Flyers Take Rask to Task

Utter domination! The Flyers managed to stay disciplined, push the play, and shutout the Bruins 4-0. Last night, the Flyers came to play, and nearly opened the scoring on a nice dish from Asham to Giroux that Rask made a great save on.  As Philly carried the play early on, their efforts didn’t pay off right away.  Meanwhile, whenever Boston would grab the puck, the Flyers looked a little disorganized on defense and a good opportunity would emerge.  I started to worry that this would be a game they would dominate but somehow lose. Luckily, the Flyers calmed my nerves when Leino whacked in a rebound a little under 7 minutes into the game.  The Flyers had the early lead, and the fans calmed down a bit. Late in the period Hartnell drew a double minor after catching a high stick with his eye and shedding some blood. Unfortunately, the Flyers looked like crap, skating into the zone, losing the puck, and chasing. The PP ended early was someone hopped onto the ice early and the team got a bench minor. Still, the period ended with them holding a 1-0 lead, and playing pretty well.

In the second, Boston started to even the playing field a bit. They were a bit more aggressive, throwing more hits, and pushing the Flyers around a bit. That’s not exactly something I’m used to seeing. But it was mostly clean to this point, so I didn’thave a problem with it. Especially because the Flyers didn’t retaliate and draw bad penalties. Halfway into the period, Boucher is on his knees, and Parent falls on him making him bend back awkwardly. Boosh stays down, needs help getting off, and in my professional medical opinion, has a hyper-extended knee. Of course, to the rescue comes Michael Leighton. It’s his first game off of the injured list, and he’s got to come into the middle of a playoff game, with his team clinging to a small lead, and facing elimination. Lucky for him, the team stepped up. They turned up the defense, and added to the lead. First Hartnell knocked a puck into an empty net from mid-air, and then a pass from behind the net from Richards found Gagne in front of the net for a quick snap shot past Rask. Gagne’s goal came on a powerplay after Begin threw a dirty hit from behind on Giroux. Giroux didn’t come back for the rest of the game, but I hear he will play in the next one.

Things turned uglier in the third. First, after Wideman (I think) broke his stick, the puck rolled past him into the Boston zone.  He tried to interfere with Gagne, who easily stepped around him, walked in on Rask, and added the final tally.  The Boston crowd booed, and the team was basically done playing.  With a bit over 5 minutes left, Savard stupidly turned his back when he saw Richards coming to hit him. Idiot: you just came back from a concussion, why are you turning ur back to a player that’s going to hit you? You will go head first into the boards. You don’t need that! Of course Richards hit him, but thankfully avoided controversy by not driving him hard head first. Savard gets up, and like a punk, nails Richards in the face with a cross check. Savard’s bff Lucic grabbed Richards from behind and Savard kept up his attack. The refs stepped in, other players joined, and the Flyers got another powerplay. If Boston was trying to send a message, the Flyers answered back in the last minute. Nothing too major developed, but Carcillo made a rare appearance and tried to start a scrap in the last minute.

The remaining fans booed the Bruins off the ice as time ticked off the clock. With victory in hand, the Flyers head home for Game 6. I know that tickets are flying now, and the crowd will be into it. Should be a great atmosphere, and hopefully a great game.

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