Welcome to the lightning round, folks.
Scoring three goals in two minutes in the third period, the Philadelphia Flyers upper their current road trip record to 2-1 while defeating their host, the San Jose Sharks. It didn’t look that way at first, with the Sharks jumping up 2-1 in the first period, but the Flyers have been playing a resilient game as of late, and it was put on display once more last night.
It really has been an unorthodox style the Flyers have been playing, after all they’ve been getting outhit, losing the faceoff battle, and commonly out shot. Despite all of this, and this wasn’t even including their fair lack of discipline that has been an ongoing issue, they’re winning more games than they lose. The Boston game served as a severed wake up call in hindsight, a gamer that helped the club realized it’s failings, and since then they’ve beaten two of three quality clubs, a stretch many more than likely didn’t see coming even if they had hoped for it.
The highlight of this contest was the third period. With the Flyers trailing still 2-1 after a second period that featured some back and forth but no scores, the Flyers began potting pucks on Sharks goalie Antti Niemi as if he were simply standing there. First it was Matt Read, who entered the zone and flung an off angle shot that slipped past Niemi to tie up the game. Then moments later, Erik Gustafsson, seeing his first action in ages, flung a puck from the point towards Antti, and Michael Raffl collected the rebound to snipe it glove high to help the Flyers take the lead. Mere moments after that, Scott Hartnell stole the puck and carried it into the Sharks defensive zone. The puck wound up on Claude Giroux’s stick, who shot a ridiculous wrister that Niemi couldn’t defend because he was forced to play the net crashing Hartnell. 4-2 Flyers, and all in a matter of a couple of minutes.
The Sharks, looking visibly deflated, pulled their goaltender and never came close to getting back in the game, this despite being handed two power play opportunities afterward. Jakub Voracek cashed in for another goal to up the score 5-2 Flyers, and that as they say, was that.
Much of this comes down to a couple of things the Flyers did both coaching wise and individually to influence the reversal of fortune. First Craig Berube reunited the third line of Matt Read, Sean Couturier,and Steve Downie. These three had abit of magic happening between them when they were first put together, and it was no coincidence that the team started winning again afterward. A whole greater than the sum of its parts styled trio, none of the players has done as well when not paired together, and when Downie and Read wound up hurt, the line dissolved. Again, no coincidence to be found when the team began to slump, as this line often takes on the other team’s top line, and Couturier usually does an excellent job of shutting down premier opposing centermen. Throw in Downie’s forechecking style and Read’s sniper like accuracy and it’s fairly easy to see why the club took off.
The second key to the Flyers getting back on track was Steve Mason getting advice from all time Flyer goaltending great Bernie Parent. Mason revealed his discussions with Parent last Sunday at the Flyers Wives Charities Carnival was eye opening, and helped him to remember the positioning keys taught to him when he arrived in Philly, the very keys that helped return Mason to a level of solid goaltending he had lost while toiling in Columbus.
These factors along with the players remembering to play within their particular skill sets has been the driving force behind the never say attitude. It was present when the Flyers reeled their 10 game home winning streak, and evident when they put up a huge November to climb back into playoff contention. They have it again, but they need to retain focus, and if they do, we all might witness a team willing to play fierce each and every night.
This is satisfying hockey, win or lose, it’s all in how the game is played.
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