One of the internal factors which doomed the final month of the 1990-91 season for the Philadelphia Flyers, was a lack of depth at forward.
Head coach Paul Holmgren had poked and prodded and cajoled his team within 7 points of first place in the Patrick Division by March 1, solid playoff footing in an era when whoever finished first through fourth made the playoffs, regardless of record.
But with former 50-goal scorer Tim Kerr sidelined again for a majority of the campaign, defensive leader Mark Howe out for all but 19 games that year and notable names such as Dale Kushner, Craig Berube, Mark Pederson and Normand Lacombe drawing regular shifts, collapse was imminent.
And collapse they did, going 2-10-2 over the final 29 days of the regular season, dropping from second to fifth and missing the postseason by three points.
General manager Russ Farwell, overmatched as he was in the transition from a front office guru in the Western Hockey League of Canadian juniors to the National Hockey League, was able to pull off a minor coup just as the following season’s training camp began.
Taking advantage of the St. Louis Blues’ belt-tightening in the wake of a second-overall finish exploding into a second-round playoff loss, on Sept. 22, 1991, Farwell unloaded captain Ron Sutter and defenseman Murray Baron in exchange for veteran winger Dan Quinn and young forward Rod’Brind’Amour.
Heading into his 8th pro season, Rick Tocchet had a front-row seat to the Flyers’ sudden implosion.
In the space of two seasons, from surprise Wales Conference Finals entrant to one of five teams which *didn’t* advance to the playoffs in a 21-team league, two years running. One of Keenan’s Kids who developed into a bona-fide threat with his hands, Tocchet led the Flyers in goals (37), assists (59) and points (96) in 1989-90, then in goals (40) and points (71) in 90-91.
Brind’Amour, who was targeted as a into a verifiable two-way, winger/center behind Brett Hull and Adam Oates in the Gateway City, became a Tocchet clone once he set foot in Philadelphia despite some complaints over a perceived over-reliance on conditioning and some bad feelings from Blues management after winning a salary arbitration case.
“It was a relief to be out of there. I really didn’t care where,” he told local beats after arriving. “I put a lot of pressure on myself and didn’t play as well as I could have. I didn’t come out very well, then the Blues stuck me in a third-line role.”
Although Holmgren named Tocchet captain, there were reservations based on the latter’s method of message sending.
“If we didn’t give it to him, we’d lose him,” Holmgren said to Jay Greenberg in the Daily News and reprinted in Full Spectrum.
In a season which saw their best defensive forward (Steve Kasper) lost early on with a season-ending knee injury, Holmgren bounced in early December in favor of the avuncular Bill Dineen toward the end of an 0-7-1 skid, Tocchet injured, then traded to a division rival, Brind’Amour was the model of constancy.
He set career bests in goals (33), assists (44), and points (77) while participating in all 80 regular-season contests – like Tocchet, all of which led the Orange and Black – but the Flyers missed the postseason for the third season in a row.
Tocchet wasn’t around to see the end of the 91-92 season on the east side of Pennsylvania. On Feb. 19, 1992, with the Flyers mired in the bottom five offensively, he was dealt along with goaltender Ken Wregget and defenseman Kjell Samuelsson and a third-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for center Mark Recchi and defenseman Brian Benning.
This upset Tocchet to no end. He’d been named captain only months before in the wake of the Sutter trade. He played in just 42 games, sidelined by a sprained knee that cost him a spate of games after Thanksgiving, then a stress fracture in his left heel which dogged him since before the All-Star break and cost 10 games over 4 weeks. The trade came just 4 games after his return, in which he posted 4 points.
Although he suffered a broken jaw shortly after his Steel City tenure began, Tocchet was quoted in Full Spectrum as saying he “hoped the Pens would win by 10 goals” in their rematch on March 31 in Pittsburgh. He scored once in a 6-5 home side triumph.
However, over the 42 games that both Tocchet and Brind’Amour were in the lineup that 25th anniversary season, the Flyers weren’t in bad shape, posting a 15-19-8 record.
On three occasions, they managed to score in the same game: a 5-4 loss at the Islanders on Oct. 12, then twice on the road against the North Stars, a 5-2 win on Oct. 24 and a 3-0 decision on Dec. 21. The former and latter evenings saw Tocchet and Brind’Amour score in the same period.
Tocchet remained on “seethe mode” against the Flyers for most of his Penguins tenure. He and Brind’Amour even managed to square off during the 1993-94 exhibition schedule:
These rugged ships narrowly passed in the night once more at the end of the decade. According to reports at the time, Bob Clarke – once again implanted as Flyers GM – was rumored to be interested in acquiring Tocchet from the Phoenix Coyotes at the end of the 1998-99 season. He’d settle for retreads Steve Duchesne and Craig Berube.
After years and years of trade rumors slanted in his direction, Brind’Amour also eventually received the Tocchet treatment. After a broken foot and resultant surgery sidelined him for the first two months of the pivotal 1999-2000 season, Clarke struck only 12 games after his return in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes to deepen the center position by acquiring holdout Keith Primeau.
The deal, consummated on Jan. 23, 2000 has been dissected ad nauseam for the impact it made on both franchises. Tocchet was eventually re-acquired in exchange for former Legionnaire Mikael Renberg on March 9, 2000.
When it came time to honor each players' respective service to the franchise, Brind’Amour was enshrined first, entering the Flyers Hall of Fame in November 2015, while Tocchet finally gained his laurel 6 years later.
If noise possesses personality, if voices are able to carry venom, the entire sports complex and Xfinity Mobile Arena specifically, were dangerous places to be for Penguins players and supporters in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal.
They were a little more safe on the weekend after Game 4 when the Penguins flipped the script.
A sellout crowd, clad in orange and bent on mayhem while witnessing the club’s first true home playoff game in exactly 8 years, set the tone on Wednesday night as the hosts took a 3 games to none series edge.
The win, their first in 10 years on home ice in the postseason, was a textbook example of fan excitement feeding and influencing play on the ice and vice versa into a gigantic feedback loop.
"It was great to experience that again,” deadpanned Flyers captain Sean Couturier after his club’s 5-2 victory. “We’re happy, but I think we’re happy for the city, for the fans, they’ve supported us through the ups and the downs the last couple years.”
The chants, curses and epithets started as soon as Flyers fans spotted the sparse crowd of Penguins fans who dared cross any threshold: the parking lot, Xfinity Live, the XMA entrance. The wave of malevolence swelled before each team took warmups, then hit a crescendo between the announcement of the starting lineups and the drop of the puck.
We’re not looking for Shakespearean-level insults here. This is a hockey crowd, so guttermouth is appropriate.
Right on cue, they wished for rigorous carnal exploits to be visited on the visitors. Sidney Crosby and all the starters apparently performed similar actions to vacuum cleaners and then another round of well-wishes for violent intercourse emerged for Crosby in particular after his death-dive when Garnet Hathaway nicked his half-shield with the tip of his stick blade in the faceoff circle late in the first period.
Bryan Rust – of all things a graduate of that holiest of institutions just outside South Bend – sent things over the edge with 3:44 gone in the second period and the Penguins holding a 1-0 lead.
Responding to an obvious elbow thrown by Flyers combatant Travis Konecny during a netmouth scramble around Pens netminder Stuart Skinner, Rust simply lost his mind, tackling TK, throwing off his gloves and punching him repeatedly until Konecny’s reflex to gain some leverage while prone on the ice threw his hands up and his legs out. Upon repeated looks at replays, I saw none of the blatant kicking motion the other side suggested was so dirty.
Regardless of who started it, who did the most damage, or who finished it, the officiating crew, led by referee Francois Saint-Laurent, handled the situation poorly. And the feedback loop between fans and team kicked right in.
The resulting 10-minute recess, ending on the final decision to throw everyone on both sides on the ice into their respective penalty boxes, gave the already skeptical Philly crowd – on the precipice of seeing a third consecutive game with the calls weighted to their opponents – ample time to ramp up their emotion and sustain their complaints.
“We know what they’re about. We know what to expect,” Rust offered, implicating purpose on the part of the home squad and their fans to turn an NHL playoff game into a WWE spectacle. “We just gotta do a better job of managing those emotions.”
Again, the usual taunts did quite nicely. The zebras were no longer zebras but gaping donkeys rear ends. It didn't even matter that the call came from opposite ends of the stands and clashed in the middle. The meaning was crystal clear.
“I could sit here over a bunch of beers and tell you some stories from back in the day,” said Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet on Wednesday about that feedback loop in action, “I’ve lived it, I’ve seen it. For me, (the best part is) to see the young guys … seeing that crowd. It’s been a while.”
I’m going to stop short at the Penguins’ online camps’ assertion that “the crowd” somehow bullied the officials into giving the Flyers a power play from which they began to seize control of the contest. It’s the same nonsense Mister Snider used to cry about publicly when calls in Toronto and Montreal didn’t go the Flyers’ way half a century ago.
Besides, never attribute to maliciousness what can be defined as incompetence.
On the other hand, armed with a psychological edge of having nothing to lose in Saturday’s potential series-deciding game which ended up 4-2 in their favor, the Penguins opted to let their play do the talking and leave the extracurricular nonsense behind. The locals, always spoiling for a fight, weren’t as up for the challenge although the noise from a second straight sellout crowd was constant from warmups through the opening puck drop.
Sure, when the Pens scored first, again, in the first period and the goal scorer was Crosby, there was a momentary uptick of uproar that registered through the broadcast. And then, very little. Because the visitors executed the Flyers’ road gameplan in reverse.
Fans could have turned the tide just over a minute into the second period when the first major terrible decision for either side turned into a game-changing advantage for the visitors. Upon a dump-in by Rust, Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar handled the puck in the trapezoid behind his net and hilarity ensued:
After that goal which gave the Penguins a 2-0 edge … nothing … except disappointed whimpers from the partisans and punters. No loud, repeated bellowing of “Vladdy” like there had been during his two key stoppages the previous evening.
“It was my bad of hitting him,” Vladar said during Saturday’s postgame. “You do it in practice, you do it 20 times in a row, how many times (the puck goes past the forechecker) and it is what it is. Nobody’s perfect.”
A half generation ago that would have brought out ALL the Negadelphian boo-birds: the ones who reflexively protest an opposition goal, the ones upset at the team’s nominal MVP committing such an egregious error at a crucial time and the ones who just needed to vent when something managed to go Pittsburgh’s way.
Even when Denver Barkey redirected a Zegras feed on the doorstep to reduce the Flyers’ deficit to one later in the frame, the momentary burst of excitement only gave way to momentary bursts of the classic “LETS GO FLYERS” chant. The feedback loop simply didn’t exist.
And when Crosby won a board battle before Pens defenseman Kris Letang rifled home the eventual game-winner with less than 4 ½ minutes elapsed in the third period, no bangs, only whimpers from a throng more than 20,000 strong.
“I thought we were a little more poised. That stuff’s going to happen, it’s the playoffs,” Crosby offered in the postgame pool interview. “We just have to be a little bit more smart about it. Ultimately, we’ve got to save our energy for in between the whistles. That translated to the game and the way we played.”
Was it really ‘smart’ though when cameras caught Rust in the midst of a hair pull the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills couldn’t have executed better on Flyers rookie winger Porter Martone?
The Pens home crowd is bound to be infinitely more engaged on Monday night than in the first two games. The Flyers have the blueprint to quiet them and it’s up to the players to execute the plan. If not, there’s a third and probably final chance for the Philly faithful to exert their influence.
Once upon a time, the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins were at each other’s throats 8 times a year. Then, it was reduced to six regular-season meetings and, upon the reversion of the NHL from six divisions to four back in 2013, only 3-to-4 matchups per season.
That familiarity bred contempt with playoff pairings between these Atlantic Division foes in 2008 (5 games), 2009 (6 games) and especially in 2012 (6 games) while the anger migrated on autopilot in the Metropolitan Division era when loads of the same players on both sides remained.
The hatred that was bred during the glory years of the league’s premier intra-state battle has waned significantly since then; only resurrected briefly when former Flyers D1 draftee and defenseman Mark Friedman switched teams during the pandemic and enacted his vendetta as a Penguin during the COVID-shortened 2021 season.
These long-time rivals only played each other 3 times this season, twice in Pittsburgh, with a combined 74 penalty minutes and two fights among the clubs. That’s exceedingly mild compared to the 312 PIMs over 6 games 14 years ago (led by Philly’s Zac Rinaldo with 46 PIM in 4 appearances).
With so much focus on the Flyers not having won a playoff round since 2020, it’s easy to forget – or straight up just not research – that the Penguins are dealing with a serious drought of their own, having failed to win a playoff series since 2018.
So, I’m not really sure how Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang all being three-time Stanley Cup winners enters into the discussions of who has the greater playoff experience when one key battle is who can maintain composure between and after the whistle.
Plus, there’s only 4 players on either roster (Sean Couturier, Crosby/Malkin/Letang) who remain from those Battles Royale. Four Penguins and 10 Flyers made their playoff debut in the Steel City over the weekend.
So how could these division foes, with the thick of the rivalry behind them and totally transformed rosters, possibly ramp up the emotion and give fans and writers a series full of collisions, explosions and straight-up bloodlust like they’ve been pumping up all over social media?
The answer is, they can’t. It’s a different generation where a players’ personality is best downplayed and quotability off it has become a non-starter. The big, game-changing (illegal) hits are few and far between. That doesn’t mean it’s all Kumbaya.
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet warned that his team would work the body right from the drop before Saturday’s series opener. Couturier laid a hit on Crosby on the former’s first shift and the snipe hunt was on.
“You’ve gotta be a physical team,” he noted. “The one thing is, you can’t run around. If you’re 6, 7 feet away, to finish your check is really not the smartest thing but if you’re 3 feet you gotta finish your check.”
The rut commenced officially when Crosby was locked with Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale during a Penguins offensive excursion just after the midway point of the first period. Somewhat puzzled by the prospect of needing Crosby to sit in the box after ripping Drysdale’s helmet off, the zebras had a decent confab before deciding the Golden Child would need accompaniment to the sin bin so Drysdale was sent for “interference.”
Late in the second and early in the third, Pens snit-disturber Anthony Mantha took up woodworking, brandishing his stick high for infractions against a pair of Flyers. Then, adding more drama to the final 1:09 of regulation of a 3-2 result, Crosby and Travis Sanheim hacked and slashed at each other drawing mutual minors.
“I think ‘Sanny’ set the tone. To play a ton of minutes and then to play physical like that, it’s hard,” Tocchet said in the postgame. “He really led the physicality for us.”
The Flyers also laid some obvious and surreptitious shots whenever needed; in the second period, Connor Dewar was met at center ice by Owen Tippett with ill humor and dumped on his dupa, Malkin was also targeted by an errant stick around the midsection on several occasions.
“The kids, they were hooting and hollering a little bit, but what I like about (them) is that they’re even keeled,” Tocchet added. “I just like that demeanor, even keeled.”
Pittsburgh’s current 8-year playoff series victory drought is the longest for the franchise since it went between 1980 and 1989 without advancing. Down by one already on home ice, they’d have to play a better, more complete game on Monday night to avoid a bad situation heading back to Philadelphia.
“It’s going to be part of this series. We gotta stay out of it a little bit more,” a stone-faced Crosby offered after the Game 1 defeat. “And trust that when they do it and try to stir it up, they’re going to get penalized for it. But that’s more something they’re looking to do. We have to trust that they’ll be undisciplined.”
The action of Game 2 manifested itself with a series of tiny snipes rather than grand gestures.
The festivities began on the game’s third shift when Flyers winger Noah Cates plastered counterpart Connor Clifton against the end boards to the left of Pens goalie Stuart Skinner but the zebras and the hosts looked the other way. Then, just after the midway point, playoff newbie Rasmus Ristolainen cruised in on a 4-on-4 chance, took an extra whack at Skinner, and though Crosby rushed in to engage Risto, the former was the only one called to the box.
Before the end of the first, Philly feeler Nick Seeler was held but was booked for a careless stick, then Tippett was openly booped on the snoot by Clifton as four sets of eyes looked anywhere but there. Couturier later flicked Malkin in the face with a stick blade in full view of an official with zero repercussions.
A quiet second period was punctuated by a bit of comical violence, when Travis Konecny drew friendly and enemy fire simultaneously, when Malkin maneuvered his own stick AND Ristolainen’s into Konecny’s face for a 2-minute penalty despite drawing blood.
Down by 2 with 20 minutes remaining, the Pens couldn’t afford to turn up the heat. And they behaved themselves until a scrap with 1:47 to play and the visitors up 3-0. From an o-zone scrum, Tippett received two uppercuts square in the mush from Mantha, drawing blood on the bridge of his nose and no notice from the officials.
Forget bulletin-board material, the crimson splotch on Tippett’s nose and jersey did more than 100 sharp-tongued words.
“I think you’d have to ask the guys who were on the ice,” Penguins head coach Dan Muse said coolly during Monday’s postgame when asked what prompted the late-game battles. “There should be frustration. We just lost two games at home. With the frustration comes (asking yourself) ‘how are you gonna respond?’”
Although the Penguins had gained a stranglehold on the overall series at home since the start of the 2021-22 season (8-1-1 since then entering play on Saturday), the Flyers possess one of the more unique road-ice advantages in the building which opened in October of 2010.
After winning two on the road to start this series, their overall record there stands at 24-14-7, including a 6-2 record in the playoffs over two-and-a-stub worth of series.
In 2012, a relatively calm opening pair of games in Pittsburgh exploded into mayhem in Philadelphia. It’s 14 years later and there’s likely not gonna be any equivalent to Scott Hartnell getting his hair pulled by Craig Adams, or Brayden Schenn blowing up Paul Martin. Then again, who knows?
Flyers fans will be ready on Wednesday. The players *better* be ready to match the crowd’s intensity. The Penguins have an impossible choice ahead, down 0-2 without winning the battles or the war, now without the protection of favorable officiating.
A thought occurred while watching another late-night cable re-airing of the 1985 classic Michael J. Fox blockbuster, “Back to the Future" while fading in and out of consciousness.
Actually, a second thought. The first being “I wonder if I’m ever going to love a movie so much or if another movie will become so popular that I’ll see it SEVEN times in a theater in less than a year.”
Here it is: If the National Hockey League playoffs were Doc Brown, the Orange and Black were the mercenary Libyans, doggedly pursuing the eccentric scientist to regain their stolen plutonium until cornering him in the Twin Pines Mall.
Before the bazooka was figuratively pointed in its face, the league would be clutching its young sidekick by the lapels and screeching: “They found me. I don’t know how, but they found me.”
“Who?”
“THE FLYERS!!”
The long and winding journey to ending the franchise’s second five-season postseason drought finally hit the tape with Monday’s Game 81 3-2 home shootout victory against the Carolina Hurricanes, whose loser point assured them of a first-overall seat in the Eastern Conference and home ice through three playoff rounds.
Tyson Foerster and Dan Vladar joined the ranks of the illustrious, a mere 16 years and two days after Claude Giroux scored and Brian Boucher stopped Olli Jokinen of the Rangers to get the O&B into the postseason in Game 82.
It earned them a chance to exact revenge on the rival Pittsburgh Penguins, who will finish second in the Metro Division and have home-ice advantage in their best-of-seven series set to begin this coming weekend.
With a 4-2 decision against the playoff-bound Montreal Canadiens in Tuesday’s season ender, Rick Tocchet’s young charges finished the post-Olympic portion of their schedule at 18-7-1 and 43-27-12 overall. Those 98 points are the most for the team in a full, uninterrupted season since 2017-18.
The much-maligned head coach with deep roots in this town finished third in team history among all full first-year Flyers bench bosses. Only Mike Keenan (53 in 1984-85) and Ken Hitchcock (45 in 2002-03) did better in their initial season.
Whenever that eventual Game 3 will be scheduled – and it appears it might be late next week based upon initial scuttlebutt that Game 1 will take place in Pittsburgh either Saturday or Sunday – it will be the first actual home playoff game taking place in Philadelphia since April 22, 2018.
The infamous coulda-been-Sean-Couturier-instead-it-was-Jake-Guentzel Game.
Although the Flyers participated in eight contests as the host during the COVID re-started postseason the summer of 2020, all were held inside the Canadian bubble, including a season-ending loss to the Islanders in a Game 7 played on Labor Day weekend.
That terminal contest in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals 8 years back was a Sunday afternoon start and an international broadcast. Looking to avoid elimination as well as to claim their first home victory in the series, Dave Hakstol’s team bolted to a 4-2 lead in the second period only to see it evaporate into an 8-5 loss thanks to Guentzel’s 4-goal explosion.
Should the Flyers win either Game 3 or Game 4 after a loss, it would be their first positive home-ice playoff decision in a decade. They didn’t win any of the three against the Pens in 2018. Rather, during Hakstol’s rookie season behind the bench, the draw was the Washington Capitals, in an Eastern quarterfinal in which the Caps badly outshot their opponents almost every night.
On Apr. 20, 2016, the Flyers came alive long enough to stave off elimination and a potential sweep with a 2-1 in Game 4 of that set. Andrew MacDonald netted the game winner in the 2nd period and Michal Neuvirth stopped 31-of-32 pucks.
Playoff Recaps
Whenever this series commences, it will be the eighth between these cross-state rivals. Here are brief recaps of the previous five:
1989 Patrick Division Finals - Flyers won, 4 games to 3. Big things were expected of a Pittsburgh squad featuring three-time Cup champion Paul Coffey on the back end, while Philadelphia limped to a fourth-place finish in the early stages of clearing out a veteran defense corps. Nothing of consequence happened until Mario Lemieux's superhuman 8-point effort in a 10-7 Game 5 victory, but Philly took Game 6 at home and then stole Game 7 at the Civic Arena.
Most memorable moment(s): Scott Mellanby mocking the Pens by imitating Rob Brown's windmill after sealing the series with an empty netter, and ex-Pen Mike Bullard reportedly flipping off the locals after the handshake line.
1997 Eastern Conference quarterfinals - Flyers won, 4 games to 1. While the Penguins were busy bronzing Lemieux in the wake of his first retirement, the Orange and Black used their opponents, who skidded into the postseason with an 8-18-3 record, as a mere warmup for future playoff matchups. The Flyers set a still-standing postseason record with 53 shots in a Game 3 victory.
Most memorable moment: Rod Brind'Amour's two shorthanded goals on the same Penguins power play to pull the hosts out of an early funk in the clinching Game 5.
2000 Eastern Conference semifinals - Flyers won, 4 games to 2. Typical for the Dead Puck Era, Craig Ramsay's club failed to capitalize on home-ice advantage to start, dropping two in a row before running off four straight to advance.
Most memorable moment (that everyone was awake for): Rookie defenseman Andy Delmore's mid-afternoon hat trick to cement Game 5.
Most memorable moment (insomniac edition): Keith Primeau ends an 8-period marathon on the game winner and series shifting score at 2:30 AM.
2008 Eastern Conference finals - Penguins won, 4 games to 1. Pittsburgh steamrolled a younger Flyers club not expected to advance past the first round, but who limped to the Cup semifinals with a host of injuries, none bigger than the first occurrence of defenseman Kimmo Timonen's blood-clotting disorder which ended his season prior to this series.
Most memorable moment: N/A
2009 Eastern Conference quarterfinals - Penguins won, 4 games to 2. After the Pens intentionally tanked the last 2 games of the previous season to gain a favorable matchup with Ottawa, they couldn't bluff their way out of this one. Although goaltender Martin Biron registered a heroic Game 5 shutout to stave off elimination, an ill-timed Game 6 fight between Max Talbot and Dan Carcillo turned a 3-0 Pittsburgh deficit into a series-ending 5-3 win.
Most memorable moment: The Flyers d-core being routinely pushed around deep in their zone near Biron was the impetus for the free-agent acquisition of Chris Pronger.
2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals - Flyers won, 4 games to 2. Where. To. Start. The playoff series between these clubs is the standard by which all others will be viewed. Stefon was right, this best-of-seven had everything: Multiple blown leads by the team with the home-ice advantage in the first 2 games; double hat tricks; Philly fans' hatred and bloodlust showing up loudly at least 30 minutes before *warmups* for each of 3 home games; hair pulling and biting; a potential sweep derailed by a 10-goal road outburst; collisions, explosions; Bryzgalov's spacey quotations win or lose; Claude Giroux's hit on Sidney Crosby and opening goal on the first shift of Game 6.
Most memorable moment: Sam Carchidi's evergreen, engagement-bait tweet declaring Giroux eclipsed Crosby as the best in the NHL.
2018 Eastern Conference quarterfinals - Penguins won, 4 games to 2. A series that nobody could get a handle on. The Flyers completely failed to show up in Games 1 through 4 and it was only by the grace of the hockey gods Steve Mason singlehandedly won Game 2. The Pens failed to show up in a potential elimination game on home ice, then ... well ... see above for Game 6.
Most memorable moment: Couturier's hat trick which couldn't prevent a season-ending defeat.
All shared sorrow is valid but rarely equal
One of my final tweets upon Monday’s win dealt with the release of emotions from a weary fanbase after the playoff berth was secured.
I don't want to gatekeep the feels here, but this half-decade drought wasn't nearly as painful in a league where 16 of 32 fail to secure a playoff bid each year.
The #LetsGoFlyers' last 5-year playoff pause, from 1990-94, happened in a league when only 5/6/8/10 missed out.
When the Flyers descended into chaos both above and on the ice from 1989 to 1994 and ended a 17-year playoff streak, the NHL was a small league rapidly expanding but one in which losing teams were regularly welcomed to the Stanley Cup chase. Two years before the club’s slide into oblivion started, the Maple Leafs made the playoffs with only 21 wins and 52 points since 1 through 4 in each division, regardless of record, earned berths.
In 1990, with injuries rampant, a change in the captaincy and trades which dismantled what could have been a proper rebuild if then-president Jay Snider’s plan was enacted, the Flyers missed out by 3 points. The Islanders, which won only 3 games from mid-February on, finished 4th in the Patrick Division and made it. They earned that berth by beating the Flyers on the second-to-last day of the regular season.
The following year, despite a lack of depth in the wake of near-season-long injuries to veteran leaders Mark Howe and Tim Kerr, Paul Holmgren had the team in 3rd place at the start of March, but a 2-10-2 crash sunk them into 5th with only the rebuilding Islanders to cushion their fall. In those 2 years, only 5 teams out of 21 DIDN’T make the playoffs.
In ‘92, a near-complete lack of scoring doomed Holmgren and his successor, Bill Dineen and the club finished in last place again. With the addition of San Jose, only 6 teams were left out.
Eric Lindros arrived the following fall, and the home squad was almost mathematically eliminated when an 8-game win streak to close out the regular season had them tantalizingly close. Sixteen of 24 teams entered postseason play. And in ‘94 with Anaheim and Florida joining the NHL and 16 of 26 clubs playing meaningful spring hockey, a hot start fueled by heavy offense collapsed on itself when Lindros was hurt and never recovered.
And then, the start of the ‘94 season was delayed from October to late January and the Flyers didn’t get hot until late March before finally locking down a playoff spot in late April.
It is frustrating, but so totally different, when even a legacy franchise can sit among exactly half the league which fails to make the postseason each year. You need at least 92-94 points to make it and that does cushion the blow when the retool-that’s-not-a-rebuild doesn’t achieve linear progress.
In 2021, the season was over once the Flyers lost, 9-0, at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick’s Day. In ‘22, it was a wrap by MLK Day and the next year it was obvious by St. Practice Day there would be no playoff charge. Sure, 2024 was maddening among the twisted conspiratorial logic that Torts threw that last game vs. the Capitals to screw over the Red Wings.
And last year was filled with nothing but 🗣dramaaaaaaa before and after John Tortorella was eventually ousted.
To those fans under the age of 40, who are finally cutting loose: I saw your suffering, I shared in the grief and the relief, but you can exhale now. The punching bag head coach and your favorite players are dealing with house money from here on out. Expect the unexpected, even if that entails a slow start to next season, because, again, linear progress is largely a goal and a theory instead of reality. For everyone else over 40, we have too much of a 500-yard-stare from the first drought to have been messed up by the last few years.
Cat’s outta the bag
Did a Delco man have anything to do with the Flyers' late season push to a playoff berth?
I was sitting on this for the last month and waited for the right time to talk about it, just in case I spoiled the karma or called down the thunder by demonstrating the sin of pride. One way or another, the news was going to become public with some kind of postseason run either on South Broad Street or East Baltimore Pike.
You’ve heard by now about the family which traveled to Vatican City and called out to Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter's Square armed with a custom-made orange home Flyers jersey, right?
It’s been about 4 weeks since Michael Culin stood in St. Peter’s Square, signaling to the first American pontiff. Since that March 18 brush with greatness as the Flyers embarked on a three-game California Special – which they swept – they ended the season with an 11-4-0 record, blowing past Detroit, Ottawa, Columbus and the New York Islanders to claim the final playoff spot in the conference.
I wrote in a column several weeks back that fans should enjoy the playoff chase no matter what happens, because the likelihood of all five things happening simultaneously was highly unlikely.
What’s that old Yiddish saying, “Man plans, God laughs?”
Except in this case, God’s laughing in a kind, benevolent way because the Culin clan loved their team enough and showed uncommon bravery to plead their case to the Pope directly with a personalized offering.
Mike and I played on an over-50 dek hockey team in Springfield, Delco, last fall, a league housed in a conspicuously large red barn opposite a dying mall.
The Mooseknuckles were a hard-working, depth-oriented bunch with equal parts skill and grit, hot shots and heart led by captain and south Jersey resident John "Johnny Utah" Urbanski. Our lineup took a hit when Mike was sidelined early in the season with a knee injury.
After a subpar regular season that left our crew with a 4-5-1 record, the Knucks caught fire, going 6-2 through three rounds of the playoffs. We clinched the title on Dec. 30 in a deciding Game 3 by rallying from a 4-2 deficit to win, 7-4. With surgery looming, Mike suited up. His presence in limited minutes was typical of the team's ethos, even in a one-and-done roster situation. In this case, he's not local or regional Emmy bait. He's a teammate and friend.
Anyone have a count on whether Philly or Picksburg has more dedicated Catholics willing to put it on the line and petition the Lord with prayer over a bitter rivalry?
You know that annoying fan, the one who's the quickest to demand a trade when things aren't going well and to demand a statue in the honor of the best player when things are going well?
The one who is always screaming "SHOOT" and "PASS" at the TV when either home or at the bar, and who does it louder as a paying customer. The one who is indoctrinated, like the citizens of Orwell's fictitious Airstrip One, to hate whichever city is the current rival of their favorite team. He's the everyman, trying to get through his days unscathed, just waiting for the catharsis any sporting event provides.
No, it's not your typical Philadelphia Flyers die hard. It's his diametrically-opposed counterpart, who shows his colors six hours to the West.
A well-known and well-connected series of blogs has just deemed the city at the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers to possess the single-worst accent in America, and The Phanatic has decided in the interest of its readership, to alert the masses before tonight's first meeting between the Flyers and Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center.
Ladies and Gentlemen of Flyers Nation, meet Pittsburgh Dad:
Begun by Greater Pittsburgh natives Chris Preksta and Curt Wootton (who plays the title character in a series stretching by more than 100 episodes) as a strictly web series three years ago, Pittsburgh Dad is a caricature of the men who are now fathers of the next generation. In that time, PD has encountered all of life's tough road blocks, like a neighbor who roots for the "other" team, taking the kids on vacation to Florida, the peace that comes with the first day of school, and making sure the religious nuts think nobody's home.
The dead-on impressions of your typical sports-crazed male parent has turned Wootton into something greater than just a cult hero in the 'Burgh, but since they're there and we're here, with very little intersecting interests, the best and brightest of Philadelphia hockey fandom has yet to see -- and to mock -- a tried and true Yinzer.
Here's your chance. The following video, from three seasons back, demonstrates the typical thought process of a Penguins fan while his team is playing the Flyers. Take special note of the joke at now-deposed head coach Dan Bylsma's expense early on, and the one at Jaromir Jagr's expense roughly two-thirds of the way through:
Take a second to rearrange your gray matter after sitting through 4 1/2 minutes of pure unadulterated Pittsburghese. I'll watch the time.
I wonder what PD would have to say when confronted with the following facts: since the closing of Mellon Arena in 2010, with a Game 7 second-round loss to the Montreal Canadiens, the Penguins have won zero Stanley Cups, two division titles and exactly three playoff rounds.
The Orange and Black have racked up an 11-2-1 record, including playoffs, in the new building and have gone unbeaten in regulation in 12 of the 14 meetings with the Pens as hosts. The Flyers are looking to extend their win streak in the city to four games, after sweeping all three contests a season ago.
At least he's easier on the eyes and ears than Mark Madden.
The attention, ire, and outrage of fans, broadcasters, writers and league leaders was directed towards TD Garden on the night of December 7 and in the days afterward.
On that Saturday evening, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins literally did battle in the first period of an eventual 3-2 B's victory. The undercard was a clean, hard hit from Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik on Bruins forward Loui Eriksson -- one which left the ex-Dallas Star concussed and out of action since -- along with a rolling knee to the head of Bruins forward Brad Marchand, who was laying on the ice unsuspecting of James Neal's impending circumvention of The Code.
The main event was Orpik's payment for his collision. In a scrum shortly after Marchand was gonged, Bruins forward Shawn Thornton skated behind Orpik, grabbed him by the shoulder, turned him around and punched him twice. The second blow bounced an unprepared Orpik's head off the ice, knocking him out momentarily.
Orpik, a bruising player who has tread the line and gone over it multiple times in his 11-year NHL career, was strapped to a stretcher, sent to the hospital, but later released that night without any other damage than a concussion which landed him on injured reserve. He missed three weeks before returning to action this past Friday in Carolina.
Neal, who had felt the sting of supplemental discipline before, was hit with a five-game suspension.
Thornton, on the other hand, was slammed with the biggest suspension the Department of Player Safety has handed out in the first half of the season -- 15 games. He has already lost a first appeal to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and has one more shot to have his case heard in front of an independent arbitrator. If nothing is done, Thornton will be eligible to return on January 11 and is set to lose almost $85,000 in salary for his efforts.
Nobody could have envisioned this when ROOT Sports sat down with Boston College head coach Jerry York when the Penguins visited Boston for the first of two appearance this season on November 25.
Before the midway point of the 2013-14 season, the Penguins have featured at least 17 different players with major Division I college hockey experience. Craig Adams (Harvard), Joe Vitale (Northeastern), Beau Bennett (Denver), Chris Kunitz (Ferris State), Paul Martin (Minnesota), Matt Niskanen (Minnesota-Duluth), backup goalie Jeff Zatkoff (Miami of Ohio) and recent call-ups Harry Zolnierczyk (Brown), Andrew Ebbett (Michigan), Zach Sill (Maine) and Chris Conner (Michigan Tech) have featured for the Metropolitan Division leaders. In addition, free-agent goalie Eric Hartzell, who backstopped runner-up Quinnipiac in last year's Frozen Four, signed with the organization.
But there's a crop of six...that's right, six players either on the NHL roster or in the system who have been part of the Millennial dynasty on Chestnut Hill. What's more unlikely, is that three players were teammates on one particular BC team -- its 2000-01 championship squad that was the first in a string of four NCAA crowns this century.
Orpik, two-time Stanley Cup champion defenseman Rob Scuderi and offseason signee forward Chuck Kobasew were integral parts of York's first national title at his alma mater, in a year where BC swept through every title and tournament laid out on the schedule. It culminated in a final push where the Eagles beat the three programs which halted their hopes in the previous years: Maine ('99), Michigan ('98) and North Dakota '00). Following that season, Orpik (a junior) and Kobasew (freshman) departed for the pros while Scuderi graduated and began his rise in the organization.
Orpik has been with the organization ever since stepping on ice in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the following October, while Scuderi, a 2009 Cup winner in the Steel City, returned this Summer armed with a lucrative free-agent deal and a Cup won with Los Angeles in 2012. Kobasew, the pride of Osoyoos, British Columbia, played for the Flames, Bruins, Wild and Avalanche in varying roles before landing in the city of three rivers.
The Three Amigos were joined at various times by forward Brian Gibbons and blueliners Brian Dumoulin and Philip Samuelsson.
Gibbons, 25, went undrafted despite helping BC claim titles in 2008 and 2010. Dumoulin is also a two-time winner (2010, '12) taken in the second round by the Carolina Hurricanes four years ago but dealt to the Penguins in the Jordan Staal bonanza, while Samuelsson was a frosh on the 2010 squad, one year after the Pens plucked the Son of Ulf with the 61st overall selection.
“It’s crazy how many players from there are here, especially that I
played with,” Samuelsson said to his parent team's site last season. “They must like the Eagles. I think they
do (laughs). Coach (Jerry) York has done a great job producing high-end
players. I don’t know what the connection is exactly, but I love it.”
One connection is that Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma is a Michigan native and a product of the American college system, having plied his trade at Bowling Green State under -- one guess -- Jerry York from 1988 to 1992. That also accounts for both schools participating in this weekend's Three Rivers Classic, along with newbie Penn State and host Robert Morris.
Another is team GM Ray Shero, taking his father's advice and choosing education over a rough transient life in the sport, spent four years at St. Lawrence where he served as captain and averaged around a point-per-game. What's more, Shero assistant Tom Fitzgerald's son plays on the current BC team, while ex-Pens Bill Guerin, Ian Moran, Joe Mullen, Kevin Stevens and Doug Brown spent time in Maroon and Gold.
“Coming into a new organization, you’re obviously nervous,” Gibbons
said. “You want to make a good impression. I think it helps when you
know a few of the guys before you come in. I came in with Phil Samuelsson, so that helped. We
kind of went through things together and leaned on each other, so that
definitely helps.”
What also might help is the bond of shared memories, like this year's Eagles team, ranked seventh in the latest USCHO poll, who topped Penn State in the Three Rivers Classic finale Saturday night by an 8-2 score after taking out Bylsma's Bowling Green on Friday night in a dominating 5-0 victory.
"All of those moments create memories,” Dumoulin said a couple weeks back. “Fortunately I was able
to win most of them. That creates a lifetime memory. It’s something I’ll
share with my class and teammates forever. Playing in those big
tournaments helped us as a team come together.”
Fitzgerald clocked in with a season high three points on a goal and two assists in the rout, while undrafted junior Destry Straight picked up a hat trick. Pittsburgh native Travis Jeke added an assist in the title game, bringing his two-game total in front of the home crowd to a score and two helpers.
The Penguins and Bruins have already completed their three-game regular-season slate, and may only play each other in the second or third round of the playoffs if both clubs remain atop their respective divisions. BC does not return to Pittsburgh and Robert Morris most likely won't be on the Eagles' full dance card in the next few seasons. Yet, Shero's wisdom, York's guidance and some luck from the hockey gods will likely conspire to keep the BC-Penguins bond intact.
The first period of Saturday's Penguins-Bruins tilt at TD Garden in Boston got very contentious, leading to the exit of Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik on a stretcher after he was punched twice by Shawn Thornton.
The video below is culled from NESN's broadcast of the B's 3-2 victory, showing the entire progression of incidents from the first shift of the contest.
Eriksson suffered a concussion from the original clean, hard hit from Orpik, his second head injury of the season, and will not play in Boston's next game at the very least.
Orpik was sent to Mass General for observation, was released last night and will travel back to Pittsburgh with his teammates.
Thornton faces an in-person hearing with the NHL, meaning he faces a ban of at least five games, while Neal will have a telephoned hearing with the league for his actions.
You don't need an ex-referee posting on a blog of questionable repute to tell you that Thornton went after the wrong guy, and in the completely incorrect manner.
Pittsburgh, PA -- Tyler Kennedy's marker with 2:27 remaining in overtime sent the Pittsburgh Penguins to their 12th straight win, courtesy of a 2-1 decision over Philadelphia at CONSOL Energy Center.
Kennedy cranked one home from the left circle, beating a screened Ilya Bryzgalov over his shoulder to the near post for the game winner, capping a rally from a late one-goal deficit.
“I knew they were coming out hard on 'Nisky',” said Kennedy. “Nisky made an unbelievable pass and I just
shot at the net.”
Sidney Crosby also scored for the Penguins, who hung tough and did not let their in-state rivals play the role of streak buster for the second time in a little more than a year.
Pittsburgh had won 11 in a row until a March 18, 2012 date in Philadelphia, but the Flyers' Scott Hartnell put an end to that run on his tally with less than a second remaining in OT to give the Flyers a 3-2 victory.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves for the Eastern Conference leaders, who announced prior to the game the acquisition of veteran forward Brenden Morrow from the Dallas Stars.
Three of the Pens' last four wins have come by one goal but that doesn't take away from this run, which is the longest in the NHL this season. Chicago won 11 straight en route to going 24 games from the start of the season with at least one point.
“I think tonight we were much better and got rewarded eventually for
it,” Crosby said. “But we've got to make sure we are playing the right
way no matter what the results are. That was a good step tonight to kind
of getting our game back.”
Claude Giroux tallied and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 33 shots for the Flyers, who have lost six of their last eight outings but managed to pick up a point for the first time in those defeats.
“We needed that other point,” said Giroux. “We played a good game tonight. Defensively we played well and Bryz made some big saves for us tonight. But, we gave up that 5-on-3 goal and lost the point in overtime.”
One bright spot in the setback, was that Giroux finished 17-for-28 (61 percent) on faceoffs, including 6-for-9 (67 percent) against Crosby.
The visitors began to flirt with disaster as Wayne Simmonds was called for slashing with 7:08 left in regulation. Chris Kunitz was stoned early in the advantage, as Bryzgalov turned away his backhander with 6:45 on the clock, but immediately thereafter, the hosts were given a two-man edge when Kimmo Timonen sat for hooking Kunitz on the chance.
Crosby evened the game 31 seconds later on a one-timer from the right circle off a dish from Paul Martin, but the visitors were able to prevent further damage during the following 5-on-4.
“That 5-on-3 was questionable,” Brayden Schenn pointed out.
“They weren’t calling much all game and they have a great power play.
But they made us pay. We came here for two points and only got one. One
is O.K. but we wanted the two.”
Fleury made a trio of saves -- one on Simmonds and two on Andrej Meszaros at the right post -- early in overtime to prolong the contest.
In a tight-checking first period, Fleury stopped six shots and Bryzgalov halted all nine he faced.
The Flyers finally snapped a scoreless tie in the late stages of a power play with 5:51 remaining in the second. Giroux carried into the Pittsburgh zone on the left wing, and though his initial shot was blocked by Tanner Glass, the rebound came back to the captain for a second successful chance.
Bryzgalov made a huge stop with 8:13 left in regulation. A failed Philly clearing attempt skipped back into the Penguins' attack zone, caromed off the stick of Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn and right to Kunitz, but his chop out of the air from atop the crease was trapped.
Notes: Philadelphia fell to 8-2-1 all-time in this arena, and 6-1-1 in the regular season ... Pittsburgh has scored five goals when enjoying a 5-on-3 power play this year ... The Flyers played without forward Danny Briere and defenseman Nicklas Grossmann, both listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury ... Harry Zolnierczyk returned from a four-game suspension to take Briere's slot and Kurtis Foster subbed for Grossmann ... The Penguins did not have the services of either forward Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang ... Philly hasn't won a game in overtime in Pittsburgh since a 4-3 result on Apr. 5, 1986 ... Morrow and a third-round pick in 2013 came to the Steel City for defense prospect Joe Morrow and a fifth-round selection in the upcoming June draft ... The Penguins' triumph was played in front of an arena-record 18,662 patrons.
Despite a harrowing late-game sequence which saw the hosts have not one, not two, but three separate cracks at a 5-on-3 power play, all was eventually right in the hockey world -- at least from a local perspective.
Jakub Voracek completed his first career hat trick thanks to recording the game-winning goal with 1:31 left in regulation as the Philadelphia Flyers gutted out a 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center.
Wayne Simmonds added two goals and one assist for the Flyers, who avenged an opening-day 3-1 home loss to their bitter rivals and completed a season-long six-game road trip with two straight wins to finish at 3-3-0.
"It'll be good to get home," said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette in a bit of prescience prior to the contest. "It's been a lot of time away from home and a lot of games in a lot of nights. In some of those games I've liked what we've done and in a lot of them we needed to be better, but getting back home and getting the schedule set up in our favor and knowing you're going to see guys on the ice that have not been on the ice due to injury -- all that adds up to a positive."
Nicklas Grossman also tallied, while Claude Giroux posted a pair of assists as Ilya Bryzgalov picked up the victory with 27 saves as Philadelphia improved to 6-1-0 in the regular season in the Pens' new arena.
Matt Niskanen, James Neal, Evgeni Malkin, Brandon Sutter and Tyler Kennedy for the Penguins, whose three-game win streak came to a halt.
Tomas Vokoun was shelled in defeat for six goals on 32 shots.
Ahead by a 5-3 count and having failed at their own four-minute advantage after Pens winger Tanner Glass was sent off for high sticking, a double minor to Mike Knuble plus another high stick call to Ruslan Fedotenko 41 seconds apart threatened to make things very interesting.
Neal made it 5-4 with 7:14 to play on a far-side blast from the right circle to end the first portion of the two-man edge, and Talbot was whistled for closing his hand on the puck during an attempted clear, lengthening the 5-on-3 even further.
Pittsburgh's Chris Kunitz had a potential tying goal with 5:39 on the clock wiped out when replay revealed he used a distinct kicking motion, then he tried to sneak a stuffer past Bryzgalov at the left post and failed on his next shift.
Though the Flyers managed to survive the remainder of their short-handed situation, Sutter walked out in front and tied the game, 5-5, with 2:03 to play. That set the stage for the young Czech to steal the show and pull the rug out from under another possible comeback by the revved up hosts.
Only 32 seconds after Sutter tied the game on a wraparound, Voracek's sharp-angle try from the goal line to Vokoun's left managed to sneak off his body and over the goal line for a 6-5 game with 91 seconds to play.
The extra attacker was called upon with 1:07 to go but the home team couldn't squeeze out one more quality chance from their offense.
"He just shot it from behind the net, and I knocked it in my own net. That’s tough," said Vokoun about the deciding score. "I think we deserved a point, but by my mistake we didn’t get it."
What a way to return to the comforts of home ice, where the club will
begin a five-game stand on Thursday against the Florida Panthers.
Aware of the meaning in this Keystone State collision, both teams came out with bundles of nervous energy. The best chance in the first four minutes for either side was a 3-on-1 break led by Philly's Sean Couturier, which was muted by Vokoun on the right wing. Talbot also nearly scored on the rebound, but his spinning chance slid wide.
Pittsburgh hit the scoreboard at the 5:07 mark when Niskanen fired away on a rolling puck and it zipped past Bryzgalov inside the left post.
The Pens received the game's first power play on the following shift, and though Bryzgalov gloved down Malkin's shot from the right circle, the puck appeared to have crossed the goal line inside the webbing.
A review proved to be inconclusive, but Malkin made the most of his next chance, potting a rebound at the right post with five seconds left on the advantage for a 2-0 game at 7:15.
It was 2-1 with 8:11 remaining on a bizarre sequence. A goalmouth scramble around the Pens' net -- which featured two near-scores by Philadelphia and half of all players on the ice either within or near the crease -- was allowed to endure for more than 10 seconds without a whistle. Grossmann eventually
lifted a shot over the mass of humanity for his first of the year.
Only 60 seconds later, the game was tied as Simmonds accepted a Danny Briere pass, worked from the left circle to the top of the crease and slipped a shot past Vokoun's pad.
Vokoun's poke check halted a Max Talbot breakaway within the first five minutes of the second period, and a relatively calm middle stanza that featured 18 combined shots ended with the visitors up 3-2.
On a power play in the final 10 seconds, Voracek was standing alone on the right side -- as he did to tally the overtime winner in Game 1 of last year's Eastern quarterfinal -- to corral a Simmonds rebound and lift it home over two bodies.
The Flyers went up 4-2 with only 18 seconds played in the third period. After Fedotenko worked a puck loose from underneath Vokoun, the disc squirted to the right side, where Voracek alertly followed up and beat a sliding defender with a soft shot.
It marked the eighth time this season the Orange and Black scored within the first minute of a given period.
“The big thing for me right now is his skating,” Laviolette said. “He’s
really moving his feet and that’s when Jake was at his best last year.
He’s fast and he’s quick and that’s a dangerous combination. I think
once he got through the first eight games or so and got to the speed he
needs to be at he’s been a real dangerous player."
Kennedy pulled the hosts within one at 5:29, getting a puck home at the right post before Bryzgalov could close off the space, but Simmonds was credited with another score, at 7:36, when his attempted cross-crease pass to Giroux rolled up Niskanen's stick and into the net.
“It was an entertaining game, that’s for sure," Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik
said. "It was fun at times and not so fun at times, but obviously not
the result we wanted.”
Notes: Voracek upped his total to eight points (3G, 5A) in the last three games...His hat trick was the first for Philly in Pittsburgh since Bobby Clarke did so in a 6-5 win on December 13, 1980...The Flyers improved to 6-1-0 all-time in the regular season at Pens' new home arena, and 8-2-0 including playoffs in the venue which opened in October of 2010...Malkin's goal gave Pittsburgh at least one power-play goal in each of the last nine games, and snapped Philadelphia's streak of 21 straight power plays killed off...Flyers defenseman Kurtis Foster missed his second straight game due to the birth of his second son on Tuesday in Philadelphia...The Penguins fell to 3-4-0 at home this year...In 21 career home games
against the Flyers, Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby has tallied 37 points (14G, 23A), including points in nine of his past 10 home games against them...Malkin's tally was also his first in six games, since Feb. 7 vs. Washington...Flyers forward Matt Read suffered an upper-body injury reported to be a puck to the chest, left the game after the first period and did not return...Grossman recorded his first score since Jan. 21, 2011 ... Kennedy produced his first goal in 15 games, since Jan. 20 at the Rangers...Simmonds' three points tied a career high ... Penguins defenseman Paul Martin registered three assists in defeat.
The first game of the lockout-shortened 2013 season passed on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia, and the Pittsburgh Penguins seized early momentum with a pair of first-period goals en route to a 3-1 decision over the Flyers in front of a record crowd announced at 19,994.
Tyler Kennedy and James Neal picked up the crucial scores for the Penguins,who played their eighth consecutive game against their Eastern Pennsylvania foes including a six-game first-round playoff loss back in April. Chris Kunitz added a late insurance tally and Paul Martin added a pair of assists to back a 26-save effort from Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury added a bit of history to the proceedings, earning his 227th career win and surpassing Tom Barrasso for first on the franchise's all-time victory list.
"It’s flattering," Fleury said. "I think it shows I’ve played with a lot
of good teammates and good players. Tom Barrasso was a guy I always
looked up to. To pass him is an honor for me."
Claude Giroux celebrated his first game as team captain with the hosts' lone tally. Ilya Bryzgalov acquitted himself well in defeat, allowing only two goals on 26 shots.
"After the first 13, 14 minutes I think we started to find ourselves," said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette. "I was more concerned with the way we played, the syle. We weren't getting many shots to the net. We seemed to be rushed out there, our passing wasn't crisp, wasn't on the mark, and we had a little bit of trouble skating."
The sides continued to battle each other into the final period
despite obvious fatigue setting in, but the Pens appeared to be gaining
the footing lost in the second and maintained their one-goal margin. In a sequence just after the midway
point of the third, Pens defenseman Matt Niskanen hit the outside of one post, then Martin's
point blast stuck inside Bryzgalov's equipment for a pregnant moment
before trickling out beside him.
Philly was awarded a
prime chance to even things when Deryk Engelland was called for interference
with 5:33 left in regulation, but Craig Adams swept out one stuffer in the
crease and another connection just missed wide to the long side from the
right circle.
The hosts got a break again on Evgeni Malkin's high-sticking call with 2:27 left.
Bryzgalov went to the bench to make it 6-on-4, and Wayne Simmonds' redirection
slid along the goal line from right to left. That good feeling was
negated on a very questionable tripping penalty to Giroux as 62 seconds
showed, mere minutes after the closest of all close calls at the blue line prevented the captain from being sprung on a clean breakaway.
"It was a tough call. The referees did a good job out there for the most part," offered Laviolette.
Bryz was pulled once more as the Flyers went up ice, but to no avail as Kunitz iced it on an empty-netter with 14 seconds to go.
There's not much time to focus on what went wrong, as another national broadcast looms on Sunday afternoon, this one a 12:30 start, in Buffalo.
"If you don't take the points, you might find yourself in the bottom of the standings," the Flyers' starter offered about the quick turnaround.
Although the Flyers had the distinct advantage of a vocal home crowd urging them on, the Penguins got the first break of the game, when Braydon Coburn went off for interference against Sidney Crosby less than three minutes in. They got the second break during the advantage, when a passing deflection by Kennedy of a Martin point shot sailed home at 4:40. Further reviews indicated that the disc may have found the stick of Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn instead.
It was 2-0 for the visitors when Neal pumped one home from the left circle after Malkin won a draw with 7:20 played, and a crowd which was eerily quiet during a Flyers power-play in between the scores turned deathly silent.
It ranged from worried to critical to downright ugly during three power-play chances which only produced scoring opportunities on the latter.
Giroux provided a badly-needed wake-up call when he rolled up the right-wing side and slid a cross-ice feed by Scott Hartnell just under Fleury's pad at the right post just 23 seconds into the second period. It was a timing play which left the captain nearly offsides as he burst through the zone, and allowed for a bit of luck as Kunitz attempted to kick the puck away before it reached Giroux, but missed.
"'G' was fantastic out there," Laviolette offered about Giroux's first action as the designated leader.
His teammates began to pick up the pace and buzzed Fleury throughout the stanza, coming within a couple timely crease clears from knotting the score. Despite an 11-8 shot advantage, it was still a one-goal margin for the visitors after 40 minutes of play.
Notes: Saturday's game marked the seventh time the Flyers opened up an NHL season against the Penguins, and fell to 3-3-1 in those contests...Philly also dropped to 9-5-3 in openers at the Wells Fargo Center and 26-13-6 all-time in season-opening games...Jakub Voracek led the hosts with six shots on goal, and Zac Rinaldo was tops in total hits with seven in just 8:54 of ice time...Matt Cooke paced the Penguins with seven hits and Neal led the victors with seven shots on net...Philly failed on five power-play chances and 9:25 of man-advantage time...Pittsburgh scored twice in three opportunities...The Flyers also began the lockout-shortened 1995 campaign with a 3-1 loss on home ice, but to the Quebec Nordiques at the Spectrum on January 20 of that year...The Orange and Black welcomed back Ruslan Fedotenko after a 664-game absence, second-longest in franchise history behind Vinny Prospal, who went 715 games between stints from 1998 to 2008.
