Lindblom Returns as Ivan Provorov Scores Double Overtime Winner For Flyers

Oskar Lindblom Played in Game Six And There Will Be A Game Seven On Saturday For the Flyers.

The Flyers played Game Six of their series against the New York Islanders on Thursday night.  As expected Sean Couturier was unable to dress and Michael Raffl joined the lineup in his place.  Joel Farabee would be unable to play as well, potentially seeing side-effects from the hit he took on Tuesday. That paved the way for the return of Oskar Lindblom.  Welcome back Oskar!

This was the first game in 2020 for Lindblom, also his first game back since fighting and beating Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare bone cancer.  His first shift started well, it allowed the Flyers to cycle and create a chance, but then ended with an Islanders’ break way and a Nate Thompson delay of game penalty. Not the best 99 seconds the season.  Well, he still beat cancer!

The Flyers killed the penalty, but also seemed to lose momentum until a rush up ice by Jakub Voracek that created a chance for Travis Sanhiem.  Varlamov was equal to Sanheim, but that shift seemed to tilt the ice in the Flyers’ favor.  The Hayes-van Riemsdyk-Konecny line pinned the Islanders in the zone for thirty seconds and managed to force a weak clear attempt by the Islanders, who attempted to changed lines.  The clear was stolen by Hagg at the offensive blueline.

Hagg initiated a pretty tic-tac-goal pass to Hayes, who flipped the puck to Konecny as Hagg charged the net.  Konecny slid the puck back to Hayes who came right on in on Varlamov beating the goalie over the blocker.

The Flyers scored again a little over ninety seconds later with another gorgeous goal.  They played soundly in their own end with Voracek eventually winning the puck.  He pulled out of the right side of his end and cruised through the neutral zone.  Van Riemsdyk began to accelerate off to Voracek’s left, taking a pass at the blue line. JVR gained the zone at full speed and then lasered a slap shot under the arm of Varlamov.  It could have been John LeClair.

This ended the good play by the Flyers until the end of the second period.  It was all New York for quite some time.  It all started with a missed call, which looked like a blatant interference by Anders Lee on Nicolas Aube-Kubel.  NAK, frustrated, returned to slash Lee.  This was a mistake, as he was immediately called for it.

The Flyers managed to kill the penalty but were still pinned in their end after it expired.  Derick Brassard was able to make a skillful deflection past Carter Hart.  The pass Brassard took from Devon Toews was so hard it snapped the stick as he deflected it.  Hart had no possibility of stopping it.

The Flyers escaped to the locker room with a 2-1 lead after the first period.  But the second period would not start well for the Flyers.   After a bad pinch by Justin Braun, the Islanders broke out on a three on one.  Braun hustled back to make it a three on two as the Islanders entered the zone.   Braun then tripped Cizikas while positioning himself in an attempt to block a shot from Matt Martin.  As Martin shot high, Cizikas careened towards Hart.

Braun deflected the Martin shot downward and between Hart’s legs just as Cizikas slid through the slot.  There was not much Hart could do to stop the chance, a three on two rush, with traffic, a screen, and a deflection all courtesy of Braun.

The score was still tied and the Flyers were in a good position.  At least they were until coach Alain Vigneault decided to challenge the goal. Vigneault’s judgment on challenges has been questionable, as he had lost his previous two challenges.  Vigneault’s challenge in this game was completely out of bounds, and well could have been the difference in the series.

Predictably, almost certainly, the goal was judged to be good, and the Flyers were given a bench minor for delay of game.  For those of you tracking it, Vigneault now has six penalty minutes in the playoffs.  The Flyers attempted to kill the penalty but Lee was able to pounce on a Barzal rebound and shoot the puck past Hart.  Barzal took a tough angle shot that rebounded off Hart, almost like a cross-ice pass, to the waiting Lee who buried the chance to put the Islanders in the lead at 3-2.

The Flyers showed their determination, digging down deep to tie the game.  The newly reinserted Raffl was able to jump on a rebound in the slot and put it past a confused Varlamov.  Aube-Kubel gathered the puck after a prolonged cycle in the Islanders zone and spun to the blue line and let a wrist shot go.  Varlamov blocked the initial shot but left the rebound to Raffl, who was planted just outside the crease.  Raffl buried the doorstep chance easily, shrugging off attempts by the defense to cancel him.

The Flyers kept the score tied until the 19:30 mark of the period.  The Islanders were having one of their trademark shifts, pinning the Flyers deep and preventing them from changing. Derick Brassard was able to pick the exhausted Sanheim’s pocket and send the puck to Barzal.  Barzal continued his magical play, threading a shot through the defender’s legs beating Hart high on the short side where there was not much room.

The Flyers ended the second period down 4-3.  The outlook was bleak as the Islanders had outscored teams in the third period by a wide margin in the playoffs.  Things looked even worse after Hayes picked up a slashing call against Jordan Eberle.  The Flyers were effectively killing the penalty when Claude Giroux found a streaking Scott Laughton for a breakaway as the penalty time expired.  Laughton was able to deke Varlamov and tie the game at four.

The score remained the same through the remainder of the third period as the Flyers killed a Braun tripping penalty leading us to the first overtime where the Islanders had outshot the Flyers 42- 17.

While being outshot in the first overtime the Flyers were given two powerplay opportunities.  The Flyers’ power play has been dreadful in this series, and they carried that tradition through both of their opportunities. Sanheim managed to pick up a penalty after fumbling buck at the offensive blue line then proceeding to fall down.  This led to Cizikas rushing in towards the Flyers zone.  Sanheim hooked the Islander to negate a possible breakaway.  It was a good penalty after a series of awful plays.  The Flyers would end the first overtime playing four on four and starting the second time with an abbreviated penalty kill.

The second overtime felt as if it was a race to see if the Flyers could get two or three good chances on Varlamov, forcing him to buckle before the Islanders could solve Hart.  Kevin Hayes, Ivan Provorov, and Raffl would see to it that the Flyers won that race.

Raffl started things by deflecting a dangerous chance at Hart over the net.  The puck landed on Scott Mayfield’s stick.  In a stroke of bad luck, Mayfield’s stick broke as he attempted a pass. Hayes deftly took the puck through the neutral zone gaining the line against the stickless Mayfield.  Mayfield retreated with purpose, slowing Hayes and buying time for his teammates to come back on defense.

Hayes was patient, knowing the Mayfield was at his mercy.  Hayes cruised into the left circle drawing Barzal as a back checker.  With Barzal on his hip and Mayfield still in pursuit of Hayes began to circle towards the back of the net.  Before reaching the back of the net Hayes dropped a short side pass through the slot to a wide-open Provorov as Raffl took the position in front of Varlamov.   Provorov’s shot ricocheted off of Mayfield going high to the blocker side of Varlamov.

The goalie had no chance to stop it.  A jubilant Provorov danced around the ice, the Flyers mobbed the goal scorer.  It was a great night for the Flyers, for Lindblom, and anyone who loves seeing cancer lose, #OskarStrong.

The Flyers, advance to a Game 7 on Saturday night.