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Quick Hits: May 23, 2022
1) IIHF World Championships: Team Canada suffered a 3-2 upset loss to Denmark on Monday in a preliminary round game at the 2022 IIHF World Championship in Finland. Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim recorded two shots on goal in the loss. He only skated 14:42 across 17 shifts in this game, and roughly three minutes in the final period.
2) WHL Playoffs: The Winnipeg Ice and Edmonton Oil Kings split the first two games of the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference Finals. On Friday, Edmonton captured a 5-4 overtime road win. On Saturday, Winnipeg struck back for a 5-1 victory to even the series. Flyers draftee Connor McClennon posted on assist and three shots on goal in the second game after chipping in one assist on a minus-two night with five shots on goal in the series opener.
The series will shift to Edmonton for Game 3 on Monday and Game 4 on Wednesday.
Potential top-five to top-10 2022 NHL Draft candidate Matthew Savoie had two assists and one shot on goal in the series opener. He was held off the scoreboard on one shot on goal but went 9-for-14 on faceoffs in Game 2.
3) Today on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com: An in-depth look at Sami Kapanen career journey that led the Philly fan favorite back to the Flyers organization in a player development coaching and European pro league scouting capacity. Kapanen discussed his thoughts on new protegee Samu Tuomaala, the steady flow of prospects from Finland to the NHL and his own path from being a player, Finnish pro team owner, general manager, head coach, national broadcaster and player agent to his new role with the Flyers. To read more, see A Happy Homecoming for Kapanen.
Coming tomorrow: An in-depth season review and prospect-by-prospect look at the 2021-22 Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
4) Flyers Daily: In the weekly "Mondays with Meltzer" edition of Flyers Daily, Jason Myrtetus and I discussed a wide away of subjects. Up top, we talked about the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Andrei Vasilievskyi's ever-increasing dominance in this year's playoffs and the criticism that's been lobbed at former Flyers captain Claude Giroux this round with the Panthers trailing Tampa three games to zero.
We also discussed the topic of realistic expectations for the Flyers off-season, alternatives if Barry Trotz elects to coach an NHL team other than the Flyers (spoiler: if the Bruins turn Bruce Cassidy loose, he'd be my personal No. 1 choice for the Flyers in lieu of Trotz).
5) Today in Flyers History: Lindros Lifts Flyers in Game 4 of 1997 ECF
One of the most memorable games on the Philadelphia Flyers' road to the 1997 Stanley Cup Final was Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers on May 23, 1997. Entering the match with a two games to one lead, the Flyers had an opportunity to put a stranglehold on the series if they could defeat the Rangers for a second time at Madison Square Garden.
Playing through a foot injury that hampered him for the remainder of the playoffs, Legion of Doom right winger Mikael Renberg was moved to Rod Brind'Amour's line during the series while 18-year-old rookie Dainius Zubrus moved up to play with Eric Lindros and John LeClair.
At 7:08 of the first period, Renberg gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead on a power play tally as he scored from close range a split second before he was leveled by a cross-check by Rangers defenseman Jeff Beukeboom. The Beukeboom cross-check touched off a scrum and offsetting penalties but the goal had already been scored.
The Flyers' skinny 1-0 lead held until the third period when veteran Esa Tikkanen finally solved Ron Hextall (31 saves) to knot the game. Turnabout was fair play as Flyers checking line forward struck for a shorthanded goal off his own initial rebound to put the Flyers ahead again, 2-1, with 3:13 remaining in regulation. A little more than a minute later, veteran Rangers blueline superstar Brian Leetch forged a 2-2 tie with 2:08 on the clock as he found a wide open lane to the net, took a centering pass from Wayne Gretzky and beat Hextall.
On the next shift, Beukeboom's careless use of the stick resulted in him clipping and cutting LeClair in the face behind the Rangers' net. The Flyers received a four-minute power play. With time in regulation ticking down below 10 seconds, Brind'Amour got the puck and sent it toward the net to LeClair. In too close to Richter to do much if he tried to shoot the puck, LeClair transferred the puck from his skate to his stick and slid the puck cross ice toward the left circle, where Lindros received it. With Richter overcommitted to the other side, the Flyers captain put a quick backhander toward --- and into the back of - the half-vacant need ahead of Richter's desperate feet-first lunge.
With 6.8 seconds left in regulation, the Flyers now held a 3-2 lead. Still shorthanded, the Rangers put goaltender Richter on the bench in favor of an extra attacker to make it 5-on-5 manpower. On the ensuing center ice faceoff, Joel Otto tied up Mark Messier. By the time the Rangers got the puck and dumped into the Flyers' defensive left corner, the final buzzer sounded.
The Flyers would go on to eliminate the Rangers in Game 5 in Philadelphia to capture the Prince of Wales Trophy as Eastern Conference champions. During their playoff meetings in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals and the 1997 Eastern Conference Final, the Flyers compiled an 8-1 record against the Rangers, although many of the games in the two series were close ones that were up for grabs heading late into regulation or overtime.
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