So after humiliating effort against Ottawa, the Flyers come out strong from the first faceoff, and completely dominate. Not even 5 minutes into the game, they’re up 2-0. Bartulis got his first NHL goal after the Flyers stole the puck, and went on a 4 on 1 rush. Lappy carried the puck, took a shot, and the rebound caromed off Oskars and in. A few good things about this play: 1)Turnover in neutral zone lead to fast transition; 2)Everyone recognized this and took to the offense, making it that much harder for the goalie; and 3) at least 2 players went to the net hard, making it almost impossible for a rebound to not get scored. A little after that, while on the powerplay, Gagne got the puck near the right circle, and fired a wrister far side. Sweet precision, and everything looks good. This was a complete men against boys first period, as the Flyers totally dominated. They only gave up three shots, and had a nice lead against a team with an average offense.
Minnesotagot back into it with a nice powerplay goal. A short pass across the ice to Zidlicky and a low, hard one-timer found the back of the net in the first minute of the second period. This period featured a but more back and forth, as the Wildslowly started making a game of it. Then, about halfway into the period, some great forechecking lead to another Flyers goal. As Minnesota was about to leave their zone, Carcillo hit someone, causing the puck to get loose. He dished it to Hartnell in the slot, and drove the net hard. Hartnell fakes a shot, sends a pass back to Carcillo, where he stabs at it and deflects it past the goalie. Two goal lead restored, and things look good. The period ended with a 3-1 lead, and I was thinking the game was over.
However, in the third, the Flyers completely sat back. As the old saying in football goes, when you play prevent defense, the only thing you prevent is yourself from winning. Although the Wild didn’t dominate or spend long stretches in the Flyers zone, they didn’t exactly have to play much defense either. Shot totals were low, and even, for both teams (6-6). Everything seemed ho-hum, and low key, and that the game would be in hand. Instead, Havlat scored a one-timer that looked a bit similar to the first goal. Now the lead was one, and the Flyers needed to start pushing the play a little bit. Instead, Minnesota ties it after a shot from the point deflects of Briere and in. Nobody to blame, just a bad bounce. Except maybe it could have been avoided if the team didn’t just sit back. As time ticked away, the flair that the Flyers had shown for the first 40 minutes was gone, and turning the offense back on was going to be hard.
In overtime, the game was a little cat and mouse, with both teams a bit timid. Almost halfway into it, nobody had taken a shot on net. Then, it happened. Kyle Brodziakcarried the puck in, swooped to the left, and took a shot. Boucher got his glove it it, but messed up catching it, and it flipped up in the air. As it came down, he’d lost sight of it and scrambled back towards the cage. In doing so, the puck hit his body, then his skate, and went in. While one point helps, we let the second get away.
This was a winnable game that the team completely gave away. They wasted a golden opportunity, and made their own lives that much harder. What’s worse, is this was a home game, with a crowd that was into it from the get go. Before the game, I looked back and saw that since 2002, every time the Flyers scored 3 goals against the Wild, it was a win. This was devastating loss, definitely one of the low points of the season. There were so many good things that went down the drain, because of a poor third period.
Notes
- Briere finally played center, and he looked good. The combination of Briere-Gagne-Leino spent A LOT of time on offense. They cycled, they set each other up, they had tons of chances. Aside from Gagne’spowerplay goal, they did everything right except score.
- There were a few 4 on 4 situations throughout regulation, but neither team really took advantage of the open ice. I can’t remember one great opportunity generated during these times. As the game headed to overtime, I was hoping there would be some adjustments, maybe tinker with a few forward pairs for the extra session. Really, the only guys I wanted on the ice would be Gagne, Briere, Richards, Giroux, and JVR. I don’t care who plays with who, or how tired they are, those are the scorers, and that’s what we desperately needed. Instead, there were a few more defensive guys that were on the ice too. We’re not playing Pittsburgh, there are no offensive stars to really fear on Minnesota. We should have pushed a lot harder for the win.
- When Laviolette got the coaching gig, he seemed to have a pressure-heavy attack system. The team played with the pedal to the medal all game long. It resulted into a great streak that saw the Flyers come close to the division lead. I don’t know why he has changed, and become more John Stevens-like. The third period strategy was his decision, and it was a bad one. Here’s what Havlat said, “”We didn’t start well, but the second period we played much better. They kind of stopped playing after they got the lead, so I think it was great, and good for us and we kind of got back into the game and battled hard until the end.”
- Boucher has not lived up to expectations so far. I don’t blame him for the first three goals, but the OT goal literally went through his hands. Also, both one-timers weren’t from close range, so he could have stopped those. He’s starting to remind me of Nitty in that he’s got that talent, he’s just missing that one thing where goalies make it a routine to make saves that they shouldn’t make. I think that’s what makes the great ones really stand out. Boucher is not to blame, but he’s not embracing the role as a savior, and time is running out.
Thanks for reading.
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