And that’s saying something.

Bryzgalov allowed five goals on 16 shots, made just 11 saves and provided little help to his team which carried play throughout. He posted a .688 save percentage and was thoroughly outplayed by Lightning backup Mathieu Garon. Bryzgalov’s positioning was poor, his rebound control was questionable and most of all, his ability to keep the Flyers in the game was non-existent.

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With the July 1 unrestricted free agent deadline approaching and the high-priced, oft-injured winger concluding a deal that paid him over $26 million in five years, Gagne, 31, could be looking at a new home or possibly even an old one.

“Gagne, I’d say slim,” said Lightning beat reporter Erik Erlendsson on Twitter, when asked the chances of the player’s return to Tampa.

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The Flyers groomed the 2005 first-round pick for three years, until they simply had enough. He took too many penalties, earned one too many suspensions and appeared as if he would never be able to ride the fence of tactful aggression and being a barbarian.

That was all true, until he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, who transformed the young but chaotic talent into a player.

“He’s made a conscious effort to do that,” Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman told the Windsor Star with regards to Downie controlling himself. “We want to reassure to him that he is a good player and his play in the playoffs is showing that. He’s got great hockey sense, he’s got good skills and he sees the ice very well. We want him on the ice, we don’t want him in the penalty box. We try to encourage him to do that and I think he understands that.”

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Walker, acquired in the offseason from the Tampa Bay Lightning as the key return in the Simon Gagne trade, was set to make $1.7 million per season for the next three years. The move could act as a precursor for a roster addition, as Walker’s cap space, matched with the space received from waived goaltender Michael Leighton, gives the Flyers around $3 million of free space.

Joining the Flyers prior to training camp, Walker was hampered with hip injuries which began toward the end of the preseason. The tough blue liner with a right-handed shot needed two separate surgeries on both the left and right hip, which kept him out of the line up for much of the season. Walker played his first game of the year on Jan.18, then played three more after that, before the return of Chris Pronger forced Walker back into a depth position.

Nearly two months since having surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip, the Flyers defenseman now needs left hip surgery and is expected to miss a minimum of six weeks.

Walker, 30, was participating in a conditioning stint with the Adirondack Phantoms on Sunday before the Flyers, on Monday, unexpectedly placed the seven-year veteran on injured reserve.

Acquired in the trade that sent forward Simon Gagne to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Walker, who hurt his hip in the preseason and underwent surgery on Oct. 20, has yet to play a game with the Flyers.

The Tampa Bay Lightning wanted nothing more than to take home a win in Philadelphia for former Flyers and current Lightning forward Simon Gagne.

It’s safe to say Gagne left his old hometown happy.

Pavel Kubina’s goal early in the third period would serve as the game-winner, as Tampa Bay handed Philadelphia it’s first regulation loss of the season, 3-2, Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Gagne, who was traded to Tampa in the offseason for defenseman Matt Walker, played 16 minutes and was held scoreless with a minus-1. Walker has yet to play a game with the Flyers.

With the game locked at one in the second period,  a Matt Carle turnover and bad rebound by goaltender Brian Boucher ended up on the stick of Tampa’s Dominic Moore, who took the original shot then finished it five-hole to give his team the 2-1 lead going into the third.

Boucher’s five-hole was once again found, this time early in the third period by Kubina, who blasted a ice-level slap shot through traffic and the wickets of Boucher, to give Tampa the 3-1 advantage.

Danny Briere cut the Lightning lead to one midway through the final stanza, when, after a strong shift in the Tampa zone, he wristed one past Dan Ellis. It was Briere’s third of the season.

Nik Zherdev got his first of the year, when he tied the game at one in the first period on a JVR cross pass that hit the crashing Ukrainian and into the net.

The Good

Flyers’ Penalty Kill — Coming into Thursday’s contest, the Flyers had killed off 15-of-17 man-down situations and scored two short-handed goals. And they kept rolling against the Lighting. The Flyers’ penalty killers limited Tampa’s talented man-advantage to no goals in six attempts and received shorthanded chances of their own from Claude Giroux and Mike Richards. The Flyers are currently sitting in the top tier of the NHL in penalty kill, shutting down 23 of it’s last 25 for a 91.3% kill rate.

Simon Gagne Tribute — Giving 10 seasons to the Philadelphia Flyers organization, Simon Gagne was treated as the man-of-honor on Thursday. The team played a highlight tribute video during a TV timeout in the first period, which drew a chilling standing ovation. Classy move by the Flyers and the fans, who have the reputation of hating everything and everyone.

Danny Briere — Danny Briere’s tally in the third period was his third goal in four games. In an offense that hasn’t been consistent, especially on the power play, Briere’s point production at center has been godsend for the Flyers and could keep them afloat until special teams heats up.

The Bad

Matt Carle — It should be noted that aside from Thursday’s loss against Tampa, the 26-year-old blue liner has had a very good start to the 2010-11 season. But it wasn’t pretty in this one. In the first period, Carle let Steve Stamkos beat him to the top of the crease and it led to a goal. In the second period, Carle’s turnover led to the original shot by Dominic Moore, then, Moore beat Carle to the rebound for another goal. Carle led the team with two giveaways and a was a minus-1. Not a good game from a good player.

Brian Boucher — In his second start of the season, Brian Boucher looked like a back-up goaltender. Although skater turnovers didn’t help his cause, Boucher left a bad rebound to Dominic Moore, who then trickled a weak shot through Boucher’s legs. The soft goal led to another in the third period, when Boucher had another shot go through his legs and in, this time from the blue line past traffic. Boucher made 21 saves on 24 shots and had the home crowd lightly chanting “Bob” for 22-year-old rookie Sergei Bobrovsky.

Flyers’ Power play —  Unable to set up the play, get shots through traffic or simply not turn the puck over, the Flyers look like a team that has to go back to the drawing board on the man advantage. Going 0-for-4 on Thursday, including the botching of a nearly full two-minute 5-on-3 power play early in the first, Philadelphia is now just 1-for-17 on the season, hitting at a 5.9% pace. That ranks them 27 of 30 teams.

Dan Carcill0 — Has anyone seen Dan Carcillo? Not the one, who in the last few games has been unable to keep up with his offensive line mates, but the one who would literally try to rip the heads off the opposition. Carcillo has seven hits, no fighting majors and no points in the first four games of the season, while averaging an ever-shrinking 8:25 of ice time a game. Carcillo needs to be an animal to be effective and he’s simply not contributing.

The Interesting

Steve Downie — Tampa forward Steve Downie, drafted 25th overall by the Flyers in 2005, has become the type of player that the Flyers had hoped Dan Carcillo could be. Gritty, angry and able to put up points, Downie received a fighting major (with Sean O’Donnell) and two key assists, propelling his team to victory.

Tampa Bay Lightning — The organization that has been left for dead the past few seasons, is now 3-0 on the year and has done so in impressive fashion.

The tribute video, thanks to The 700 Level.

The video debuted during a TV timeout in the first period and was followed by a standing ovation and curtain call by Gagne.

With sadness but understanding, the wait is mercifully over — the Flyers have officially traded forward Simon Gagne to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Matt Walker and a fourth round pick in the 2011 NHL entry draft.

Gagne, 30, was coveted by new Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman, who fell in love with the two-way forward while playing for Team Canada together in the 2002 Winter Olympics.  Gagne will likely play beside his friend Vincent Lecavalier.

Matt Walker, 30, makes $1.7 million through the 2012-13 season.  He has good size at 6’3, 215 lbs., and uses it effectively to punish the opposition.  However, Walker has never played more than 66 games in a season.  He ranked second on Tampa’s roster in blocked shots with 116 and averaged just over 16 minutes per game of ice time.

“This was a move to solidify our defense,” Holmgren said. “Matt Walker is a right shot defenseman that we like. He brings size, grit and toughness to our backend.”

The acquisition of Walker gives the Flyers seven capable defensemen, not counting Oskars Bartulis.  Walker will either be the seventh rear guard or another move may be brewing to create space on the crowded Philadelphia blue line.

“My initial reaction was pure excitement,” said Walker. “To find out that I was coming to Philly, I don’t know if I would say it was a life-long dream, but I’ve always wanted to play in Philly and I thought I would be a good fit there.”

With the money the Flyers had already spent over the salary cap, the Gagne deal nets them just over a million in space.

Gagne, a four-time 30-goal scorer, played ten seasons in Philadelphia after being drafted 22nd overall by the Flyers in the 1998 NHL draft.  He scored 524 points in 664 games played in the Orange and Black.  A fan favorite for his ability to produce in the clutch, Gagne, in the final year of a deal that would owe him $5.25 million, was designated by the organization as a cap casualty. But as he had shown always during his career, Gagne treated the potentially abrasive situation with nothing but class.  He  waived his no-trade clause without fuss, allowing the Flyers to move forward without issue.

“Simon Gagne played 10 seasons for the Flyers and was not only a good player for us, but also handled himself in a first class manner on and off the ice, Holmgren said.”

Meszaros, 24, is a decent sized (6’2, 220 lbs.) puck-moving blue liner that carries a salary cap hit of $ 4 million for the next four seasons.  The physical Czech-native, who led Tampa defensemen with 112 registered hits was lost in the shuffle in his two seasons with the Lightning, earning just 33 points and a minus-18 rating in 133 games.

However, the Flyers hope they can turn Meszaros back into the player he was in three seasons with Ottawa, when he scored 110 total points and was a plus-24, without missing one game.

Meszaros averaged just over 20 minutes a game last season with Tampa

Coming off an impressive 6-1 performance against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon, the Flyers (6-4-1) face another struggling Southeast division team. The Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3-4) visit the Wachovia Center on Monday, in what is the first meeting of the season between the two squads.  The game will be played at the odd game time of 5:00 P.M., due to the World Series.

Overview

The Flyers have just two multi-game winning streaks this season and are looking for some continuity with a second straight win on Monday.  With Buffalo upcoming on Friday and St. Louis on Saturday, the Flyers have a golden opportunity to string together some wins to stay afloat in the Atlantic Division.  The team’s big win against Carolina came without major input from Jeff Carter or Mike Richards, who each had a secondary assist but we kept off the scoreboard and have lacked consistent production for weeks.  The Flyers still rank third in the league in goala per game output with 3.43 without their big guns firing, but will need more production from them if the team hopes to make November a better month than October.

The Lightning come to Philadelphia with an 1-0-2 record in their last three games, but only scoring seven goals during that time.  Tampa’s top line of Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos and Ryan Malone is carrying the team with 21 of the teams 30 total goals. Alex Tanguay and Vinnie Lecavalier continue to struggle with just two combined goals.

Flyers’ line up

Simon Gagne is on the LTIR with a groin injury and Danny Briere is doubtful with a muscle pull.  The injuries force the Flyers into mix and matching the lines.  Rookie David Laliberte remains in the lineup after scoring his first NHL goal in his first NHL game against Carolina.  Riley Cote will likely remain off the active roster.

Giroux – Richards – Hartnell

JVR – Carter – Laliberte

Powe – Pyorala – Asham

Laperriere – Betts – Carcillo

Ryan Parent re-injured his groin and will miss at least a week.  His absence allows Ole-Kristian Tollefsen to re-enter the lineup and will likely put Braydon Coburn back with Kimmo Timonen.

Carle – Pronger

Coburn – Timonen

Syvret – Tollefsen

Ray Emery will make the start for Philadelphia.  He is 6-3-1 with a 2.46 GAA that ranks him 10th in the NHL.

Tampa’s line up

Former Flyers’ player and Lightning coach Rick Tocchet, has moved Lecavalier to the third line in hopes of jump starting his offensive play by putting less pressure on him to score.  That, and the hope that being placed on a checking line improves his defensive responsibility that has deteriorated during his slump.  Former Flyers’ forward Steve Downie has seen time all over the Tampa line up, but currently finds himself on the fourth line with another former Flyer Todd Fedoruk.

Malone – Stamkos – St. Louis

Wright – Halpern – Tanguay

Miller – Lecavalier – Veilleux

Fedoruk – Konopka – Downie

Second overall pick in the 2009 draft Victor Hedman, makes his Philly debut.

Ohlund – Hedman

Meszaros – Foster

Walker – Hale

Despite out playing starter Mike Smith for most of the season, former Flyers’ goalie Antero Niittymaki is not expected to start. Smith is 2-2-3 with a goals against average of 3.17, which ranks him 30th in the NHL.