Wrapup (10:45 PM, EST)
The Flyers failed to nail down a game they should have won. Two turnovers led to a late-game tying goal and an overtime winner for New Jersey.
Failure to take care of the puck came up and bit the Flyers tonight. There was a ridiculous 23-9 differential in giveaways for the game, culminating in the fatal turnovers at the end. Add to that 7 credited Devils takeaways and you get a 30 turnover night for the Flyers. That won't win you many games or nail down many one-goal victories. In goal, Martin Biron was well on his way to being one of the stars of the game but then imploded at the end.
Said John Stevens of the tying goal, "It should have been a routine play and it wasn't. We work on that every day. There is not a day we get on the ice that we don't work on exchanges there. That should be as automatic as reaching for the brake when you see a red light."
Simon Gagne left the game early with what GM Paul Holmgren said afterwards was a case of dehydration. Kimmo Timonen was also unable to finish the game with a "mild upper-body injury" which TImonen himself later described as a "shoulder tweak" and said he thinks he'll be able to play on Saturday.
Notes and quotes:
* Gagne said of his condition, "I wasn't feeling good yesterday either. I pretty much slept all day, and so I think it's just maybe the flu or something. My stomach just didn't feel good the last two days, so I'm not worried. It's not related to concussions. I didn't get hit, either. I just felt sluggish a little bit today, ande we decided for me to sit out in the third period and get some fluids inside me."
* Martin Biron causes himself frequent trouble with his puckhandling. It wasn't just tonight. It's an ongoing issue, although he denied after the game that it's anything to be worried about when he goes out to play the puck.
Said the Flyers goalie, "We have worked on it in practice, on keeping it simple the way we have always done it. You can’t be afraid to go out and make the simple play. There were a few instances tonight where the puck doesn’t go the right way. It seems like right now playing the puck is not something that is working. You have to keep making those simple plays and give your defensemen some help. That’s how you get through it, not by sitting in the crease and not doing anything.
"You go out there and keep making the plays and keep communicating. I know I made some bad reads and tonight was one of them. You just have to keep going the same way and its going to be more beneficial in the long run.”
* Scott Hartnell had a funny malaprop after the game, although no one was in a laughing mood after the loss. The Flyers winger said the team has to "get back on the schneid." I assume he means off the schneid or on the horse.
* The Devils now have a very respectable 5-6-1 record when giving up the game's first goal, and are now 6-2 in overtime/shootout games. The Flyers drop to 4-6 in games decided in overtime or a shootout.
Overtime synopsis
Luca Sbisa is back on the ice for OT.
At about the 1:35 mark, Joffrey Lupul attempts to pull the puck around Paul Martin but is unable to do so.
Devils 3 - Flyers 2: The Flyers turned the puck over and got their coverage messed up. Patrik Elias slips a backhander through Martin Biron's legs to win the game at 2:46 of OT. Assists to Parise and White.
Shots in OT were 3-2 in the Flyers' favor (tied 31-31 for the game). Faceoffs were 3-1 in New Jersey's favor (Devils won by a 35-27 margin). Travis Zajac was just 1-for-16 on the faceoff for the game, but John Madden won 9 of 16 and Zach Parise won 8-of-13. For the Flyers, Mike Richards won 13 of 19 and Jeff Carter rebounded from a tough first period to end up 15 for 30.
3rd period synopsis: Flyers 2 - Devils 2
The Flyers appeared poised to nail down a regulation win against a divisional rival when disaster struck late in regulation.
At 1:23, Mike Knuble takes an offensive-zone high sticking penalty, trying to lift his man's stick behind the New Jersey net. On the ensuing kill, Biron makes a clutch pad save on Zach Parise. The Flyers survive the remainder of the penalty.
Shots in the third period are just 3-1 (Devils favor) through 7:00. Luca Sbisa has a nice shot block at the 7:03 mark with the puck going out of the zone.
Clemmensen awkwardly gloves a long bouncing shot fired by Scott Hartnell from the neutral zone. He holds for a stoppage at 10:13. It was just the Flyers' second shot of the third period. The Flyers win the next draw.
No sign of Simon Gagne, either at even strength or on the powerplay.
On a flippped puck in the neutral zone, Lasse Kukkonen gets a closing his hand on the puck minor at 10:22. I've seen more obvious ones let go, but a bad penalty to take. The Devils push the attack early and late in the powerplay, but Biron holds the fort.
Brian Gionta gets away with a clear-cut hit from behind on Kimmo Timonen. The crowd boos as play swings the other way. Seconds later, Paul Martin goes off for hooking at 13:47.
On the powerplay, Mike Richards feeds from behind the net to Scottie Upshall for a bang-bang chance. Late in the advantage, Upshall attempts to feed either Mike Knuble or a pinching Luca Sbisa in front. The Flyers get an opportunistic bounce.
Flyers 2 - Devils 1: At 15:32 Upshall's pass attempt hits a Devil and goes into the net. Mike Richards and Mike Knuble get the assists as Upshall is credited with his 4th goal and 2nd powerplay goal of the season.
The Flyers get another powerplay at 16:19 as Gionta goes off for hooking. The Flyers can't score.
Flyers 2 - Devils 2 : Martin Biron mishandles the puck and turns it over. A shot from Patrik Elias (9th of the season) just over the blueline sneaks through Biron and creeps over the goal line. Biron had played such a good game up until that point, but that was a bad goal at a horrible time. Gionta gets the lone assist at 18:30.
Luca Sbisa gets drilled with a shot right off a faceoff at 18:48 but appears OK.
Lasse Kukkonen blocks a shot at the buzzer.
Shots were 8 for New Jersey and 11 for the Flyers (Devils ahead 29-28 after regulation). Faceoffs were 11-9 in the Devils favor (Devils ahead 32-26 after regulation).
2nd period synopsis: Flyers 1 - Devils 1
Play opens up in the middle frame, with a lot of turnovers both ways but especially by the Flyers (who now have 19 charged giveaways through two periods). Philly grabs a lead on the powerplay but the Devils put pressure on Biron and finally solve him to tie the game.
Braydon Coburn blocks an Elias shot attempt into the crowd at 0:48. The Devils control the draw yet again, and Biron stops Elias from the mid slot.
Glen Metropolit narrowly misses potting a Lasse Kukkonen rebound at the 2:00 mark.
Vaananen takes a puck in the face at 3:09 on a Devils flip into the zone. Fortunately, it looked like he got his gloves up just enough to slow down the force of the puck. He went off under his own power and sat down on the bench.
Biron stops Zubrus from the slot off a turnover at the blueline.
Over the next several minutes, play starts to open up a little, with the rushes and chances start coming more frequently. The Flyers miss connections on a two-on-one.
Flyers get a powerplay on a Brian Rolston holding penalty (looked more like a stick slash) at 6:09. Jeff Carter and Scott Hartnell flurry in front. The Devils' Bryce Salvador fails to clear the zone from along the boards, sending the puck onto the stick of Kimmo Timonen. The turnover leads directly to a goal.
Flyers 1 - Devils 0: At 6:48, Kimmo Timonen fires a shot from the point through the traffic for his third goal and second powerplay goal of the season. Goal was unassisted because of the turnover.
Clemmensen leaves out a bad rebound and it nearly leads to an Arron Asham goal at about the 9:10 mark.
Play reverts to more of a grind-it-out style in the middle of the period.
Andrew Alberts and Clarkson drop the gloves at 13:30. Another long fight with a lot of grappling and not much landing. Alberts had too much of a reach advantage.
Flyers get a powerplay on a Bryce Salvador hooking penalty at 13:35. The Flyers control the next faceoff, with Jeff Carter winning the draw. Scott Hartnell gets a chance from the lower circle. That turns out to be the Flyers best chance on the advantage.
As the powerplay expires, Mike Richards fires yet another ill-advised cross-ice pass that gets intercepted (his 6th giveaway of the game) and the Devils go the other way. Biron covers a routine side-angle shot for the stoppage at 15:38.
Martin Biron with tough stops in succession on Parise, Rolston and Madden. He holds for a stoppage at 16:57.
Flyers 1 - Devils 1: Biron makes a pair of stops in close on Zach Parise, but Parise (14th goal of the season) stays with it and flips a puck over the goalie to tie the game at 17:17. Assists to Jamie Langenbrunner and Travis Zajac.
At 19:07, Scott Hartnell pokes a poke into the net after a whistle. The Devils take exception, and Colin White confronts Hartnell with the players getting coincidental roughing penalty Jeff Carter had the initial chance, and the puck was never frozen in the crease, but the whistle clearly sounded before Hartnell put the puck in the net.
Braydon Coburn shows off his mobility on a nicely executed rush up ice on the 4-on-4. The Devils flip the puck into the bench for a stoppage and an offensive zone faceoff at 19:55. Nothing develops.
Shots were 16-12 in the Devils favor (New Jersey leads 21-17 through two periods). Faceoffs were 13-8 in the Flyers favor (Devils lead 20-19 through two periods). Carter is now 7-for-18 for the game, Richards is 8-for-13. For the Devils, Zubrus is 6-for-9, Madden is 8-for-12. Kimmo Timonen blocked three shots in this period.
1st period synopsis: Flyers 0 - Devils 0
A pretty dull first period, reminiscent of the style of many Devils games of the mid-1990s to pre-lockout 2000s. There wasn't much room to create chances either way. Mike Richards got charged with five first period giveaways for intercepted passes. The Devils had four as a team.
Both teams start out cautiously. Only pair of side angle shots fired at Martin Biron (John Madden and Jamie Langenbrunner) in the first three minutes. No shots for Philadelphia. Joffrey Lupul throws the game's first solid check.
At 3:01, coincidental minors are called -- Clarkson for roughing, Flyers for too many men on the ice (I didn't see it, but I someone jumped out too early as Biron skated to the bench on the initial delayed call).
During 4-on-4 play, Mike Richards gets the Flyers first scoring chance, getting stopped by Scott Clemmensen near the left post.
Shots still just 2-2 at a stoppage of play at 6:23.
The Flyers get a three-on-two rush, but Scott Hartnell hammers a shot wide of the net from the circle.
Johnny Oduya off for holding at 7:43. On the ensuing powerplay, the Flyers (Richards and Sbisa) get a little sloppy in taking care of the puck, but nothing dangerous develops for New Jersey. A Jeff Carter shot attempt gets blocked into the netting with 32 seconds left in the powerplay. Ultimately, the powerplay passes without a Philadelphia shot or scoring attempt.
Shots are still 2-2 midway through the period.
Asham and Clarkson drop the gloves at 10:54. Clarkson does a lot of hugging early. The fight ends up being mostly a lengthy grappling contest with a brief flurry in the middle. Asham landed at least one good right.
Biron sees his first shot in over 10 minutes, handling a Zach Parise deflection. At 12:02, Joffrey Lupul gets the Flyers' third shot of the period, on a side angle try.
Biron stops Patrik Elias at point blank range at 12:41. Best scoring chance of the period for either club so far.
Shots are still 4-4 through the 15:34 mark. New Jersey with an offensive zone faceoff. New Jersey controls and Kimmo Timonen winds up taking a high sticking minor at 15:44.
On the ensuing kill, Lasse Kukkonen turns in some strong work to dig a puck free behind the net and Jeff Carter clears the zone. The Devils have trouble getting set up, and the powerplay passes without a shot or chance. At the expiration of the penalty, however, New Jersey gains the zone and John Madden snaps a shot on net from the mid slot.
The Devils hit a post on a clean offensive zone faceoff win at 18:02.
In the final half minute of the period, Scott Hartnell made a strong power move to cut from the circle and move in along the goal line against Clemmensen. He's stopped.
Shots were 5-5. Faceoffs were 12-5 in New Jersey's favor (John Madden was 6-for-7, Dainius Zubrus was 4-for-5. For Philly, Richards was 3-for-6, Carter was 1-for-7). Johnny Oduya blocked four shots, leading both teams. Ossi Vaananen blocked a pair for the Flyers.
Update (6 PM, EST)
Matt Carle remains out of the lineup for the Flyers. Lasse Kukkonen starts.
Abbreviated preview (3:30 PM, EST)
The Flyers (12-7-5) will look to win their fourth straight win over the Devils (12-8-2) when they take on their Atlantic Division rivals at the Wachovia Center tonight. New Jersey is 4-1-0 over its last five games, while the Flyers are 7-1-2 over their last 10 tilts. Philly won both previous meetings this season before Martin Brodeur went down to injury.
The current New Jersey squad may not be quite the caliber of the teams that gave the Flyers fits for most of the last 13 years, but they are still tough to beat when they play with the lead. This says it all: The Devils are 7-3 in one-goal games this season and 8-2-1 when scoring first. Philly is 11-1-3 when scoring first but just 7-8 in one-goal games. The pressure is on Martin Biron not to allow anything soft get by him tonight.
The Devils do most of their damage at even strength (48-31 goal differential to the positive), whereas the Flyers generate momentum from their special teams, including a penalty kill that not only ranks fifth in the NHL (85.7 percent) success rate, but is also a threat to pop a shorthanded goal at any time. New Jersey's powerplay ranks a dismal 26th in the NHL, with just 13.9% success ratio (11.8% on the road). The Devils penalty kill is also 26th overall (77.3%) but ranks 5th on the road (86.4%) and dead last at home (68.2%).
Longtime Flyer-killer Brian Rolston is expected to return to the lineup for the Devils tonight, as will Matt Carle for Philadelphia.
FLYERS LINES AND SCRATCHES
Gagne - Richards - Knuble
Hartnell - Carter - Upshall
Nödl - Metropolit - Lupul
Cote - Powe - Asham
Timonen - Väänänen
Coburn - Carle/Sbisa
Alberts - Sbisa/Kukkonen
Biron
[Niittymäki]
Scratches: One of Carle (upper body) or Kukkonen (healthy), Briere (LTIR, groin), Jones (LTIR, hip), Parent (LTIR, shoulder), Hatcher (LTIR, knee)
*****
I wrote a "Spectrum Memories" story for the Flyers' official site on the
Pelle Lindbergh memorial game played on November 14, 1985.
The game between the Flyers and the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers took place four days after Lindbergh's fatal car accident and about 48 hours after the respirator was turned off and his organs donated. Pelle's mother, father, fiancee and brother-in-law were all in attendance at the game.
In addition to the article, Kevin Kurz of the Flyers has added video of the pre-game memorial ceremony as well as an interview that Pelle filmed for Hockey Night in Canada during the summer of 1985, shortly after winning the Vezina Trophy.
Contact Bill at
[email protected]
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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