The Flyers have been a good second-period team most of the season, even in some games that turned out pretty ugly overall. Statistically, the second period has by far been the Flyers' highest-scoring period all year. The club added to the totals last night with their four-goal outburst. The Flyers have now scored 53 goals in second periods, compared with 41 in first periods and 52 in the final stanza.
Without a doubt, the pivotal moment of last night's game was Kimmo Timonen's shorthanded goal at the 7:53 mark of the middle period. After James van Riemsdyk set up Darroll Powe to regain the one-goal lead the Flyers took to the first intermission, Dallas started to gain some momentum. The Flyers then took consecutive penalties to go down shorthanded for almost four minutes. The Timonen shortie on Powe's delay of game penalty was a backbreaker for the Stars (a club that struggles on the road anyway).
The Flyers then made their own good luck when Brendan Morrow had an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty tacked onto a minor for high sticking goalie Michael Leighton. Claude Giroux's attempted cross-ice pass to Mike Richards deflected off a defenseman's skate into the net. Those kinds of things happen when you move the puck well and get attackers near the net.
Leighton made some clutch stops last night but was also guilty of several overplays where he got himself out of position. As long as the Flyers are on this roll, there's no need to make the switch back to Ray Emery. But I still think Leighton, not Brian Boucher, is the odd-man out when the club levels off.
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On the Flyers' official web site this week, I take a look at the exceptional number of players the Flyers have who can
play both wing and center.
I thought the most interesting perspective was the one offered by Simon Gagne. Gagne was a center during his junior career and most of his rookie NHL season, but has played wing almost exclusively for the last eight-plus seasons.
“Maybe if you’re not used to taking faceoffs [as a center], there’s some adjustment. There’s some difference in assignments, but it’s not anything that’s totally unfamiliar,” said Gagne. “The biggest thing is that you get comfortable doing certain things on the ice and then playing in a different spot – or with different linemates – makes you adjust a little. But switching from center to wing isn’t like switching from forward to defense. It’s a pretty quick process.”
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I believe Alex Burrows' side of the story about his clash with referee Stephane Auger. The Vancouver forward alleges that before the Canucks' game on Monday against Nashville, Auger told the player he would stick it to him for showing the official up the last time he officiated a Canucks game.
Auger then went on to call Burrows for diving, followed by an interference penalty, followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with a 10-minute misconduct tacked on when Burrows argued with him.
Auger is a referee who already had something of a reputation for holding grudges and making marginal calls against players (or to spite coaches) who get on his bad side. He also angers teams by refusing to explain controversial calls or give slack for legitimate arguments. That's not the behavior of a pro, but it does go on among certain officials.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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