The Flyers really, really needed that indeed.
Coming off a road trip that took them all the way out to the frozen wasteland of Winnipeg (at least that’s how former Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov thought of it), the Flyers began a home stretch with a few days off to rest from playing three games in four nights in three different towns. This week, the Flyers had three games at home, all against teams they should be able to handle,and if the Flyers manage to beat the struggling Sabres and Islanders, they should have a .500 record by the time they have to travel to Florida on Monday to play the Panthers. They took a solid first step during this three game homestand to oust the visiting Ottawa Senators, they who happen to have Bobby Ryan of Cherry Hill fame on their roster, utilizing a big third period to put the game out of reach.
By the way that Bobby Ryan being from Cherry Hill, New Jersey thing sure played itself out bigtime on the social media lines, this isn’t really news, and the final straw for me came when I had to be informed by JJ about fifty times where Bobby happened to grow up. Sure he just might sign with his hometown club after next year, he does become an unrestricted free agent then, but until that point any time he comes here he will be wearing another teams jersey.
This game started off with a little promise with Claude Giroux getting the festivities started on a 1st period goal to give the Flyers first blood 1-0. Sean Couturier later expanded on that lead with his first goal in what feels like eons to help the Flyers stake themselves to a 2-0 lead, familiar territory for this team, and until the goal explosionin the third period, it lead to painfully familiar results. The lead shrank a few minutes later when new Senator and former Leaf Clarke MacArthur potted one and that is where the teams remained through the end of two periods.
The third period however, is where things became interesting. Taking too many penalties has been the custom for the Flyers and for the most part they have been fortunate in possessing one of the better penalty killing units in the league. Last night things did not go as well as before as the Senators were up to the task on their power play, and Zac Rinaldo’s penalty helped lead to Kyle Turris scoring the second Ottawa PP goal of the night, and erasing the 2-0 lead the Flyers claimed early one. This very same situation has occurred now in multiple games for Philly. The Ducks collapse, the Jets getting the shoot out victory last week, this is something the fans have witnessed before, and I’m certain like myself were more than likely letting out audible sighs the moment Turris’ shot snuck in.
Here we go again.
The plot thickened when a couple of minutes later, Turris found himself with a gaping goal mouth staring him in the face, all thanks to some kid from of all places, CHERRY HILL NEW JERSEY, making a play that shook goalie Steve Mason out of his skates. What did Turris do? He shot the puck into defenseman Nicklas Grossmann’s skates. This is the moment the Flyers have needed the most for the entire season, that singular time when the puck bounces their way, a sign that the Hockey Gods of lore may finally be smiling upon them. The referees reviewed this goal, and it was determined that the puck never completely crossed the goal line, and by NHL rules could not count.
The Flyers jumped on this opportunity to immediately steamroll the stunned Senators into submission, a total role reversal from previous games featuring this scenario. First came the new found lively legs of Kimmo Timonen, who has looked incredibly sluggish this year. Taking a sideboards pass, he decided to carry the puck right towards Sens goalie Robin Lehner, and did a fantastic Wayne Simmonds impression, scoring the eventual game winning goal. Simmonds, not to be outdone, scored a mere 23 seconds later on a charge led by the Lecavalier-Schenn-Simmonds line, a very good line who is showing some great chemistry. Reclaiming the lead and the momentum, the Flyers never seemed to be down nor out the rest of the way, even after Timonen dragged Turris down in front of Mason, which led to a fruitless penalty shot. Adam Hall, the best penalty killer on the team right now, potted an empty netter for his first goal as a Flyer, and given his under appreciated effort, a deserved goal at that.
This game was a wild ride, but also a a display of good fortune for the Flyers. Since starting the season an abysmal 1-7, the club has gone 7-3, and it was mentioned during the Turris goal review that club simply said to themselves to just go out and get the game tying goal if it stood. That sort of sentiment was nowhere to be found early on, but it is present now, and some of that credit has to go to Coach Craig Berube, a guy who most don’t wish to admit to being a solid coach. He may not be the greatest coach in Flyers history, but there is developing proof that he has these players buying into his system, and has them playing responsibly and aggressively. The one thing that lacked for the Flyers was belief, but they’ve got it now, and hopefully it will remain as they surge back into the early playoff picture.
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