For all the negative attention that gets focused by the national media on Philadelphia sports fans, the local Flyers denizens have shown many times over the years that beneath the tough exterior are people with big hearts who understand when life transcends sports.
The "booing Santa Claus" and "cheering when Michael Irvin (or other fill-in-the-blank opposing players) got injured" stories get repeated ad nauseum. Funny how those never get balanced off with recounting the thunderous standing ovation Mario Lemieux received in his return to the ice after battling cancer or how it was the Philadelphia fans who demanded the stoppage of a preseason game with the Rangers so that a post-9/11 speech by the President on the Arenavision screen would not be cut off to resume play.
In years to come, we'll no doubt still hear about how Philly fans are inclined toward all manner of boorish behavior (as if New York and New England region crowds are models of civilized decorum on an average game day). ESPN will do another montage of flying snowballs and Donovan McNabb getting booed on draft day but you'll see nary a clip of the incredibly heartfelt tribute paid last night at the Wells Fargo Center to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and the entire city of Boston for the nightmare it has endured.
The Flyers deserve kudos for putting together such a moving pregame tribute, and the fans in the stands stepped up in a big way, too, both monetarily and emotionally. The night ended with a special three-star selection made by the Camden Courier Post's Randy Miller. Instead of picking three players who skated in last night's game, the city of Boston, the first responders at the bombing scene and the Boston Police were honored.
Well done, Philly and godspeed to Boston. Now on to last night's game, won 5-2 by the Flyers.
For the second straight game, the Flyers piled up five even-strength goals (where were those ESGs all season when Philly still had a chance of getting into the playoffs?). The Flyers were opportunistic on a few of their goals. On others, they made a little of their own good luck and, in one sequence, benefited from some Bruins self-made bad luck.
Steve Mason turned in another strong goaltending performance for Philly, making 39 saves for the victory behind a patchwork defense that has lost five of its six projected starters as well as one of its key defensive forwards. Mason had no chance of stopping either Boston goal. The first, scored by Wade Redden, was an unpreventable rebound off a guided missile of a shot by Jaromir Jagr. The second came off a turnover and a great individual effort by David Krejci to turnstile rookie defenseman Brandon Manning and then snipe a goal from prime scoring range.
The Flyers scored first, just 100 seconds after the opening faceoff. Scott Hartnell ripped a shot home past Boston starter Anton Khudobin after a flubbed clearing attempt by Redden, who had gathered the rebound of a Kurtis Foster shot and shanked the puck directly to Hartnell in the left shot.
Redden's goal at 4:54 tied the score at 1-1. After that goal, Boston took over the game for about the next eight minutes of play. Mason had to come up big several times and also benefited from a rebound put-back attempt that hit the post. Otherwise, the Flyers easily could have skated to the first intermission trailing 3-1 or 4-1 instead of deadlocked.
As the game progressed, the Flyers got a little more physical against a Bruins team that manhandled them in the playoffs two seasons ago. Incidentally, if you want to know why the Flyers "went bigger" on the blueline by acquiring players like Luke Schenn and Nicklas Grossmann over the course of last season and last summer, just watch the clips of the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals. In that series, the Bruins' big forwards ran roughshod down low in the attack zone without Chris Pronger being there to counter for the Flyers.
Adding more size on the blueline and losing some mobility and puck movement over the last year or so has hurt the Flyers' efforts against some teams. However, it has helped them to cope better with the Bruins' style of play. The Flyers are 3-2-2 over the last two seasons against Boston after going 1-3-0 against them in the regular season and then getting swept in the playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup champions of 2010-11.
One of the Flyers' smaller blueliners, Erik Gustafsson, was arguably the team's most effective defenseman last night after Luke Schenn. The Swedish defenseman logged a team-high 23:56 of ice time and played a solid game both in his own end of the ice and in generating breakouts.
Last night, the big-framed members of Flyers' backline did a good job at matching the Bruins' physically. Luke Schenn played a monster game (eight hits, four blocks, zero giveaways in 21:58 of ice time). Rookie Oliver Lauridsen continued to fill in admirably for the injured Grossmann. Even much-maligned (and soon to return to Sweden to finish his pro career) veteran Andreas Lilja generated four hits and a pair of blocks in 19:14 of ice time.
Most notably, Schenn sent Boston's most aggressive hitter, Milan Lucic, sprawling to the ice with a thundering hit. As the game neared the midway point still tied at 1-1, Flyers' enforcer Jay Rosehill dropped the gloves with Boston's Shawn Thornton. Rosehill got twisted around early in the fight and Thornton followed "the code" by not taking advantage of it. Rather than pounding his off-balance opponent, Thornton graciously allowed him to right himself and get re-set before the two squared off in a spirited bout.
A big hit or a well-timed fight is akin to striking a match when a team is running a bit on lighter fluid. Many times, the flame dies out moments later. Every once in awhile, it succeeds in lighting a fire.
At the 11:24 mark of the second period, Khudobin denied an initial 2-on-1 rush but after Matt Read skated to the slot, he batted the rebound of a Wayne Simmonds shot out of the air to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. Seven seconds later, Oliver Lauridsen scored his first NHL goal in a most unconventional manner.
Skating to red line after the Flyers controlled the center ice faceoff, Lauridsen dumped the puck deep in the zone. Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara got to it first in the opposite side corner, well ahead of the forechecking of Adam Hall. Chara badly flubbed whatever sort of backhanded pass he was attempting, sending it on goal on a startled Khudobin. The netminder had the puck hit him softly and then dribble between his legs into the net before he could recover.
The Flyers added to their lead early in the third period. Jakub Voracek, who has been deadly on breakaways this season, got behind the Bruins defense and took a lead pass from Claude Giroux. Voracek now had a clear path to goaltender Tuukka Rask, who had replaced Khudobin in net after the Lauridsen goal. The Czech winger put a quick forehand-to-backhand shift on Rask and slid the puck home to give the Flyers a 4-1 lead.
Krejci's individual-effort goal at 8:20 cut the Boston deficit back to two goals, but that lasted just 13 seconds. At the 8:33 mark, exactly three minutes after the Voracek goal, Simon Gagne capitalized on a turnover and coverage gaffe made by Redden.
The Bruins won the center ice faceoff following the Krejci goal and went D-to-D with the puck. Redden tried to go up the middle with a pass into a lot of traffic, and the puck was intercepted by Luke Schenn at the Philadelphia blueline, who sent it ahead to Giroux.
Inexplicably, Redden drifted into center ice skating toward the right wing side after his turnover, leaving a wide open lane for Gagne up the left wing and a wide passing lane for Giroux. The captain put a pass on the tape to Gagne, who snapped a quick shot past Rask before a backchecking Redden arrived.
Mason and company took it the rest of the way. Despite the regulation loss, the Bruins remain in first place in the Northeast Division and the second seed in the Eastern Conference because Montreal lost to New Jersey last night. For those watching the scoreboard for Draft lottery purposes, the 21-22-3 Flyers are still in 22nd place in the NHL as a result of Buffalo and the Devils winning last night.
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