NEWARK, N.J. - When Claude Giroux, the Flyers' diminutive center, was smacked into the boards by Boston's mammoth Zdeno Chara during Thursday's second period, James van Riemsdyk didn't hesitate.
He went after Chara.
"That," Flyers center Danny Briere said, "took a lot of guts."
Chara is 6-foot-9, 260 pounds. Van Riemsdyk is 6-3, 200.
"I think those type of circumstances are really good for building a team," coach Peter Laviolette said before Saturday night's game against the New Jersey Devils. "I think our leadership is pretty set right now. We've got some good veteran leaders in place in [Chris] Pronger and Briere and Kimmo [Timonen]. But what I really liked about it was a new team coming together on the ice and sticking up for each another."
