Despite losing their preseason opener to the Detroit Red Wings, the Flyers have a lot of positives to take away from the outing.

First and foremost, their top prospect, James van Riemsdyk looked real good, scoring the Fly Guys only goal.

In the second period, van Riemsdyk broke down the boards and fired a shot at Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard. The shot hit off Howard’s stick and slid into the net, for van Riemsdyk’s first goal with the Flyers.

“The defense was looking at [Jeff] Carter and [Scott] Hartnell, trying to take away the two biggest scoring threats,” he said. “I just snuck away and got a lucky shot in.”

The goal was impressive considering the start that van Riemsdyk had to the game. During his first shift of the game (his first NHL game mind you), he was unable to keep the puck on his stick. He was called offsides two shifts later on a breakaway.

“I was pretty excited,” van Riemsdyk said. “I tried to take a little nap before the game, but I was tossing and turning.

“It was a pretty surreal feeling, looking across at guys like [Nicklas] Lidstrom and those guys you see in the Stanley Cup finals.”

He was nervous, and wasn’t perfect by any means, but he had a solid game, all things considered.

“He did a couple of good things with those high-end plays around the net,” Flyers coach John Stevens said. “I think he was probably a little nervous and anxious coming into his first game.”

The game was a chance for several of the team’s younger players to get some NHL ice-time under their belt, as captain Mike Richards, Kimmo Timonen, Simon Gagne and a few other regulars sat out for rookies like Joonas Lehtivuori, Oskars Bartulis and Mika Pyorala.

One veteran who did not sit out was newcomer Chris Pronger, who played a team high 26 minutes, largely as a result of the Flyers’ inability to stay out of the penalty box. The 15-year NHL veteran blocked six shots and led the Flyers’ penalty kill team, holding last season’s top power-play team scoreless on seven opportunities.

“Pronger was great,” Stevens said. “Unfortunately, killing so many penalties he got a lot of time for the preseason, but he is a power-play guy and a penalty-kill guy. He is a great addition to the team.”

Not everyone at Joe Louis Arena thought that Pronger was great, however. Everytime he touched the puck, boos rained down from the crowd.

“It was good,” Pronger joked. “I don’t know what I did to them but it was nice to know the fans appreciated me again.”

Another veteran newcomer had a good game as well, as goalie Ray Emery saved 23 of the 25 shots he faced in two periods of action. The outing is especially impressive when you consider that the Flyers were shorthanded for a quarter of the time Emery was on the ice. Brian Boucher played the third period and allowed one goal on 10 shots