Flyers Play of the Game: Giroux's Soft Touch, Hartnell Opens Up

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Well this wasn't a hard choice...

Brilliant streaking play up the boards by Scott Hartnell, who made Craig Anderson look foolish with his finish. It ain't easy for a left-handed shot to go long side from an angle like that. Watch the replay in the video above and read below for yet another look at the subtle playmaking genius of Claude Giroux. 

Facing a straight two-on-two at the blue line, Giroux was patient with the puck, then tossed it with a soft touch at a hard angle off the boards so as not to deal it too far ahead of Hartnell, or worse, all the way around to where a third Senator could gather it behind the net. Hartnell motored like a horse out of the gate, gathered the puck just beyond the beaten Senators, and fired it on Anderson in a really beautiful piece of shooting. A masterful set-up by one of the league's best playmakers, and a perfect finish. 

Unfortunately, that was the end of the Flyers' scoring. 

The Senators became the second team in the past week to beat the Flyers after the latter opened the scoring and went into the first intermission with the lead. Still playing without Blair Betts, the penalty killing unit yielded a pair of power play goals, and the last place Sens left the ice with a 4-1 win over the first place team in the conference. The Flyers have had a terrible time winning in Ottawa, with this loss marking their sixth in a row and ninth out of their last ten.  

Although it hasn't been terrible, the Flyers should be happy to see the month of February end. At 7-4-1, it was their least productive month since October, before they'd really become the juggernaut they've been since. Hopefully the blip doesn't bleed into March. 

Video above courtesy of MrFlyerGuy. Full highlights below, if you're into that sort of thing. 

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