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Flyers Gameday: 10-11-08 vs. NYR

October 11, 2008, 9:09 AM ET [ Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
WRAPUP AND QUOTEBOOK

The Flyers came out looking a team playing its opening night game against a club that had already played three games. Unfortunately, by the time the Flyers found their equilibrium, they were in a 4-0 hole. But give the team full marks for battling back and giving the Rangers all they could handle over the final 40 minutes. There were plenty of chances to tie the score in the third period, but Philly couldn't quite find the equalizer.

The positives from tonight:

* Mike Richards showed why he's the captain. He gave the team a spark by dropping the gloves when everything was going wrong, hustling up scoring chances and powerplay opportunities, and converting a brilliant feed from Briere to get the Flyers back within a goal.

* The entire Richards line came on strong in the second and third periods. The line showed very good chemistry.

* Antero Niittymäki was tremendous in relief of Martin Biron.

* Luca Sbisa, after a nervous start his first few shifts, got better and better as the game went along.

The negatives:

* You can't dig yourself a 4-0 hole and expect to win.

* Lasse Kukkonen played one of his worst games as a Flyer on a night where he had to step up.

* Steve Eminger wasn't much better than Kukkonen. Twice he made poor decisions on the rush that led to counter-attacks, and he turned the wrong way on the Rangers' second goal (which the real-time scoring still has wrong, because he's not listed as being on the ice when he clearly was-- he was the closest player to the goal-scorer, Betts).

* A so-so opening night for Jeff Carter.He had a few good shifts, but was also quiet for long stretches.

* On the wraparound goal by Sjostrom, Biron never got over. After the game he said that he thought he'd seal off the short-side and look for help (from Kukkonen) to keep up with his man behind the net. Biron noted that he subsequently talked to goaltending coach Reggie Lemelin to try to dissect exactly what went wrong on the play.

* Paul Holmgren revealed after the game that Randy Jones will miss 12-16 weeks.


I will post the postgame quotebook a little later tonight.



****

THIRD PERIOD NOTES

The Flyers are unable to capitalize on the carryover powerplay, but gain another man advantage at 3:00 on a Dmitri Kalinin slash. Niitty makes a nice save at one end, and is matched by Valiquette at the other on a Kimmo Timonen shot from between the bluelines with traffic in front.

Mike Richards -- who has been sparking this club since late in the first period -- makes it a one-goal game at 5:38. The Flyers new captain drove hard toward the net and finished off a tremendous feed from Daniel Briere.

The Flyers' youngest player, Luca Sbisa, throws an old-fashioned (and 100% legal) hip check on Ryan Callahan.

A turnover by Steve Eminger on the rush creates a 2-on-1 the other way. Braydon Coburn is forced to take a penalty and Niitty to come up with another nice save to keep the deficit at one goal. On the ensuing kill, the Rangers hit a goal post. Kukkonen, out for his first shift in a full period, draws a stick-holding penalty in the corner against Dubinsky at 10:25.

Richards come a hair away from tying the game, hitting the inside of the post, but creating a five-on-three powerplay (Gomez hooking at 10:51 ). On the ensuing powerplay, the best chance also belongs to Richards, but he fans on the puck -- couldn't tell from up here if it bounced. There was also an attempted cross-crease pass from Simon Gagne to Daniel Briere, but too many sticks and legs in the way for a clean chance, and Valiquette read in all the way and reacted perfectly.

Valiquette denies Richards in close off a Gagne feed at 17:15.

Another ill-advised read on the rush by Eminger leads to a potential counter-attack, but the forwards backchecked nicely to prevent anything from developing.

Niitty off for the extra attacker at 19:05. An icing at 19:53 seals the deal. Rangers win 4-3.

Shots were seven for the Flyers (total of 28) and four for NY (27 total). Three stars were #3 Niittymäki, #2 Richards, #1 Zherdev.


****

SECOND PERIOD NOTES

Mike Knuble takes an offensive zone penalty but Scott Hartnell picks him (and the team) up by scoring right off the draw from Glen Metropolit at 3:13 to make it a 4-1 deficit.

Jeff Carter gains the blueline with some speed at about the 8:00 mark but elects to pass to Scott Hartnell rather than shoot. He should always shoot in that instance. With Carter's heavy shot, even if he doesn't score, he may get a rebound.

Lasse Kukkonen with a giveaway on an attempted breakout pass. He's having a hideous game tonight. (Side note: He's currently listed at minus-two on the real-time scoring, but is actually minus-one. He was off the ice and Eminger on when the second Rangers goal was scored. But he might as well be minus two or worse, because he's caused several scoring chances against with misplays).

Braydon Coburn off for boarding at 10:37. A great hustle play by Mike Richards to chase down a loose puck in the corner (six seconds remaining on the penalty), leads to a silly roughing penalty by Paul Mara at 12:31.

Welcome back, Simon Gagne. The winger collects a Daniel Briere rebound in the circle and puts the shot in off the post at 16:09 to make it a 4-2 game.

Luca Sbisa sent off for a marginal tripping penalty at 17:02. Age old hockey equation: Rookie + getting the stick in even slightly = penalty. On the ensuing kill, Antero Niittymäki makes a fantastic save on Chris Drury at point-blank range.

Philly gets a late-period powerplay on a Scott Gomez roughing penalty at 19:25.

Shots were 12 for the Flyers (21 through two periods), 9 for the Rangers (23 through two periods).

Note: Flyers rotated five D after the Kukkonen giveaway. Steve Eminger isn't playing much better.

****

FIRST INTERMISSION NOTE

If things don't turn around dramatically, the game will go down among the Flyers' worst all-time opening night performances:

* 1967-68 (first opening night): Seals 5 - Flyers 1
* 1989-90 Devils 6 - Flyers 2
* 1991-92 Capitals 5 - Flyers 2
* 2005-06 Penguins 4 - Flyers 0

****

FIRST PERIOD NOTES

Big shocker: Riley Cote and Colton Orr dropped the gloves on their first shift at 1:48. A short fight in which Orr lost his balance and went to the ice with Cote on top. Moments earlier Patrick Rissmiller went around Lasse Kukkonen on the rush and attempted to follow his own rebound. Seconds after the Cote-Orr fight, Jared Ross took the season's first penalty.

Rangers make it 1-0 at 4:12. A shot from the point was blocked and pinballed around to Nikolai Zherdev coming in from the opposite (left) circle. Zherdev had half a net to put it into, and make no mistake.

Blair Betts extends the lead to 2-0 at 5:15. From behind the net, Zherdev found him uncovered near the doorstep. Neither Steve Eminger (on for Kukkonen after a partial line change) nor Luca Sbisa looked very good on this shift.

Ugly, ugly, ugly. Fredrik Sjostrom scores to make it 3-0 at 8:30. Martin Biron was caught napping on the play. The puck got dumped into the left wing corner. Sjostrom beat Kukkonen to the puck, swooped behind the net ahead of the defenseman and had an easy wraparound goal, as Biron never got over to defend the post. Shots are 9-2 Rangers.

I understand that this is the Rangers' 4th regular season game, and the Flyers have had a lot of time off this week before their first game, but this is horrendous. Lasse Kukkonen in particular has overplayed or been late reacting to about four plays already.

The Flyers generate their first offensive flurry at about the 13:00 mark. Mike Richards and Simon Gagne each have good scoring chances.

Daniel Briere takes a silly goaltender interference penalty on the rush at 15:17, triggering a scrum around the net and leading to a Rangers' powerplay. I know Briere wants to get something going, but it was a bad (and clear-cut) penalty.

On the ensuing powerplay, Michal Rozival (who hadn't scored in his last 28 games dating back to last year) hammers a shot from the point through bodies in front to make it 4-0 at 16:13. The Flyers change goalies.

Moments after the next center ice faceoff, Mike Richards squared off with Brandon Dubinsky. Good fight -- Richards had the early edge, Dubinsky finished strong.

Shots were Rangers 14 - Flyers 9

***

Pre-game notes:

* At the end of warmups, there was a little mishap. Antero Niittymäki was starting to skate off as Scottie Upshall unloaded a slapshot. The shot appeared to hit Niitty behind his knee. He went off in pain. It didn't look like anything serious, however.

* As expected, Stephen Valiquette is in goal for the Rangers.

****

PREVIEW

The Flyers will embark on the 42nd regular season opener tonight at the Wachovia Center against a familiar foe. The Flyers have played the Rangers 243 times in the regular season, holding an all-time 105- 101- 37 advantage (58- 49- 14 at home).

Last year, the Flyers won three, lost three, and dropped a pair of shootouts. Rangers star goalie Henrik Lundqvist did not fare particularly well against Philadelphia last season, but the Flyers had a miserable time solving backup Stephen Valiquette. Gone from the Rangers are the likes of Jaromir Jagr and (at least for now) Brendan Shanahan. In their place are veterans such as Markus Näslund and defenseman Wade Redden.

The Blueshirts are off to a 3-0 start this season, after beating Tampa Bay twice in Prague and downing Chicago, 4-2, at MSG last night. Brandon Dubinsky had a goal and two assists, while linemates Nikolai Zherdev and Aaron Voros tallied a goal and an assist apiece.

The Flyers at times had trouble generating scoring chances against the Rangers last year, and were prone to turnovers from the defensive circles out to the red line that ended up in goals for New York. Establishing a forecheck and avoiding giveaways will be critical, especially given the patchwork blueline that's starting the season for Philly. The Flyers also had some problems protecting leads against the Rangers last year.

LINES AND SCRATCHES

Gagne - Richards - Briere
Upshall - Carter - Knuble
Hartnell - Metropolit - Lupul
Cote - Ross - Asham

Timonen - Väänänen
Coburn - Eminger
Sbisa - Kukkonen

Biron
[Niittymäki]

Scratches
Downie (Knee)
Jones (IR- hip surgery)
Parent (IR - shoulder surgery)
Hatcher (LTIR, knee)

****

The Phantoms kicked off their 2008-09 regular season last night with a 2-1 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Spectrum. Matt Clackson and rookie Claude Giroux scored for Philly, while Scott Munroe stopped 30 of 31 shots.

Per the Phantoms official site, Clackson received a pass in stride from Jeff Szwez and skated in to beat Yann Danis to the glove side at 4:29 of the first period.

Giroux, the Flyers' first round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, deposited a powerplay rebound at the 42-second mark of the second period for what proved to be the game-winner. The Sound Tigers scored on the next shift to trim the deficit to 2-1, but never got an equalizer.

The Phantoms killed off a penalty late in regulation to seal the 2-1 win. The Phantoms went 1-for-5 on the power play, while killing off all five of their own penalties.

Bernie Parent dropped the ceremonial opening faceoff last night. The Phantoms brought back former Flyers captain Lou Angotti as well as the Penguins' first captain, Ab McDonald, in a re-enactment of the ceremonial faceoff held on the Spectrum's first opening night (October 19, 1967).

On that night, late NHL president Clarence Campbell dropped the ceremonial faceoff. Bernie made for an appropraite (and much more popular) stand-in.
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