The Flyers rookies beat the Capitals rookies today at the Virtua Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, New Jersey today.  They also won the game, 7-3.  James van Riemsdyk had 4 goals and an assist while Rob Bellamy, Tomas Sinisalo, and Joonas Lehtivuori rounded out the goal scorers.  The game was filled with penalties, including more than a handful of fights and a pair of five minute majors coupled with 10 minute misconducts.  The official recap can be found here.

Adam Morrison got the start for the Flyers and stopped 15 of 17 shots.  Jacob DeSerres took over a little more than 11 minutes into the second period and stopped 14 of 15.

Because I was only there for the Flyers - and since I did not know anybody by their number - I only took the time to worry about them.  For a Capitals recap, Japers' Rink has got it covered. 

Period-by-period recap and analysis after the jump.

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[AP Recap] - [Boxscore] - [Extended Stats] - [Highlights]

It was ridiculous, to be honest with you. You start the hockey game, they push your goalie in the net. We've had about three goals in the last year disallowed for that exact reason. You're goalie has got to be allowed to make the save. You can't push the goalie in the net. If [referee Don VanMassenhoven] thought it was loose that's fine, but you can't push the goalie into the net whether you're going for the puck or not.

>> John Stevens

A great hockey game was played at Madison Square Garden tonight. In the midst of a playoff atmosphere, two heated rivals battled for every puck, every bounce, every hit, and every goal.

Well, kind of. Thanks to a missed goal call, that last one doesn't apply, taking a little something away from what was otherwise a magnificent performance by two playoff-bound hockey teams tonight.

If you have yet to see the first goal of the game, watch the highlights linked at the top of this post. The puck is deflected in on net and Martin Biron makes the initial save. It hits him and falls to the ice in front of him, where he throws his glove on top of it (that's when the accompanying photo was taken).  Biron clearly, indisputably corrals the puck into his body with both hands. It is covered and completely out of sight, which by rule means the play should be whistled dead.

Referee Don VanMassenhoven was out of position and scrambling to get there. He failed to blow the play dead when Biron initially covered the puck, and by the time VanMassenhoven was in position, the Rangers had already pushed Biron (and by consequence the puck) across the goal line and into the net.

Obviously, that means it's not a goal. But in case you don't believe me...

Rule 78.5: Disallowed Goals – Apparent goals shall be disallowed by the Referee and the appropriate announcement made by the Public Address Announcer for the following reasons:

...

(ix)  When a goalkeeper has been pushed into the net together with the puck after making a save.

....

(xii)  When the Referee deems the play has been stopped, even if he had not physically had the opportunity to stop play by blowing his whistle.

The goal shouldn't have counted. Period.

This would all be moot if the Rangers continued to pound the Flyers for the rest of the game, but that wasn't the case. Philadelphia rebounded very well from the botched call, putting a ton of pressure on Ranger goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The Flyers wound up outshooting New York 38-31 over the course of the game and for most of the second period, the orange and black absolutely owned the play.

Daniel Carcillo quite possibly had his best game as a Flyer tonight. Being thrown on a line with Danny Briere and Claude Giroux has its upsides, obviously. He had six shots tonight but was absolutely snakebitten -- robbed of clear goals at least twice by Lundqvist, to which the Garden faithful erupted in chants of "Potvin sucks!" "Henry, Henry!"

Down the stretch of the game, with New York leading 2-1, the Flyers continued to control the offensive flow. The Ranger net was peppered with shots, but Lundqvist had an answer for each and every one. Briere came the closest to putting one through when he rang a shot of the inside corner of the post, but it took a Blueshirt bounce and stayed out.

In the final two minutes, the Rangers really clamped down, another area in which they deserve credit. They didn't allow the Flyers to get any momentum through the neutral zone and effectively ended any chance of Philadelphia tying up the game.

But overall, if it weren't for Lundqvist playing like an absolute brick wall tonight, the Flyers would've won the contest. They played hard and they played better than the Rangers. Of course, you've got to give credit where credit is due; their goalie played a phenomenal game. But so did his counterpart at the other end of the ice, Marty Biron. If it weren't for the botched call in the first period, we would've seen overtime tonight. Both teams would've received a well-deserved point in the standings.

It takes a lot for me to complain about officiating, but tonight I feel just a little bit robbed. Robbed out of at least one critical point. Robbed out of what was otherwise an excellent hockey game by two quality teams.

This game meant a lot around the Eastern Conference playoff picture. For a complete rundown of what it meant for every team involved, continue after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

[AP Recap] - [Boxscore] - [Extended Stats] - [Highlights]

It's official. The Flyers are playoff bound.

With Carolina already clinching over the weekend and Pittsburgh playing Tampa tonight, we knew a win was important tonight. We knew that it wasn't going to be easy, with a desperate Florida team coming in to face off against our Flyers. Simply put, Philadelphia needed to take care of its business.

Well, Carolina and Pittsburgh both won. In fact, the Hurricanes scored enough goals for three wins in a 9-0 win over the Islanders, but thankfully the standings don't work that way. The Penguins barely hung on to beat Tampa 6-4, but with their win they also clinched a playoff spot tonight.

And Florida didn't make things any easier for the Flyers. They came out in the first period and played like the desperate team that they are. They controlled the offensive flow in the first period, but thanks to solid defensive play by Philadelphia and superb goaltending from Martin Biron, the Panthers were kept off the scoreboard.

They would break through early in the second though on a Brent MacLean goal, but that would be the end of the Florida offense. It seemed to wake the Flyers up, and from then on, the ice was definitely tilted in favor of Philadelphia. Shift after shift, the chances just piled up for the Flyers, and with about four minutes left in the period, Joffrey Lupul broke through. His 24th goal of the season deflected off his skate, hit the far post, and bounced off of Panther goalie Tomas Vokoun to tie the game at 1.

The pressure continued through the intermission and into the third period, where the Flyers reeled off six straight shots before the Panthers could even get one chance on Biron. Seven and a half minutes into the third, Jeff Carter picked the loose puck up in the corner, walked to the goal line, and somehow found the back of the net from an almost impossible angle. Vokoun may have misplayed it, perhaps not expecting Carter to shoot, but I mean come on. He should've known better. His 45th (!) goal of the year made it 2-1 Flyers, and that's how it would stand as the final horn sounded.

Andrew Alberts was the unsung hero of this game. Leading up to the Carter game winner, he had several furious shifts full of excellent defensive work, timely hitting, and even a shot that rang off of the post. When playoff time comes, you need different guys stepping up every night. It's nice when a guy like Alberts, who for whatever reason rarely gets praise, has a great outing.

Alberts' impact was probably magnified by the absence of Ryan Parent. He left in the second period with one of those mysterious lower body injuries and did not return, forcing the Flyers to rotate five guys on defense for the remainder of the game. Parent was seen in the locker room following the game in street clothes and did not appear to have any significant injury. Coach John Stevens didn't seem too concerned, either.

"He was just playing the game," Stevens said when asked about how Parent sustained the injury. Wow, really John? "He's got a lower body injury... but I don't think it's going to be too serious."

Good to hear, as Parent is a major piece of the defense heading into the playoffs.

While the news is obviously great news for us, it's a serious blow to the Panthers' playoff chances. The Rangers, who came in to the night tied in points with Florida, defeated Montreal 3-1 at MSG to take sole possession of eighth place. They also stopped the Habs from clinching a playoff spot with the victory.

Now, ironically, as I mentioned in the pregame, the Panthers fate falls in the Flyers hands. With two games remaining between Philly and the Rangers, two Flyer wins could be all the help Florida needs to secure it's first playoff berth since 1999/2000. They're Flyer fans in South Florida for the next couple of days, considering the Rangers can clinch a spot of their own with a win over the Flyers on Thursday in NYC. Personally, I love seeing the Rangers in agony, and the Panthers franchise really needs playoff hockey to help out their situation. So let's help them out, end the Rangers season, and take home ice advantage with us, shall we, Flyers?

All in all, I thought tonight was an excellent all around effort from our boys. When the offense had some trouble getting going, the defense was there to bail them out. They took care of their business and kept pace with the rest of the pack. That's how teams win come playoff time, and now we can say we're officially invited to the party.

Questions With Answers

1. Does Florida get off to a weak start, and do the Flyers jump on it? The Panthers had been struggling with weak starts, but they didn't have one tonight. The Flyers were able to weather the storm, however.
   
2. 60 minute effort? I'd say so. The effort was solid, although the offense was definitely flat in the first. I'd say that had more to do with Florida simply seizing the momentum right off the bat than the Flyers not wanting it, though.
   
3. We're back to this again: does Biron give up a softy? Nope, Marty was solid as well. The only goal he allowed was legitimate.
   
4. Jeff Carter wins the Bobby Clarke Trophy? Nope. It goes to Mike Richards, and I mean, really, it's hard to argue that one. It was pretty much a toss-up. I still believe that Carter deserved it, but I don't think we should lose any sleep over it.
   

13 trips to the playoffs in 14 years. Go Flyers.

This was what the doctor ordered. A five goal first period, by far the best one-period effort by the Flyers all season, led to an 8-5 victory over the Maple Leafs last night in South Philly. Jeff Carter had his first career hat trick and an assist, Claude Giroux scored his third goal in as many games and his eighth on the season to go along with two assists, Danny Briere had a goal and three assists, and even Randy Jones had a goal and an assist.

When Randy Jones has a good game, you know it's a good night.

That first period was what the Flyers need to play like all playoffs long. They literally had the Maple Leafs completely at their will, and there was nothing Toronto could do about it. It was fun to watch, that's for damn sure.

A big key in the win was the play of the defense. As a unit they played excellent all-around hockey, and it even showed on the scoreboard. In addition to the offense from Jones, Kimmo Timonen and Matt Carle each had two assists a piece. The Flyers had gone 12 games without a goal from the defense.

We can't ignore the let down in the second period. There was one, and Toronto at more than one occasion clawed their way back into this game. They cut the five goal lead into three several times, but let's be honest here. It's natural human tendancy to let up when you score five goals in the first twenty minutes of a sixty minute game. It's impossible to keep that kind of pace up for sixty minutes. Some credit has to be given to the Leafs for not backing down, too.

But when Toronto did shift the momentum a bit, I thought the Flyers did a good job of coming back and turning the tide back to the right direction.

A repeat performance is due tonight in Ottawa, where a win puts that little letter next to the Flyers name in the standings.

[AP Recap] - [Boxscore] - [Extended Stats] - [Highlights]

There has been one glaring problem with the Philadelphia Flyers all season long: inconsistency. Everybody has been guilty of it: the goalies, the offense, the defense, the power play, the penalty kill, the coaches -- everybody. And if you want to win in the playoffs, above all else, you need to play consistent hockey.

Tonight in Toronto, the Flyers showed that they are still unable to do so. For two periods, they were absolutely terrible. They came out with no fire, no determination, and no heart. They played like you would've expected the Maple Leafs to play, like a team going through the motions in the stretch run of a lost season. The Leafs, on the other hand, played like a team with something to actually play for, something to look ahead to, and something to prove.

Philadelphia decided to get things going a bit in the third period, but while they were dicking around during the first forty minutes of the game, their goalie was pulled and they were being outworked by a team that is much, much worse than they are. It wasn't really Biron's fault, either. The goals he gave up were certainly weak, don't get me wrong, but there is no way to pin this loss on one guy. Every single player on the ice was at fault tonight. Throw the coaching staff in that fire too.

This team was simply not ready to play tonight, and that blame falls on everybody. There's never an excuse for that, although in a situation like Sunday against Boston, where you're not rested and you've just played 15 games in 29 days, some leeway can be given (not that the Flyers weren't prepared on Sunday, I'm just making a point). But tonight, when you're well rested and you're playing in arguably the hockey capital of the world, not being prepared is completely, 120 percent unacceptable.

We can sit here and break this loss down -- why it happened from a hockey standpoint: the power play didn't click, the goalie gave up terrible goals, etc -- but it's really part of a bigger problem. The Flyers are a better team than they played tonight. The real Flyers are the ones that are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, the team that beat New Jersey last week and the team that played in the final five or ten minutes tonight.

But for some reason, the Flyers feel like they can get away with playing just those ten minutes. Or twenty, or anything that's not a full 60. Games like Saturday night on Long Island, where the Flyers battled back from a three-goal deficit to take the lead and eventually win in a shootout, or games like a 6-5 win over Carolina on December 11, where the Flyers scored four in the third to tie it before winning in a shootout, don't help.

Sure, they're plenty fun while they are happening. The roller coaster is always fun when you don't throw up afterwards. But in the long run, those sorts of games are damaging to a team. It puts the thought out there that they can just flip a switch and turn on the jets and still win, and it doesn't matter how late that switch is flipped.

Of course it's nice to have a team as talented as this one, so that when you're in the game, you can be down two goals with five minutes to play and still feel like they have a legitimate chance to win the hockey game. And tonight, they probably should've at least tied the game in the final period. Claude Giroux was alone in front of goalie Curtis Joseph and he flipped it over the net while on a shorthanded three-on-one. Jeff Carter was robbed by Joseph in the waning seconds. But it shouldn't take a mad dash at the finish to win. The inconsistency has got to stop.

Is this all a little harsh? I don't think so, and when you look at the scores from the Eastern Conference tonight, it's hard to argue against that. Pittsburgh absolutely manhandled the Devils tonight by a score of 6-1 [Pensburgh, In Lou We Trust], which means that a Flyers win would've put them just four points behind New Jersey with a game in hand. A Philadelphia win would've also made Pittsburgh's win moot from our standpoint. But instead, the Penguins are now tied with the orange and black in points, and they still sit six points back of the Atlantic lead.

Better win that game in hand, boys.

photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images via d.yimg.com

The Flyers looked dead in the water. Through two periods, they had disappointed the thousands of fans who made the trek to to Long Island by playing uninspired hockey, and they trailed the worst team in the league 2-0. They were lucky that's all the deficit was.

In the third period, though, they decided to make that trip worth it for those Philly faithful. John Stevens made a few adjustments, most notably putting Jeff Carter, Joffrey Lupul, and Scott Hartnell back on a line together. And at the same time Villanova was punching their ticket to the Final Four, that trio was reeling off three straight goals to give the Flyers the lead, just nine minutes into the period.

The Isles would tie it, but Philadelphia would go on to win in a shootout. All the credit belongs to Stevens for this one. He has an excellent handle on his team and seems to know exactly when to make moves like this. Any coach can tinker things around during practice to see what works, but making moves in the heat of a game can be a risky bet. Stevens has shown he's willing to make those bets, however, and more often than not he's been successful.

Lupul scored two of the Flyers third period goals, the 99th and 100th of his NHL career. But before the frantic comeback effort, that seemed like a rare possibility on this night. There was clear frustration on the part of the Flyers during the second period, perhaps best personified by three fights that took place within three minutes of each other. Even Simon Gagne almost dropped the gloves in a scrum midway through the third.

Questions With Answers

1. Do the Islanders have an extra momentum jump after beating Detroit last night? Or did they expend too much energy in that performance? The Islanders seemed very energetic at the start of the game and they seriously outworked the Flyers for the first forty minutes.
   
2. Can the Flyers capitalize on a chance to beat a lowly team? They capitalized on a great chance last night, and they kept pace with Pittsburgh and Carolina, who both won. The Carolina win came against New Jersey as well, which means the Flyers sit just six points back of the first-place Devils with a game in hand.... hmm....
   
3. Does Marty get his 12 straight against NYI, lifting him to Niitty versus Atlanta style ownership?  My number was wrong, it was actually 11 straight. But either way, Marty owns the Isles.
   

[AP Recap] - [Boxscore] - [Extended Stats] - [NHL.com Highlights]

If there was any doubt that the Flyers can't hang with the best the Eastern Conference has to offer, it evaporated tonight. Led by a suddenly resurgent power play and an increasingly confident Martin Biron, Philadelphia shut down the best team in the Atlantic Division tonight by a score of 4-2.

The Devils are a team that plays for the first goal. They have the best goaltending in the league and are an amazing defensive team. So when they get the lead, they do not give it up. Period. Entering tonight, New Jersey had a win percentage of .867 when scoring the first goal, which is far and away better than any other team in the league.

The Flyers didn't get the memo. After NJ scored the first goal of the contest, Philly fought back with two power play tallies. They also apparently forgot about the whole "the power play sucks lately" thing. They've scored two power play goals in three straight games now, which means the unit is officially back.

Another critical component is officially back as well, and he goes by the name of Danny Briere. He scored a goal and added an assist, both on the power play, and he now has five points in the last three games. If he can keep it up into the playoffs, and his history says he will, the Flyers look very dangerous.

John Stevens deserves a lot of credit for the last few games. His moves prior to Friday's win at Buffalo are what spawned Briere's resurgence, and his continual confidence (even when many of us, myself included, may have waivered) in Martin Biron has made him look like a genius.

Biron was outstanding again tonight, and there's certainly nothing like outplaying the number one goaltender in the world. He's 6-2 in his last eight with a GAA of 2.17. Tonight, he made 32 saves and stood on his head in the third period while the Devils recieved power play after power play.

The penalties were extremely frustrating tonight, and when all was said and done, 11 minors were called against the Flyers. Many of them were questionable, but the most satisfying part of it all was that the penalty killers battled hard and Biron was unstoppable. Despite the penalties, the Flyers were still able to deliver a convincing win against a team that is, in my opinion, the highest of benchmarks.

Other Notes

• Jeff Carter scored his 40th goal of the season. Only 13 Flyers have ever accomplished that feat.
  
• The Flyers won their 40th game of the season.
• The Devils have lost three straight on the road and four of five.
• NJ has lost two games in a row for the first time since early January.

Questions With Answers

1. The Flyers sucked last time out against the Devils. Is it a "versus NJ" thing? The Flyers can hang with anybody. That's a fact now.
   
2. Can the offense break Brodeur? Yes. Marty the Great looked human tonight, and that's rare for him against the Flyers.
   
3. Can the PP step it up at home? Yes! As I already said, the power play is officially back. I think that largely has to do with Danny Briere, too.
   
4. Regardless of the outcome, is there a disappointing feeling after this game or a encouraging one? The ultimate encouraging feeling. As I talked about in the pregame, with this win the Flyers can still catch the Devils for first place. Is it still going to be very hard? Yes, without a doubt, and the ball is in NJ's court. But if the orange and black keep their feet on the gas, it could happen. Either way, home ice advantage gets more certain with every win.
   

[AP Recap] - [Boxscore] - [Extended Stats] - [NHL.com Highlights]

This might have been the best win all season. Seriously. I've made that claim a couple of times this season, but this time, it's for real. The odds were completely against our boys in orange and black. They hadn't won in Pittsburgh in eight tries. The Penguins hadn't lost in regulation in their last 12. Just two weeks after being irrelevant in the Flyers playoff plans, they were now tied with the Flyers and would pass them with a win.

Philadelphia never let that happen. Looking at the stats, you'd probably assume that, well, Martin Biron played fantastic and the Flyers offense was completely stagnant. Well, that's not true. Sure, Pittsburgh brutally outshot the Flyers all game long, and Biron was absolutely brilliant in net today, but the team was not outplayed by Pittsburgh by any means.

The defense stepped up when necessary. Until midway through the third period, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were invisible on the ice. Neither of them had even registered a shot on goal. When that happens against Pittsburgh, you win. That's what happened today.

When the other guys on the Penguins tried to step up, Biron was there to show them the door. He was absoultely, positively unbeatable today. He has been nothing short of spectacular over the last two weeks or so, and he has regained the form we thought he lost earlier this season. He's playing like he wants to be the playoff goaltender, but even moreso, he's playing like he wants to be a Flyer come October.

The power play, at first glance, stepped up today. Both Flyer goals were scored with the extra man, but on the whole, it wasn't that great of a performance. Honestly, and it probably comes off as nitpicking, but there probably should've been more than just two goals on the power play today.

But, when you win like you do today, with all the odds against you in a great team effort, it doesn't matter. It was an awesome win today against the Flyers biggest rival (that's right, I said it) and it seriously helps hopes for home-ice advantage when the playoffs start in three weeks.

Questions With Answers

1. Briere came back with a vengence on Friday night in Buffalo. Can he keep it up? Briere assisted on Scott Hartnell's game winner in the second period.
   
2. Do the Flyers (primarily Kimmo Timonen) keep Crosby and Malkin off the board? Timonen, as well as the defense as a whole, did a great job of neutralizing these guys.
   
3. Do the Flyers play 60 minutes of hockey? They slowed it down a bit in the third period when they had a 2-0 lead, but that's not necessarily a bad thing when you're playing on the road. It was a good, solid 60 minute win.
   
4. A Flyers win at Mellon Arena? Maybe? Yes!