Deja vu.
Down two goals early for the second time in as many games as the same team, the Flyers fought back, played sound defensive hockey and squeaked out a 3-2 over time win in front of a sparsely populated New Jersey crowd.
The stats will tell you that the Flyers didn't generate much offense in this game, but while the Devils did block a ton of shots, the Flyers had more than one shot in the third period and more than two in overtime. The numbers are suspect at best and you should probably take them with a grain of salt.
Either way, the Flyers scored three goals on Martin Brodeur on a limited number of shots. They did an excellent job of generating traffic in front on those two of those three goals. The first, a wrister by Arron Asham, deflected off of a Devil in front and beat Brodeur. The game-winner was a result of an unreal play by Simon Gagne, who skated circles around the Devils defense and flung a shot through traffic to give the Flyers the victory.
Hello boys, he's baaaaaaaack. At least we hope; that's the kind of goal that can give a player a lot of momentum for the rest of the season. It's the proverbial monkey off of the back.
Jeff Carter had a pretty fantastic game as well. He could've been aided by the news today that he'll be going to Vancouver for the Olympics next week as a potential replacement for Ryan Getzlaf. He used his body, he fought for pucks, and his game-tying goal in the second period was a thing of beauty -- a perfectly placed shot over the shoulder of Brodeur.
It wasn't a perfect game again, as the first goal of the game on Michael Leighton will prove. But they found a way to get the two points yet again and the end result is one of the more exciting post-game celebrations we've seen this season. I think I can speak for most of us when I say the feeling we all had when Gagne put that puck in the net was purely euphoric.
If the playoffs started today, guess who we'd play? The Devils, baby. Season series victory, complete.
After the jump, take a look at the updated playoff race, questions with answers and the comment of the night. 900+ comments to choose from, cool. Also a hilarious video tipped off to us by Mr. Ben 'No Internets' Rothenberg.
Playoff Race
- 4th: Pittsburgh - 60 GP, 74 pts (won tonight)
- 5th: Ottawa - 60 GP, 72 pts (didn't play)
- 6th: Montreal - 61 GP, 64 pts (won tonight)
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7th: Philadelphia - 58 GP, 63 pts (won tonight)
- 8th: Tampa Bay - 58 GP, 63 pts (didn't play)
- 9th: Boston - 58 GP, 61 pts (didn't play)
- 10th: Atlanta - 58 GP, 59 pts (OT loss tonight)
- 11th: NY Rangers - 60 GP, 59 pts (lost tonight)
- 12th: Florida - 59 GP, 57 pts (didn't play)
- 13th: NY Islanders - 60 GP, 56 pts (didn't play)
Questions With Answers
- Can the Flyers stay out of the penalty box? They only gave NJ three power plays, but it seemed a lot worse than that.
- Will the Flyers avoid falling to an early deficit tonight? Um. No.
- Can they stop Kovalchuk... again? Yes they can! I must've jinxed him when I said a few times over the weekend that he'd 'no doubt' score his first goal against the Flyers. I'm fine that he hasn't. Hopefully he won't have a goal next time we play the Devils either.
- Any revenge for Jeff Carter's hit on Anssi Salmela? Unless allowing him to score a goal is revenge...
- Sticking with Carter, how's he play after being notified that he'll have to head to Vancouver in case Ryan Getzlaf can't take part in the Olympics? As mentioned above, he had a very strong game.
- How many people are in the building tonight in the midst of this blizzard? 5,000 or so was the announced attendance.
Comment of the Night
Gagne has jump, at least… execution lacking, but there’s some life
>> DragonGirl0583, three minutes prior to Gagne's GWG