Who else didn’t have a little fear going into that shoot out, hm?
The format hasn’t been kind to the Flyers since it was introduced, and especially the last couple of years. Sergei Bobrovsky wasn’t good at them. Ilya Bryzgalov was downright awful at them, so bad that once he celebrated with a dancing bear maneuver after finally getting a win in one.
Neither of these men are the goalie known as “Stone Cold”, a play on the once fearsome pro wrestler, now the goalie who has become fearsome in his own right since coming over to the Flyers. Steve Mason was the solution to a dreadful riddle the Flyers have had issues solving, blanking all three Nashville Predator shooters on the way to earning a win after a brilliant performance that should have had him placed as the first star. He stopped 34 of 36 shots through 3 regulation periods and a 5 minute overtime, keeping the team in it as long as needed in order for them to provide enough offense to tie the game.
Outside of Mason, the team began a six game road trip a bit sluggish, and it carried over throughout the game. The highlight was the fact that when given an opportunity the Flyers cashed in on them. In the first Giroux got the dance started with a nifty shot off of a lucky puck bounce right in front of Preds goalie Marek Mazanec, but hard nosed Preds forward Mike Fisher tied it up just a minute later. The teams would carry the tie into the second, but it was the Preds who held the momentum, with continuing pressure from forward Patric Hornqvist leading the way. Hornqvist may not have scored, but it wasn’t for lack of effort, and his game tonight drew a host of penalties against the Flyers, an ongoing issue for the club.
The second period was a lot of back and forth, with the odds still in the Preds favor thanks to the Flyers inability to remain disciplined. It was Hornqvist who influenced much of this during the period, with slick takeaways that forced Braydon Coburn and Mark Streit to commit silly penalties in recovery. Coburn couldn’t control himself in the 2nd, winding up in the box twice, although once it should’ve been Claude Giroux. He almost got caught another couple of times, and thankfully he didn’t or this game may have been decided before the third began.
The 3rd period featured the Preds keeping the Flyers on their heels immediately, and it paid dividends when Colin Wilson helped Nashville grab the 2-1 lead 5 minutes in. The pressure that normally caved the Flyers didn’t seem to be there despite the odds, and it eventually worked out, with current in-the-doghouse-with-Flyers-fans defenseman Andrej Meszaros shutting that particular crowd up with a ridiculous stop whirl and feed pass across the crease to a wide open Sean Couturier, who promptly buried the puck top shelf on a sprawled and out of position Manazec.
It would be all the Flyers needed in regulation, and in overtime, one has to wonder if the Predators put all of their eggs in the Flyers bad shoot out history basket, for they had a couple of long stretches of ineptitude with the puck, possessing either no knowledge of how to attack the net at a speedier 4 on 4 pace, or the intent of carrying the game into the shoot out, in hopes of besting Mason. This would turn out to be the worst idea they came up with, as the sterling Mason decided the 34 regulation and OT saves weren’t dazzling enough.
The Preds led off and Mason shut down Craig Smith. The Flyers countered with Vincent Lecavalier, who buried his shot after dragging Manazec away from the spot he wished to place the puck. Mason then swatted away the next two shoot out attempts by Matt Hendricks and Matt Cullen to seal the win.
Most people have placed their thoughts on this road trip in the public eye, with plenty not having the highest of hopes. My personal guess would be 4-2. Sure, the Preds were without stars Shea Weber and Pekka Rinne, but Nashville has some solid depth, and Manazec has been putting on his best Rinne impression since taking Pekka’s place between the pipes.
I can see the Flyers beating Minnesota, Dallas and Ottawa, but the probable losses might be the Wings and the Blackhawks. In the NHL you never know until the games are played, so who knows, one things for certain, Philly wouldn’t mind beating them all.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
