This one certainly had it all, folks.
You want fisticuffs? Hey, you got that right off the bat. You want high scoring affairs? Let’s hope a 6-4 victory quenches that particular thirst. Were you hoping that young Tom Wilson would finally get a couple of knuckle sandwiches for all of his dirty tricks? Luke Schenn may have provided you with a little joy.
In what has become the rivalry to watch, the Flyers took another win from the feisty Washington Capitals last night, and it must have made Dimitry Orlov a little sad that he wasn’t able to take the ice and get in yet another cheap shot of his own. Since that embarrassing 7-0 thrashing the Capitals delivered, the one which resulted in Ray Emery pummeling fellow goaltender Braden Holtby into mush, the Flyers have taken 3 of 4 contests, notably the last 3.
That’s not to say that each of them haven’t featured enough fireworks to satiate fans on either side of this rivalry fence, since there has been some sort of incident in nearly every one of them. The goalie fight. Tom Wilson’s charge. Orlov’s charge. And now…the line brawl.
Halfway through the first period, and I’m guessing they wanted to do this sooner, the Flyers and Caps had a full blown rumble along the sideboards, and it featured the usual suspects. It began in earnest when Luke Schenn delivered a fantastic hit along the boards on Ryan Stoa and Tom Wilson took exception to it. Schenn couldn’t get up right away and neither could Stoa since their legs were entangled, and Wayne Simmonds decided to stroll over and give Stoa a friendly little facewwash. John Erskine took exception to that and it simply snowballed from there. Schenn eventually got up and traded fists briefly with Wilson, getting the better of the exchange. Vincent Lecavalier wound up throwing bones with Erskine, with Simmonds anxiously trying to butt in to get a pound of flesh, this while Jay Beagle held on to Wayne for dear life. Erskine got some good shots in on Vinny before Simmonds managed to get a hold of him, and Lecavalier landed a solid shot that sent them both to the ice.
For their just rewards, Wilson, Erskine, and Lecavalier all landed game misconducts, and while Wilson remained, Erskine and Vinny got an early shower. This was something I expected to occur for a few games now, and to be honest, it’s refreshing to see a little animosity on ice. Nothing like a little pure hatred to produce an exciting brand of hockey, and the proof has been in the pudding with these two clubs. The average goal count in each contest has been huge, an astonishing 8 goals combined a game in the era of low scoring.
42 total goals in five games, give that a moment to resonate.
So you have it all as a fan, the two clubs have given us all those goals, the fights, the tension. For the Flyers, it gets even better because the guy everyone loves in Philly is having some of his best games of the season during these battles. Last night was no exception, with Claude Giroux snagging two goals and an assist. His ginger haired partner in crime, Jakub Voracek? Yeah, he’s lighting it up as well, with two goals coming last night.
The Flyers did something this evening that was particularly nice to see, and that was not letting the second period get away from them. They controlled the pace, outshooting the Caps 10-5, and never let them get back into it. Not until the third, that is.
I have also failed to mention new Flyers acquisition Andy MacDonald, haven’t I? That is until now. MacDonald had an incredibly solid game last night, providing some speed on the blueline, and posted some decent stats along the way with 1 assist, a +2 rating, with 3 hits and 3 blocks to boot. I may wind up regretting anything negative I have said about this guy, and perhaps did use his toiling in bad situations on a normally bad club against him. With Meszaros having been shipped up to Boston, Andy will get plenty of minutes, but not the overbearing variety he withstood on Long Island. This may actually keep the above average skater in better shape, with fresher legs as a result of not overusing him. It appears Paul Holmgren has gotten the last laugh again on Flyers fans who constantly berate his trade abilities, although one game is the biggest of sample sizes. Regardless, the Flyers looked eager to jump into the Caps zone without the constant fear of making up for a defensive lapse, and that has always been the desired result.
For 40 minutes, the Flyers looked nothing short of absolutely dominant, outshooting the Caps nearly 3-1, spending gobs of time with offensive possession.
Then the third period arrived.
Up by a score of 4-1, the Flyers began taking boneheaded penalties. I’m not sure if this was a result of the Flyers possibly coasting with a quality lead and late in the game, or if the Caps simply found a second wind. The penalties allowed the Capitals to climb back into the game with eerie proficiency, as they snagged three power plays, and cashed in on all of them. Soon 4-1 turned into 4-2, and then the Caps took advantage of another PP, and it turned into 4-3. Jakub Voracek stopped the bleeding with his second goal of the evening, but then Mark Streit took another silly penalty, and -surprise!- the Caps scored another PP goal. Down 5-4 and applying ridiculous pressure, the Capitals seemed poised to do what the Flyers had done to them during Sunday’s matinee affair: answer back and steal a game that had a big lead involved.
The Flyers somehow dug deep after a Craig Berube timeout, staved off the Caps for the next five minutes, and finally sealed the deal when the Caps pulled backup goalie Philipp Grubauer for the extra man, at which point Steve Downie fluttered the puck down ice into the empty net for the 6-4 final.
This was the last regular season meeting between these two teams, and it feels very unfortunate. They seemed to bring out the best in each other, all while going at each other’s throats. Sure, there was a bit of violence, and some things uncalled for, but it provided the formula for some truly thrilling hockey. In between the harsher moments, there were plenty of highlight reel worthy goals, great plays, and emotion. The Flyers and Capitals should be thanked by both their fanbases for leaving it all on the ice during this season series, not a soul can say they didn’t get their money or their passion’s worth out of this matchup.
Perhaps we’ll be so lucky to somehow see both clubs again…in the postseason.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
