Right Where They Left Off: Flyers Crush Lightning 7-2
by Ben Rothenberg on Mar 2, 2010 11:19 PM EST
in 09-10 Game Recaps
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PrintTo be honest, I wasn't sure how this NHL thing was going to do in this whole post-Vancouver era we're living in. But if tonight is any indication, things are going to work out just fine.
Things didn't begin nearly as rosily as they ended, though. Steven Stamkos affirmed his status as one of the best scorers in the league, scoring twice in a row to put the Lighning on top 2-1 after Mike Richards had opened the scoring midway through the first by tipping a Daniel Carcillo shot.
But Carcillo carried the team on his moustache from there, scoring a very pretty garbage goal on a rebound to level the score at 2-2, a tie that held through the end of the second period.
Though the Flyers may have been lucky to be tied after two close periods, they redeemed themselves with a third period for the ages. Simon Gagne scored on the power play only 17 seconds in, tapping in a beautiful set up from Richards. The Gagne goal was followed by a Claude Giroux goal (initially credited to Gagne), which was followed by a James van Riemsdyk goal, which was followed by another Giroux goal, which was followed by a Jeff Carter shorthanded tally for the PAT.
When all was said and done, the Flyers had dropped a nickel on the Lightning in the third, scoring five times in a period for the first time this season, good for a 7-2 win and their fifth straight victory.
It's a good time to be a Flyers fan right now.
After the jump, questions are answered, plus my first ever time picking a comment of the night.
Questions Answered:
- Can the Flyers offense keep up the hot streak they were on before the Olympic break? And then some.
- Do Mike Richards and Chris Pronger show any extra jump after winning gold medals? Richards was phenomenal. And Pronger's jump manifested itself in his joining an odd-man rush, which was just bizarre to behold.
- How does Lukas Krajicek perform against his old team? He was aight, nothing special.
- How does Ryan Parent look in his first game back? Parent got crunched by Malone and a friend in the third period, throwing him to the ice and causing his helmet to dislodge from that magnificent head of hair. But he seemed okay after, so all is right in Parenthood.
- Can Michael Leighton keep up his success after two weeks off? He's the best goalie ever.
Comment of the Night:
Thank you I’ll be here all week, try the schnitzel. -- LegionofDoom
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I just put this in the game thread at the same time you were putting the recap up, so I’ll add it here too.
They’ve changed the goal back…. As noticed & tweeted by Panotch (& subsequently doubled check by me on the Flyer’s official recap), the goal that was Gagne’s but changed to Giroux’s is now Gagne’s again.
I forget what All star game it was but Lemieux saw how hard Gretzky worked, and how he didnt rely on just natural talent.
It was his turning point. After that game he skyrocketed into the Lemieux we now remember.
I have been wanting Carter to get his head out of his ass and learn this lesson but I will be just as happy to witness Richards take advantage of the lesson instead.
He clearly saw the greatest players push themselves harder than he is used to seeing. I hope he can pass it on to the rest of our boys
Great start to the homestretch!
The Flyers are also 9 pts. behind Pitt for tops in the Atlantic, with 2 games in hand. I didnt think I would say this a month ago, but the division is actually still a possibility.
"NO HONOR"
"We will steal the show, jolly Rogers go, we are wolves of the sea."
Very real possibility. Wow. Any more games with Pittsburgh?
by chillicothe20 on Mar 3, 2010 1:32 AM EST up reply actions
One more, on the 27th.
Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog. Makin' it look mean since 1967.
by Travis Hughes on Mar 3, 2010 1:33 AM EST up reply actions
Good. Wins in the games in hand pull us w/i 5, and a h-t-h win pulls us w/i 3.
by chillicothe20 on Mar 3, 2010 4:47 AM EST up reply actions
For the first time in a very long time I felt confident that we would come back from a 2-1 deficit. For the longest time, any sort of deficit has seemed insurmountable, unlikely, improbable. Perhaps it was the devils games, but I wasn’t even considering that. It was just a feeling, that we’d at least tie it up and force the Lightning to put more up. Well, that third period was probably the most epic I’ve seen from the Flyers this season. Perhaps Gagne is no longer scared?
Will be interesting to see what Homer does tomorrow. I’d be okay with nothing at all. I’d be okay with Roloson as a backup to Leighton as insurance in case he flames out. I’d be great with Hamhuis if that somehow comes back on the table. I’d be great with Mueller too, find some way to make that happen.
Any way you cut it, great start to the stretch run.
Are we still talking with CBJ for Torres? I’d love to have another goal scorer.
by chillicothe20 on Mar 3, 2010 1:33 AM EST up reply actions
This could be the worst thing that happens this season…. why?
…because beating another club 7-2 makes you think, as a GM and owner, that everything is ok.
I’m sorry. Leighton did not have a good game. In the end, he didn’t have to…. but he was floppy, and his technique was atrocious. If we play a team that can actually shoot the puck, and hit the net at the same time…… His glove…. late, on almost every shot to that side.
And Hartnell… don’t even get me started. How does this guy get #1 PP unit time all game? About all he is good for is general confusion and taking stupid penalties on the PP.
Again… we beat Tampa. Let’s try and keep the tinker tape in the windows.
I’m extremely worried right now, that the front office thinks this team is better than it is.
Leighton didn’t have a good game? Really? He was by no means perfect, however, he made the stops. I felt that he had no chance on those 2 Stamkos goals. I don’t see how you can say he had a poor game though. He stopped a lot of good chances/shots on odd man rushes and even a breakaway. He played well as far as I’m concerned.
The key to goaltending is timing make the big saves to keep or kill momentum changes especially after scoring a goal. The great save on St. Louis after the Giroux turnover and the breakaway were huge. He did make 35 saves and had no chance on the 2nd goal and probably didn’t see the 1st one which somehow didn’t get blocked. Hartnell did take a penatly on the PP but it was clearly accidentisl his stick hit the goalie in the mask shit happens the game was 7-2 and people still find the way to complain about something, amazing. Things were sloppy in the beginning as expected but we got in stride mid way through the 2nd period.
by chrislanci on Mar 3, 2010 8:22 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I agree with chrislanci, a goaltender can only do what is in his control. He made the crucial saves at the end of the second when they were needed and kept the game even. If he didn’t make the necessary saves the entire third period could have been different. There asses would have been all clinched up and they would have played passive.
Leighton has done one thing really well this year and that is keeping it simple. I am not sure if he is going to steal a game which is what yo need to be successful in the playoffs but he has more than earned the right to give it a try, seeing as we are not going to get a franchise goaltender today. And anything less then a franchise goaltender today should be completely insulting to this guy and he should flip them the bird if they bring anyone mediocre into the fold.
What could Leighton have possibly done to prevent both Stamkos goals? Maybe he could have saved the first one, or maybe someone could have not blown an assignment and allowed Stamkos to camp out in the slot like he did. And as for the second one, forget about it. Not a thing anyone not named Superman could have done to stop that from going in the net.
Was her perfect? No. But he certainly was good.
Leighton is responsible for the first goal. He, once again, fucked up handling the puck behind the net, turned it over, got lucky when Stamkos immediately hit the post, and still on that possession Stamkos scored.
As Mike said, Leighton’s rebound control was shaky at best. There were very few shots he smothered and covered. As Dinky said, he muffed several pucks with his glove hand.
Question?
Does Mike Richards get a playmaker patch for the three assists to sew onto his hockey jacket?
Nice of the NHL.com site to even mention the Flyers ass stomping of the Lightning last night. As usual it’s a Crosby fest. Bettman might as well just marry him and get it over with.
I agree. They have a video of Crosby stick handling from his knees, which, is not that hard to do as I have done it before, but what is more amazing is that feat of athletic brilliance leads to a turn over and a rush the other way by the Sabres.
I wonder if the Sabres had scored on that play if it still would have been seen as so amazing.
Sid The Kid can do no wrong.
Question?
If I don’t hate Crosby does that make me a bad person and/or less of a Flyers fan? I just find him to be a fantastic player and a stone cold winner. Whining aside because everyone whines in this league, especially captains. If I was starting a franchise he would be my #1 forward pick.
I agree with you. I used to hate Crosby, I still don’t like him but I think my issue now is more one of jealousy. I am not jealous of him in the sense that I wish I was him but more so that his teams always seem to win. I want for the Flyers what Crosby has brought to the Penguins and to Canada.
Crosby is without a doubt the best player in the NHL. And truthfully, Ovie may have a ton of points and score a ton of goals but in my opinion he is a very distant second to Crosby.
No, I am in a similar boat as well. I don’t necessarily hate the guy, I think he’s a great player, however, I hate watching him play against the Flyers because he just dominates us. The numbers he has put up against the Flyers are just disgusting, something like 50 points in 30 regular season games.
It also doesn’t help that he’s a whiner and that the NHL and most announcers are obsessed with him.
But in fairness didn’t Richards come in second among players poll on who whined the most. I think he is committed to winning at all costs and he chirps cause he just cares so much.
no, richards didn’t. and it wasn’t even close.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?page=0809playersurvey
324 players polled, with 1% going to richards (crosby gets 52%). i’m guessing i know who crosby voted for. anyone wanna guess who the other 2 are?
Eat what the monkey eats, then eat the monkey. -U.S. Navy survival guidance
I respect him more than I did two years ago, because he’s become a much better player.
However, I still dislike him because of his constant whining and the fact that he benefits ridiculously from the refs.
Like Jordan though, don’t you really earn your respect or at least the benefit of the doubt? I am not running the guys fan club but the petty crap people on this and every other site slight seems so ridiculously stupid. I am so sick of Crosby sucks chant, it is just mindless.
I don’t mind the chants at the games.
But this conversation itself makes me cringe. I just think its embarrassing when he gets brought up here all the time.
That is why I guess I brought it up because it seems petty to even talk about him then denigrate him as if his talents and success are some kind of a mirage. I sat around some really belligerent retards at a recent Flyers game and it almost got heated because all I said was “honestly he doesn’t suck and he is not really a pussy”. People are just cretins by nature though and that is one of the reasons why my family gave up our tickets in 2003 after 25 years.
He loses my respect when he dives out of desperation towards the end of a close game, or whines at the refs at every opportunity.
He has gained my respect by noticeably improving his game every year.
He is a great player who works harder than any rookie much less the other premadonnas who have started cashing in on the contracts
Having the NHL indoctrinate us us with Nothing But Crosby just pisses me off
And finally his minions who blindly declare he can do no wrong make me want to puke
by Prometheus74 on Mar 3, 2010 10:13 AM EST up reply actions
I don’t think so.
I don’t think we hate him because he is a good player. I think we hate him because the NHL spoon feeds him like he is the second coming of Gretzky. And the simple fact that the NHL turns a blind eye to every bad thing he does on the ice.
Hell, Gretzky never got that type of special treatment when he played that Crosby does now.
Actually he is the second coming and truthfully he might be even better on a whole. And the league never truly took advantage of Gretzky until it was really to late. He was buried in Edmonton and the league was so cult back then they weren’t even trying.
I do think he is better than Gretzky. But Gretzky played in a different time and in a different game. Never again will the NHL have a team that features as many HOFers on their roster at one time as the Oilers used to have. Gretzky should have been great with the team mates he had.
Guess we will have to wait and see, but I personally don’t think Crosby will get even close to half of Gretzky’s records.
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