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WRAPUP: A GAME OF MILLIMETERS IN FLYERS 3-2 WIN VS. WILD
Sometimes hockey is called a "game of inches." The final seconds of the Philadelphia Flyers' 3-2 regulation win over the Minnesota Wild at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday was more like a game of millimeters.
With just 2.6 seconds left in the game and the Flyers clinging to a one-goal lead, Flyers goaltender Michael Neuvirth dived across the crease as Charlie Coyle shot from inside the circle with Radko Gudas sprawled on the ice trying to block the shot. The puck hit the underside of the paddle of Neuvirth's stick and then dropped into the blue paint of the crease where it was covered.
"I wasn’t sure. I knew I hit it with my stick but I wasn’t sure if I had the stick behind the goal line," Neuvirth said. "You know I’ve had saves like that time to time in practice... [but] especially with the timing it’s got to be one of the best saves I’ve ever made for sure."
The play was ruled no goal on the ice, which meant there needed to be a definitive camera angle that showed the puck entirely crossed the goal line in order for the Situation Room in Toronto to overturn it. No 100 percent conclusive angle exists, but the nuance is infinitesimal.
While most of the paddle of the stick was over the goal line, the puck disappears from view and is entirely obscured by the stick so it cannot be definitely proven if the puck fully crossed the line or was at least partially along the line. Had it been ruled a good goal on the ice, the lack of a definitive view of the puck NOT over the line would probably have meant it would have upheld as the tying goal.
Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol was confident the puck did not entirely cross the goal line; at least when he looked up on the ArenaVision screen and watched the replays.
“It was a hell of a save. I think that goes without saying especially when you add the time and the way he was able to fight that puck off. It didn’t look like the puck crossed the line I guess from the bench. Until you look at it on video, I mean there’s no way to tell for sure. It was a heck of a save in a great time in the game," Hakstol said.
Any which way the play is analyzed, it was a spectacular action by Neuvirth to get to the puck -- one no goalie likely could make twice with no margin for error if they tried it 100 times, especially given the time and score of the game. The Flyers gladly took it and desperately needed it in a must-win game.
"Oh my God, oh yes [the save meant a lot]. That’s still hard to believe, that save, two seconds left and to make that kind of save, I mean, thank God," marveled Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, beaming and shaking his head at the same time as he pondered the play.
“No, I was actually looking a little bit down on the ice, just because of the pressure. I just heard everybody yelling and I looked at the replay and I see that, I’m like, 'Oh, wow!'"
For the Flyers, it took three separate one-goal leads and the late circus save by Neuvirth to win the game. The Flyers got doorstep goals by Sam Gagner and Bellemare sandwiched around a power play snipe by Mark Streit. Brayden Schenn, Matt Read, Jakub Voracek, Chris VandeVelde and Ryan White collected one assist apiece.
Neuvirth finished with 24 saves on 26 shots. Devan Dubnyk stopped 28 of 31 in a losing cause for the Wild.
Minnesota's goals were scored by Thomas Vanek (ppwer play goal, two-point game) and Mikael Granlund (four shots on two, three prime scoring chances). Jared Spurgeon, Mike Reilly, and former Flyers training camp player Chris Porter (also credited with a gave-high seven hits) earned on assist apiece.
On special teams, the Flyers went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill and 1-for-1 on the power play. Minnesota won 31 of 55 faceoffs (56 percent), including one that started the puck moment sequence that ended with Neuvirth's stop that will be replayed for many years to come.
Shots were 3-1 Flyers early but the better chances belonged to the Wild in the first few minutes of the game. Thereafter, Philadelphia took control.
The Wild had the game's first scoring chance, generating a quick 3-on-2 as they caught Philly in a slow line change at the end of the game's first shift. Neuvirth made a 20-foot save on Niederreitter.Shortly thereafter, Dubnyk snagged a scorching but unscreened slap shot by Gostisbehere.
Gostisbehere turned over a puck in the neutral zone at 3:20 but Charlie Coyle shot wide of the net. Two shifts later, Minnesota had a 2-on-1 but an errant pass near the crease ended the threat.
Neuvirth misread a bounce off the end walls but scrambled over to his right just in time to make a pad save that foiled Jarrett Stoll from the left slot at 8:12. The play was briefly reviewed in Toronto to see if the puck crossed the goal line but the no-goal ruling std.
With 10:31 left in the period, Dubnyk stopped a Voracek shot from the right faceoff dot off a line rush feed by Mark Streit. Later in that shift, Voracek narrowly missed connections with Couturier as Couturier drove to the net near the left post.
At 11:37, Neuvirth erased a Brandon Manning giveaway in front of the net with a chest and armstop on an elevated Stoll. Thereafter, the Flyers took over with strong pressure over several shifts that ran the shot count to 11-8 in their favor. However, at 15:42, the Flyers received the game's first penalty as Streit went off for interference on a Wild chip-out at the offensive blueline. The Flyers killed it off.
Gagner (fourth goal of the season) gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead as he stashed home a loose puck in the crease shoveled there on the backhand by Brayden Schenn at 18:45. The puck hit Gagner's body and then he got to it with his stick to it past Dubnyk.
"It’s a really tough league to score in especially in this time of year. The defenses are tightening up and we have to find a way to get in the paint and find a way to score goals," Gagner said.
"We talked about getting a simple game going, forechecking the puck back. Simmer did a great job battling and Brayden took it to the net. I was able to get there and cash in."
Chris Porter inadvertently high-sticked Gostisbehere near the left side boards in the Philadelphia zone in the final minute of the opening period. Gostisbehere was OK. No penalty was called.
Shots in the first period were 14-10 in the Flyers' favor. Additionally, by the end of the period, even strength shot attempts were 29-14 in the Flyers' favor.
Ex-Wild defenseman Nick Schultz received a holding minor low in the defensive zone at the 56-second mark. The Wild tied the game at 1-1 as Thomas Vanek, (18th goal of the season) in front of the net with his stick on the ice, tipped in a puck put at the net by Jared Spurgeon. The secondary assist at 2:02 went to Mike Reilly.
Philly went to the power play at 3:51 as Ryan Carter went off for holding. The power play did not do much of anything until the Flyers came up the ice on a late line rush and Streit (fifth goal), being crowded in the left circle inside in hash marks, found the short side top corner at 5:46. The assists went to Matt Read and Voracek to restore a Flyers lead at 2-1.
"I don’t think I ever scored a goal like that. I kind of thought, I didn’t know, and I tried to shoot it by the D and you know, it worked out perfectly. I felt happy it went in. Luckily it went in. In helped the team in the second period getting the lead back. Certainly a big goal for the team and nice to get one," Streit said.
Shots for the period were 7-6 in the Flyers' favor (21-16 Flyers overall) at a TV timeout with 9:42 remaining in the period.
Neuvirth squared up and kept the rebound in front where we could cover it as Mikael Granlund attacked with speed up the left wing and snapped off a shot from the left circle at 12:12.
However, Neuvirth mishandled a puck behind the net and then could not contain a Vanek rebound that went off his glove and into the slot before Granlund seventh goal of the season) stashed the puck home at 13:16. Porter got the secondary assist as the Wild tied the game 2-2 on their 19th shot of the game.
Voracek drove hard to the net, wiped out and crashed into Dubnyk with 4:34 left in the period. Dubnyk stayed down for a minute and was attended to by the Wild trainer, but was OK as he got up. Voracek came over and gave him a tap on the pads.
Neuvirth came up with a tough stop as Radko Gudas slid out of position and was beaten inside the circle by Spurgeon. Most important, the goalie hung on to the rebound with two attackers as the only players nearby.
Shots in the second period were 11-10 Flyers (25-20 Flyers overall).
A hustling Bellemare found a loose puck near the net after an attempted short-side step out and stuff-in by VandeVelde. Diving after the puck, Bellemare (fourth goal) chipped it upstairs at 3:21 to give Philly's its third one-goal lead of the game. Ryan White got the secondary assist.
"Yeah it’s a good goal, even the same with Sam, the first goal was pretty much the same thing. You take it to the net and go to the blue paint. Our goal was, it’s a grind goal pretty much, Whitey and Vandy are working hard and Vandy is making a nice move and I’m just trying to see where the puck is going to come. I just dove for it and lucky enough it goes in," Bellemare said.
After a long delayed penalty, the Wild went on the power play at 13:45 on a hooking penalty by Couturier right in front of the referee behind the Flyers' net. With some help from Andrew MacDonald, Neuvirth made a 10-bell pad save on Granlund from point-blank range. Schultz made a clutch block late in the kill.
With Dubnyk pulled for an extra attacker, the Flyers took an icing with 31.1 seconds left. Minnesota called timeout. Minnesota controlled the faceoff. With 2.6 seconds left, Coyle shot from a prime angle and Neuvirth dialed up his mind-bogging recovery. Whether the puck was on the goal line by a fraction of an inch or a fraction over the line before it fell into crease is fodder for debate. What is not debatable is what the outcome meant to the Flyers on a night where the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes lost.
Couturier won the final draw and time ran out to close out the win. Shots in the third period were 6-6 (31-28 Flyers for the game). The Flyers will hold a light skate on Friday. On Saturday, the Flyers have a 1:00 p.m. matinee with the Arizona Coyotes.
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FLIN FLON VIES FOR KRAFT HOCKEYVILLE 2016 WINNER
Flin Flon, Manitoba, the small mining town of less than 5,600 residents that gave rise to Bobby Clarke as well as to his Flin Flon Bombers teammates Reggie Leach & (1968 Flyers 1st round pick) Lew Morrison is vying to be the 2016 Kraft Hockeyville winner.
The winning town receives $150,000 to upgrade their home rink. In Flin Flon, it would be put toward updates on the venerable Whitney Forum. Built in 1958, the Bombers still play in the very same building where local product Clarke and Riverton, Man. native Leach developed their playmaking and sniping prowess as linemates years before they joined with Bill Barber in Philadelphia to form the legendary LCB Line.
The winner also will get to host an NHL preseason game. Whether or not such a game would involve the Flyers, there would surely be a lot of Flyers' jerseys in the stands. Although the town and/or the Bombers team have produced a number of hockey notables, Hockey Hall of Famer Clarke is the person most associated with Flin Flon; even more so than the fictitious character for whom the town is named.
As the town's promotional video for the Kraft Hockeyville contest shows, many town residents adopted the Flyers as their favorite NHL team because of Clarke and Leach and proudly wear Flyers jerseys.
The town of Flin Flon earned its oddly euphonious, sing-song name after the lead character, Professor Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin, in a J. E. Preston Muddock novel entitled The Sunless City. The small mining town was founded in 1927 by Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company. The town's creation came about as the result of the discovery of exceptionally large deposits of copper and zinc ore in the region.
As legend has it, famed prospector Tom Creighton, who found gold in western Canada, happened upon a discarded copy of the book in the Canadian wilderness and carried it with him on his ultimately successful exploration. He named the site of his discovery "Flin Flon". In the book, Flintabbatey Flonatin, discovers a strange underground world lined with gold.
The dream of riches brought impoverished farmers from Saskatchewan and Manitoba to leave their farms and work in the mines of what grew into a small town (population 5,592 as of 2011). For most of the males in the town, life revolved around two things: working long hours in the mines and, for recreation, playing hockey.
The local hockey team, the Flin Flon Bombers, was founded in 1927. Now a club in the Junior A-level Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, the Bombers were once a force in Canadian junior hockey, winning the Memorial Cup in 1957 and remaining a strong team in western Canadian junior hockey for many years.
The Flin Flon team's golden era (pun intended) spanned the late 1960s to early 1970s, when the team won the MJHL title in 1966-67 and then captured the WCHL championship in back-to-back seasons (1968-69 and 1969-70). The coach in those years was the late Pat Ginnell, who later became a scout for the St. Louis Blues.
The star players for the Bombers: A diabetic Flin Flon boy by the name of Bobby Clarke (son of local mine worker, Cliff) and his linemate, a half-Cree teenager from Riverton, Manitoba, by the name of Reggie Leach. In those days, Clarke wore #11 and Leach was #9. Both numbers were later retired by the Bombers.
As the Flyers celebrate their 50th anniversary, it's a good time to recognize that while the team itself is Philadelphia's, far away places such as Flin Flon, Smithers, BC (home of the Watson brothers and Ron Flockhart), Lanigan, Sasketchewan (Brian Propp), Callendar, Ontario (Bill Barber), Gatineau, Quebec (Danny Briere, Claude Giroux's junior hockey home), St. Albans, Vermont (John LeClair), Kladno, Czech Republic (Jakub Voracek, Jaromir Jagr), Piteå, Sweden (Mikael Renberg), the Rosemont section of Montreal (Bernie Parent) and many, many others also hold their own special little piece of Flyers history.
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FLYERS ALUMNI TEAM UP WITH CHECKMATES HOCKEY FOR IBD BENEFIT
On February 27, the Flyers Alumni Team will face off with the Checkmates Hockey club in their second annual benefit game for supporting treatment and research of a group of conditions collectively known as IBD (inflammatory bowel disease).
Checkmates is a not-for-profit association that works to raise funds and awareness for many underfunded and often overlooked chronic and potentially fatal diseases, with a particular focus on gastrointestinal diseases including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's Disease. For Checkmates CEO, Justin Mirigliani, the fight is one he knows first-hand, as he was diagnosed 13-plus years ago with ulcerative colitis and has dealt with the condition ever since
A devoted hockey fan and player, Mirigliani created the Checkmates hockey team, which plays various charity games in the Delaware Valley to raise money and awareness to its cause.
IBDs have also affected the extended Flyers family over the years. Former Flyers captain Kevin Dineen nearly saw his NHL career end prematurely due to Crohn's Disease -- a form of IBD -- before he was correctly diagnosed and given a treatment plan. Today, Dineen is a national spokesperson for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America.
This year's game with the Flyers Alumni will be held at the University of Pennsylvania's Class of 1923 Arena on Sat., Feb 27. Game time is 7:30 p.m. ET. All proceeds will be donated to support the department of gastroenterology and hepatology at Thomas Jefferson University. For more information, click here.
Earlier this week, Brad Marsh, the Flyers Alumni Association president and the Flyers director of community development appeared on NBC10 in Philadelphia to discuss with Vai Sikahema the upcoming benefit game and the cause it supports.
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