Wrapup
Note: For the remainder of the 2008-09 season, I will be writing the
postgame recaps for Philadelphiaflyers.com. I will continue to do game previews and period-by-period commentary on Hockeybuzz for each home game with a link to the recap on the official site.
Also, I wanted to say a special thank you to 610 WIP's Brian Startare for having me on as a guest after the game tonight. It's always a pleasure to talk pucks with Brian.
3rd period synopsis
Elliott makes an excellent stop on Glen Metropolit to preserve the 3-0 lead at about the 3:00 mark.
Niittymaki thwarts Foligno's bid for his second goal of the game at about the 5:15 mark.
Sens 3 - Flyers 1: A hard-skating Darroll Powe collects the rebound of a Scottie Upshall shot in the right circle and fires it into the open side of the net for his third goal of the season. Claude Giroux draws the secondary assist at the 8:00 mark.
Sens 4 - Flyers 1: Daniel Alfredsson (17th of the season) pokes in the rebound of a Dany Heatly shot that hit the post. Spezza gets the other assist at 10:15.
Sens 4- Flyers 2: Mike Richards (19th of the season) accepts a stretch pass from Mike Knuble moves in and fires a shot over Elliott high to the short side at 10:54.
Sens 5 - Flyers 2: Antoine Vermette carries the mail on a 2-on-1, moves in front and puts it into the net at 15:20. Unassisted goal.
The crowd is sarcastically cheering Antero Niitymaki every time he makes a routine save.
2nd period synopsis
Mike Richards is back on the top line to start the second period. Right off the bat, Mike Knuble moves over the middle for a scoring chance.
Joffrey Lupul, who is having a very active game so far, makes a nice curling stickhandle around a defender at about the 2:44 mark.
Riley Cote gets a tripping penalty at 7:50. Ottawa turns into the game's second goal.
Sens 2 - Flyers 0: Stationed near the left post Jason Spezza (21st of the season) takes a pass from Brendan Bell across the goal line at 8:40.
The Flyers string several strong shifts together after the Spezza goal, prompting Ottawa to call timeout. At the 13:46 mark Dany Heatley takes a slashing penalty. On the ensuing powerplay, Kimmo Timonen puts a point shot on goal but Scott Hartnell can't find the rebound in front.
Elliott denies Claude Giroux on a semi-breakaway created by the Flyers’ rookie blocking a shot in the defensive zone.
Senators 3 - Flyers 0: An absolute back breaker of a goal on a total breakdown by the Flyers. Antero Niitymaki went behind the net to play the puck, Ottawa claims it along the boards. Niittymaki commits himself way too early and Randy Jones and others just stand around as Nick Foligno moves in and has all sorts of time and room to put the puck in the net. Ugly, ugly, ugly!
Shots were 13-8 Flyers (25-18 Flyers through two periods).
1st period synopsis
At the 1:00 mark, Joffrey Lupul drives to the net, looking for a pass from Scott Hartnell, who carried in and pulled up a stride over the blueline. Brian Elliott makes save.
Mike Knuble draws a holding penalty against Filip Kuba behind the net at 1:52. On the powerplay, Scott Hartnell negates the advantage with an inteference penalty at 2:44.
Brendal Bell takes a horrible offensive zone holding penalty at 4:46. Good puck containment early by the Flyers but a Braydon Coburn point shot gets blocked out of the zone. As the penalty expires, Jeff Carter circles out high in the zone and threads a dangerous wrister through traffic in front.
Ottawa's top line pins the Richards line in deep for about 30 seconds around the 8:00 mark of the period. Sens get three shots on goal on the shift. It started with a lost faceoff. Ottawa has won 6 of the first 8 faceoffs. Jason Spezza is 3-for-3, Mike Richards is 0-for-4.
At the 10:36 mark, Joffrey Lupul lays out to block a point shot into the stands. Nicely timed.
Andrew Alberts barely beats out a hustling Jesse Winchester for an icing touchup at the 12:02 mark. If Ottawa had won the race, they had a man bearing in alone down the slot on the other side on a blown coverage by Randy Jones. Alberts and Winchester crashed heavily into the boards, however, so the Sens may not have been able to take advantage of it anyway.
Mike Richards forces a turnover just inside the Ottawa blueline and Mike Knuble narrowly misses scoring as he moves in at about the 15:00 mark.
Jeff Carter threads another wrister on net through traffice at 16:32. A scrum ensues in front.
Glen Metropolit fires on net on a mini 2-on-1 at the 17:07 mark. The Flyers can't get to the rebound. On the next shift, Mike Richards misses the net on a one-timer from point blank range.
Senators 1 - Flyers 0 : At the 18:22, Dany Heatley moves over the blueline. His shot from the circle goes off the post, goes off Antero Niittymaki and/or Scott Hartnell and into the net for his 23rd goal of the season. Assists to Daniel Alfredsson and Brain Lee.
Preview
The Flyers (28-15-9) will look to build on the momentum created by a four-point weekend on the road when they return to the Wachovia Center tonight to take on the Ottawa Senators (19-25-8). With Philly eight points behind the Atlantic Division leading Devils, the Flyers need nothing less than another two points to keep pace.
The Sens come into tonight's game having won their last two tilts, sporting a 2-1-1 record with Cory Clouston behind the bench. Ottawa's 3-1 victory over Buffalo last night marked just the sixth time this season that Ottawa has so much as won back-to-back games. The team has yet to win three in a row.
Ottawa rarely wins when they don't score first. When the Sens find themselves trailing 1-0 in a game, they have come back to win just twice this season (2-17-3). The club also has a below-average record when scoring first (17-8-5) but is 12-2-3 when leading after two periods. The Flyers biggest defensive challenge tonight, as usual, will be containing Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson.
In even strength situations this year (combined five-on-five and four-on-four), the Senators are minus-25. Ottawa's 8th-ranked penalty kill has not been enough to make up for that kind of a gap. In powerplay situations, the Sens are in the middle of the NHL pack, ranking 16th overall (18.6% efficiency). The Flyers continue to have the NHL's best home powerplay, clicking at a 34.4% rate.
Tonight's game marks the third game of the teams' four-game season series with one another. The Sens pinned an ugly 4-1 defeat on the Flyers back on November 6. The Flyers won 6-4 in their last game before the Christmas break. At the time, the Flyers were in the midst of their hottest streak of the season.
Flyers player to watch: Even with team captain Mike Richards returning from the flu, John Stevens has elected to start the game with Claude Giroux centering the top line. It will be interesting to see how long the arrangement stays in place. For now at least, Richards will center the third line, flanked by Darroll Powe and Scottie Upshall. Like Richards, Upshall is also returning to the lineup after feeling under the weather last week.
Senators player to watch: In 23 career games against the Flyers, Dany Heatley has 12 goals and 23 points. Team captain Daniel Alfredsson has 12 goals and 36 points in 41 career meetings. Jason Spezza has just two goals in 15 games against the Flyers, but has racked up nine helpers.
Flyers starting lineup (subject to change)
Gagne - Giroux - Knuble
Hartnell - Carter - Lupul
Powe - Richards - Upshall
Cote - Metropolit - Asham
Timonen - Parent
Coburn - Alberts
Jones - Carle
Niittymäki
[Biron]
*****
When I was growing up, my best friend was a kid named David Kramer. I attended my first live game at the Spectrum with Dave and his family (Flyers vs. Hartford during the 1979-80 season) and numerous others. Dave and I would talk hockey endlessly, and it was also Dave who first broke the news to me of Pelle Lindbergh's death. We are still friends to this day.
Today, Dave owns his own cruise and travel business. He recently worked out an arrangement with the Flyers to conduct a special cruise this summer featuring Broad Street Bullies era Flyers players as well as a current member of the team.
The Cruising With the Flyers trip is a five- night cruise to Bermuda, running August 29 - September 3, 2009 on Royal Caribbean's "Explorer of the Seas." Guests will include Joe Watson, Bob Kelly, Gary Dornhoefer and Riley Cote.
Click
here for more information or stop by the Broad Street Atrium at the Wachovia Center on game nights. Dave will have a table there for the rest of the regular season and playoffs.
I know he'd welcome you to at least stop by, say hi and talk some Flyers hockey. Just don't take up any offers to play street hockey with him-- he's pretty vicious with the stick.
Contact Bill at
[email protected].
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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