Wow, talk about a momentum shift. NJ scored their first goal on a powerplay off a lucky bounce. An attempted centering pass by Parise bounced off Pronger’s skate and into the net with 7 minutes off the clock. The Flyers response? Comatose. Nothing. No real chances, no good breaks. Zilch. Then, 1:01 into the second period, Salmela (a throw-in d-man in the Kovy deal) skates almost untouched into the middle, while shorthanded, and flicks a shot over Leighton. Of course Leighton was already down, he always goes down, and everyone in the NHL, AHL, ECH, WHL, WHA, KHL, QMJHL, OHL and a few other leagues knows it. After this goal, howver, there was one hell of a response. As soon as the puck left Salmela’s stick, Carter literally laid him out. Carts came from the blind side and drilled the Salmela up high, pretty much knocking him out on contact. He needed to be stretchered off the ice.
*Side note: The hit was CLEAN. The player had just released the puck, and it came from the side, not behind. Furhermore, Salmela is 6′ tall, and was hunched over because he was shooting. Carter is 6″3, was not hunched over, and definitely did not leave his feet. I’m sure this hit will get negative attention because it’s a Flyers player, and someone was badly hurt. Still, I say it’s a part of hockey, and I just hope that the stretcher was a precautionary measure. Now, back to the game…
After the hit, there wasn’t any retaliation, and the Flyers continued to drift along. After all, a 2-0 deficit against Brodeur and the Devils was pretty much an impossible mountain to climb. Or was it? All of a sudden, in the last 2 minutes of the second, JVR rumbles into the zone, uses a defensman as a screen (very Kovalchuk-like) and sends a wrister past Marty. Finally, we had something to cheer for. Then a little over a minute later, Hartnell feeds Carter for a one-timer on a 2 on 1 rush, and the game is tied heading into the third.
In the third, the Flyers finally showed their legs. They started putting more pressure on, and creating chances. On the powerplay, a little past the midpoint of the period, Timonen took control of the puck near the left point. He faked one way, and a Devil tried jumping the route, This left a seam open down the left boards, and Timonen took it. He saw nobody to pass to, and ended up going behind the net. Obviously, he’s not very familiar with Gretzky’s office, so it was time to improvise. He stopped, reversed direction after nearly losing the puck, and pushed it in front to Richards. El capitan then shot it past the greatest goalie ever, and the Flyers were on their way to a 3-2 victory.
Notes
- Kovalchuk ripped a few dangerous looking shots, but didn’t really come that close to scoring.
- The announcers for the game were Joe Beninati, of the Washington Capitals, and the Flyers own Keith Jones. Neither guy was biased one way or the other, so no complaints there. However, Beninati is one of the most uncreative play by play guys I’ve ever heard on a national broadcast. Every single time there was a one-timer from the point, he yells “Bombs Away.” Come on dude, you cannot use the same catchphrase more than twice in one game, let along 10. Was he just watching the military history channel, or does he always just yell this? Also, his voice is annoying. He’s a short guy who probably has to get measured every time he goes to Disney World, so he seems to try to compensate with a big booming voice. I find it annoying and distracting. The only thing I hate about Ovechkin highlights is hearing this shrill lilliput.
- Right when Kovy went to the Devils, I made a post with his picture, and a caption that says Devilchuk. Either by awesome coincidence, or possibly a little copy and pasting, a lot of Russian news sources are calling him that in their articles. (This information courtesy of my father, as my Russian reading skills are quite lacking)
- Aside from the lucky bounce, NJ’s powerplay was completely shut down, finishing 1-7. This included an opportunity near the end, when they pulled the goalie and had some 6 on 4 time. The Flyers kept the passes to the perimeter, and didn’t give up any real good chances.
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