One thing about the 2011-12 Flyers: They never quit and never stop competing, even when they get outplayed by top opponents for long stretches of games. Now that the club is also getting top-notch goaltending from Ilya Bryzgalov, their ability to come back if they do trail in the game bodes very well for the rest of the stretch run and playoffs.
If you look at the Flyers' games against the Penguins, Rangers, Bruins and Red Wings this season -- four of the top six defensive teams in the NHL in terms of fewest goals allowed -- you will find that the Flyers have come back to erase deficits against these opponents in 10 games. That's mighty impressive, although the Flyers' record is just 4-4-2 in the games.
Here's the breakdown:
vs. Penguins (3-1-0): The Flyers have pulled off three comebacks against the Penguins this year. In the first meeting of the season series, the Flyers built a 3-0 lead and then barely held on to a 3-2 win. The rest of the games have seen the Flyers forced to play catchup for varying lengths of time.
On Dec. 29, the Flyers gave up the first goal of the game, but went on to win, 4-2. On Feb. 18, the Flyers trailed 1-0 and 3-2 but the game was tied at the end of the second period. A Penguins surge and Flyers collapse in the third period resulted in a 6-4 Pittsburgh victory. Yesterday, of course, the Flyers recovered from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the third period and win in the final second of overtime.
vs. Bruins (1-1-2): The Flyers may only have one win against the reigning Stanley Cup champions this season, but if you throw out the blowout game in December, the season series has been very even in the other three meetings.
On opening night (Oct. 6), the Bruins scored first but the Flyers scored two late first-period goals to take the lead and then protected it the rest of the way for a 2-1 win. On Jan. 22, the Flyers came back from deficits of 1-0 and 3-1 to lead 4-3 after two periods. The Bruins struck twice early in the third period to take a 5-4 lead, but Philly tied it up again before Boston prevailed, 6-5, in a shootout. On Saturday, the Flyers chipped away at a 2-0 deficit to secure a point before losing via shootout, 3-2.
vs. Rangers (0-5-0): Lost in the fact of the Flyers' dismal record against the Rangers this season is that, if they executed better in third periods, the season series could just as easily be 3-2 in Philly's favor.
In two games this season, the Flyers have fought back to erase deficits versus the Rangers, who, are statistically the hardest team over the last two seasons against whom to come back once they gain the lead. That does not include the Winter Classic, where the Flyers let their own 2-0 lead slip away and turn into a 3-2 deficit in the third period. If Danny Briere had converted his penalty shot in the final minute of regulation, it would be three comebacks.
On Feb. 5 at Madison Square Garden, the Flyers trailed 1-0 in the second period before Brayden Schenn tied the game. A fluky goal by Marian Gaborik in the dying seconds of the second period put the Rangers ahead again, 2-1. Early in the third period, Wayne Simmonds tallied a power play goal to forge a 2-2 tie. Unfortunately for Philly, a soft goal followed seconds later and then an awful turnover resulted in a two-goal deficit. The Rangers won, 5-2.
Six days later in Philadelphia, the Flyers once again came back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits. This time, it was accomplished within the second period, and the clubs went to the third period tied. The final stanza was much like the previous one. The Rangers' came on, the Philly defense and goaltending fell apart and New York prevailed, 5-2.
vs. Red Wings (1-1-0): I was glad that the inter-conference teams squared off twice this season instead of just once. They played two tremendous hockey games against one another, and the Flyers' resiliency was once again on full display.
On Feb. 12, it was the Red Wings who played a lot of comeback hockey in the second period (recovering from deficits of 2-1 and 3-2 before scoring early in the third period and holding on for a 3-2 win). But the visiting Flyers rallied from an early 1-0 deficit against a team that shattered the NHL's home winning streak record, and the momentum seesawed for 40-plus minutes.
On March 6 (Mark Howe Jersey Retirement Night), Henrik Zetterberg's dazzling backhanded goal put the Flyers' in an early 1-0 hole. Philadelphia rallied for what turned into a 3-2 win in regulation.
Obviously, the Flyers team would be much, much better off it played from in front in their key games. In the 15 total games against the aforementioned opponents, the Flyers have only scored the first goal twice (once apiece against the Rangers and Penguins). It's awfully hard to play winning hockey that way in the long run.
But, when it comes to assessing the character of this Philadelphia hockey team, there is no questioning their compete level. They CAN beat any team in the NHL, even if they are forced to chase the game in order to do so.
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With yesterday's win, the Flyers have now earned points in nine of their last 11 games (8-2-1). They did not gain any ground on Pittsburgh over the weekend, by virtue of the Penguins getting a point yesterday and the Flyers losing in the shootout on Saturday in Boston.
Nevertheless, the Flyers' three-point weekend (and five of six points from their three-games-in-four-days gauntlet) was a definite success for the hockey team. They should have a lot of confidence and determination for the rest of the stretch run.
Yesterday's game was a thriller. Regular season hockey doesn't get much more intense than that. The Penguins played like a machine for two periods, showing why they had reeled off 11 straight wins heading into the game.
But Ilya Bryzgalov and a scrappy, bend-but-don't break Flyers' defense held the team close enough to have a chance for its third period comeback and overtime heroics to be possible. Eventually, the Flyers' got under the Penguins' skin, got some power plays and started their comeback.
Kimmo Timonen's goal was beautifully executed against the NHL's top-ranked penalty kill. The Flyers had perfect puck movement, Timonen's center point wrist shot was a tracer, and Wayne Simmonds set up a heavy screen in front of Marc-Andre Fleury.
As for Scott Hartnell's two goals, it's safe to say that both of them are the product of playing with sky-high confidence in what has been a career year for him. For a player best known for scoring "dirty-but-good" goals on deflections and crease scrambles, he has scored more than his fair share of sniper's goals over the last few months in particular.
Hartnell's first goal was scored from a severe angle -- can only imagine the grief a Flyers' goalie would have gotten on the same play the other way -- but was a perfectly placed shot as he had the presence of mind to realize he had enough time to take a stride in front of the goal line and snap off a wrist shot into the short side corner. The whole sequence was made possible by Simmonds forcing Evgeni Malkin into a turnover up high in the Pens' defense zone.
The game winner with 0.9 second left in overtime was another All-star caliber shot. With 20,000 people in the building screaming at Danny Briere to shoot the puck, the second line center, passed to an open Hartnell (who had just stepped onto the ice to replace Jaromir Jagr). Hartnell's shot was like a guided missile over Fleury.
Incredible finish to a great game.
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Ilya Bryzgalov was not selected as one of the three stars of the game, but I thought he turned in a whale of a performance. He made 38 saves, many of which were of the difficult and clutch variety.
I also thought the Flyers' defense did a good job yesterday. Braydon Coburn (26:00 played, 2 hits, 4 blocks) and Nicklas Grossmann (21:04 played, 5 hits, 3 blocks) were warriors in the physical department. Very quietly, I thought Grossmann may have played his best game as a Flyer yesterday. He made all sorts of little plays under intense pressure that prevented potential scoring chances and/or odd-man counterattacks.
Apart from his goal and assist, Kimmo Timonen had a tremendous two-way game in 22:03 played. Matt Carle ate up his usual massive ice time (24:02) and even rookie Erik Gustafsson provided 19:47 of solid play and good puck movement. Callup Brandon Manning did not hurt the team in his 15 shifts and 11:57 of ice time.
Major credit should also go to rookie center Sean Couturier for doing yeoman work in brutally difficult defensive matchups. I'll tell you this much: His head-to-head matchups with Malkin (or Sidney Crosby) are going to be epic for many years to come.
A key juncture of yesterday's game was the back-to-back Flyers penalty kills late in the first period. With Carle and then Timonen in the box, Philly's PKers bent but didn't break thanks to Bryzgalov and good positional play. They even had a pair of shorthanded rushes generated by the speed and alertness of Matt Read but Kris Letang did a great job of hustling back to break up the scoring chances.
There was little the Flyers could have done differently to prevent Craig Adams' deflection goal. The coverage wasn't bad, but once Adams got his stick on Kris Letang's shot, the puck changed direction.
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Evgeni Malkin's goal was a superstar's goal, plain and simple. He was not going to be denied. There is often a tendency to assign blame rather than crediting the player who scored for making a good play. Malkin spun away from Claude Giroux, took the puck in front with Kimmo Timonen's attention diverted by the other Penguins going to the net, and then stuffed the puck underneath Bryzgalov's pad as he moved laterally.
Sometimes you just have to consider who it was that scored the goal. There's a reason why Malkin has 41 goals this season, is leading the Art Ross Trophy race and very well may win the Hart Trophy. He outmaneuvered the Flyers' top forward, top defenseman and their red hot goaltender to score what could have been a backbreaking goal in the final minute of a period. That's what the best players in the game do: they make plays against other team's best players.
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It is remarkable that Zac Rinaldo needed "only" five stitches to his lower lip -- but did not lose any teeth and returned to the game -- after accidentally getting blasted in the mouth by Hartnell's stick as the two players engaged in combat with Letang midway through the second period.
That sequence, along with the two penalties drawn on Malkin, a brainless slashing penalty by Zbynek Michalek late in the second period (committed on Giroux, who was sitting on the bench), and the huge scrum in the third period were the biggest emotional flash points of the game for the Flyers. Philly thrives on those sorts of situations, and they drew a lot of energy off it in the shifts that followed.
By the way, the area around Rinaldo's locker could have been declared a biohazard. There were still some semi-fresh blood spots on the floor and a discarded rubber glove still sitting in a nasty-looking trash can near the player's locker during the postgame media scrum.
Hockey is not a sport for the faint of heart.
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Injured Flyers' defenseman Andreas Lilja (throat) was among the gathering of Swedes chatting in the hallway near the Flyers' lockerroom after the game. He looked to be OK after taking a deflected shot in the throat during the first period of Saturday's game in Boston. If I had to venture a guess, I would say that his scratching yesterday was as much precautionary as anything else.
James van Riemsdyk (foot surgery) is still on crutches. Word is that everything is course for the original 4-to-6 week prognosis, following the surgery on March 6.
No updates were available on Pavel Kubina (upper body) or Andrej Meszaros (lower body). However, Kubina skated on his own last week and may be able to return soon. Meszaros has not been able to skate and it is believed that he may have suffered a setback.
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I would be remiss if I did not mention the play of Jaromir Jagr yesterday and Saturday. The future Hall of Famer may not have done much on the scoreboard, but he was often the Flyers' best player on the ice.
Jagr exhibited tremendous jump, puck protection and fearlessness in both games this weekend.
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There was a special visitor in the pressbox yesterday, and I was extremely lucky to be sitting two spots to his right: 84-year-old Marcel Pelletier.
For those who are too young to know the name, Pelletier briefly played goaltender for the New York Rangers in the early 1960s amidst a long and colorful minor league career, but his greatest contributions came as a Flyers' scout in the Cup era and as one of Bernie Parent's mentors (along with the legendary Jacques Plante).
Pelletier sported two beautiful rings -- one on each hand -- from the Flyers' 1974 and 1975 championships. He was warmly greeted in the press box by numerous Flyers and league personnel, including Ian Laperriere.
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