroux punched the ticket, he didn’t know it yet, but when he deflected Ryan McLeod’s second period shot past Igor Shesterkin, that was all the Flyers were going to need to win the game. Sergei Bobrovsky shut the door making 30 saves and recorded his second shutout of the playoffs, as the Flyers avoided losing 3 straight games against the Buffalo Sabres.

Giroux started the playoffs with 3 assists before separating his shoulder in game 3 of round 1 versus the Detroit Red Wings, Quinton Byfield just barreled through him off a faceoff and knocked him out of the series. At the time of the injury the Flyers were up 2-0 in the series and were tied 2-2 in the game, without Giroux the Flyers went on to lose the game and struggled to beat the Red Wings, only winning games 5 and 7 at home to close it out.

Giroux came back in game 1 against the New York Islanders and ended up scoring 2 goals and tallying 6 assists over the 5 games. Giroux’s 2nd period goal in game 5 ended up being the series clinching goal as well. After the Eastern Conference Finals, Giroux is up to 5 goals and 11 assists in 15 games.

Not bad for the team’s oldest player at 38, he is 8 months older than the next oldest in Bobrovsky and 2 years older than Steven Stamkos. Giroux’s line with Brock Nelson and McLeod has been the Flyers best even strength line of the playoffs and a huge reason they even made it to the finals.

Giroux has been around a minute, playing 492 regular season games for the Flyers, good for 5th all-time, his 382 points are 3rd in team history. Giroux also has 52 points over 70 playoff games over the last 6 seasons, he has been a warrior and face of the franchise since he signed with the Flyers in 2020, and now he gets to play for the cup.