|
Final: Bruins down Flyers in overtime, 4-3 |
|
|
|
|
|
Coming off a successful road trip, the Philadelphia Flyers will try for their seventh win in the last eight games when they take on the Boston Bruins today in a matinee at the Wachovia Center.
The Bruins have been struggling lately, losing eight of their last 11 games. But from November onwards, the Flyers have played better on the road than at home. The Flyers started out 6-0-0 at home and have subsequently gone 2-5-4.
This will be the third of four meetings this season, and the last in Philadelphia. The first two games, of course, have been rife with controversy and ill-will, stemming from the Randy Jones and Scott Hartnell hits that resulted in suspensions for the two Flyers players.
The Flyers won the first game in Boston, 2-1, while the Bruins made Philadelphia look bad at home in a 6-3 match that was not as close as the score suggests.
On paper, special teams could be the deciding factor in today's tilt. The Flyers have the NHL's second-best powerplay (23.5%), while the Bruins have struggled on the kill and are ranked 27th. Boston is in the top third of the league on their own powerplays, while the Flyers have been rather streaky on the PK and are currently 14th. Lately, they've been red hot.
As always, scoring first will be critical. Philly has a 16-4-2 record when scoring the first goal of the game, and has only lost twice when leading after the first period, including a 19-1-0 record when leading after two periods.
Antero Niittymaki will once again start in goal for the Flyers, and Scottie Upshall is poised to return to the lineup. The team has returned Stefan Ruzicka to the Phantoms.
From all indications, the Flyers will go with the same defense pairings as in the New York Rangers game (Kimmo Timonen with Jim Vandermeer, Derian Hatcher with Braydon Coburn and Randy Jones with Jason Smith). Lasse Kukkonen will once again be scratched.
The Bruins are also dealing with a lengthy injury list, even apart from Patrice Bergeron. With Manny Fernandez still recovering from knee surgery, Tim Thomas has been getting the bulk of playing time. Alex Auld is in goal today.
Glen Murray has been out with a hip injury, and Andrew Alberts remains out indefinitely with post-concussion syndrome.
****
First period highlights:
* Jeff Carter collects a Chuck Kobasew turnover at the blueline, leading to a scoring chance in close for Mike Knuble stopped by Auld. Stewart forced to take a penalty on the play at 2:08.
* The powerplay lasts less than a minute, as Zdeno Chara stepped on Daniel Briere's stick behind the net and goes down(the size differential between the two players is almost comical).
* The Flyers get a brief 4-on-3 on an iffy hooking penalty called on Chara at 3:56. During the 5-on-4 portion, Briere missed the net from the high slot. Later, Jeremy Reich went down after taking a Braydon Coburn shot in the foot. Reich appeared to get his stick up on R.J. Umberger a split second earlier.
* The Flyers continue to to press in deep, as Steve Downie goes to work down low.
* There has been a constant parade to the penalty box in the early going. Ward and Hartnell go off on coincidental minors at 6:34 as they waged battle behind the net. Hartnell got called for interference, Ward for roughing.
* The Flyers have four the game's first five shots.
* Randy Jones pinches in deep on the four-on-four, and then set up a partial screen in front of the net on a shot that went wide.
* Auld stops Knuble in tight at about the 9 minute mark.
* Andrew Ference goes off for hooking Steve Downie at 10:02. As they moved behind the net, Milan Lucic checked Downie from behind. Downie was shaken up on the play.
* FLYERS 1 - BRUINS 0: Jeff Carter pots a powerplay goal at 11:31. Braydon Coburn wrapped the puck in deep. Randy Jones gets the puck at the opposite point. Jones' shot glances off Auld, hits the end boards and comes right out to Carter who quickly stashes the puck home.
* Cote with a big hit on Ferrence behind the Boston net at 14:45. On the next shift Scott Hartnell throws his third hit of the first period.
* Savard makes a great one-on-one move in the right circle, moving in to test Niittymaki for the first time in the game. Seconds later, the Bruins get another chance as the Flyers suddenly appear to be running around in their zone.
* Zdeno Chara with a heavy hit on Hartnell near the boards, pouring a little more gasoline on the fire. The shift ends with Coburn going off for interference at 16:15. The Flyers kill it off.
* Lucic attempts to deliver a hit on Smith behind the Flyers net. The Bruins player ended up getting shaken up as he got cut on the dasher boards.
* The Bruins got the last seven shots of the first period, and both teams finished with eight apiece.
******
Second period highlights
* Downie is back for the start of the second period.
* Mike Richards gets away with a bad turnover up the middle.
* The Flyers go down on a 5-on-3 on successive penalties Knuble off for an offensive zone trip at 2:24, followed by an iffy holding penalty on Kapanen at 3:08.
* Great play by Jason Smith during the 5-on-3 to clear away a near goal from the crease.
* FLYERS 1 -BRUINS 1: Later on the powerplay, Savard moved in to the top of the circle and blasted a slapshot that overpowered Niittymaki. Sturm and Chara draw the assists.
* Flyers go back to the man advantage at 5:47 on an offensive zone hooking penalty by Petteri Nokelainen. The Flyers generated little on ensuing powerplay.
* The Bruins have their feet moving much better than they did early in the game and have had the better of the play in this period.
* Kessel deflects a shot at 8:52, but Niittymaki comes up with it. On the next shift, the Bruins flurry again.
* Yet another Flyers powerplay. Dennis Wideman off for hooking Sami Kapanen at 9:08. Knuble cancels it out 1:06 later with a careless high stick behind the Boston net.
* The pace has finally slowed down after the wild start to the game. A lot of play between the bluelines... No sooner do I write this than Niittymaki is forced to make a point blank stop on Kobasew on his doorstep.
* At 16:43 Timonen ties up Sturm, gets the stick between the legs and tries to remove his free hand. But Sturm alertly holds on and draws the penalty.
* BRUINS 2 - FLYERS 1: On the ensuing powerplay, Marco Sturm cashes in on the powerplay at 18:38. Sturm poked the puck in from the goal mouth, after Niittymaki made an initial stop. Assists to Chara and Savard.
* Boston outshot Philly 13-4 in the second period. The Bruins have won the vast majority of the puck battles over the last 25 minutes of play.
****
Third period highlights:
* Niittymaki lets out a bad rebound on the first shot he sees in the third period but Coburn nicely ties up his man to prevent a followup opportunity.
* Scotty Upshall hasn't played much in the first two periods. He just made his first notable play of the game, showing a nice burst of speed in the offensive zone to get free for a pass.
* Hatcher spends Lucic sprawling on an open ice shoulder check in center ice.
* BRUINS 3 - FLYERS 1: The Flyers lose a battle on the boards and it comes back to bite them. Peter Schaefer deflected home a Chara shot at 4:51. David Krejci draw the other assist. A real backbreaker for the Flyers to give up. Minuses to Jones, Smith, Richards, Hartnell and Downie.
* Hartnell denied on a breakaway at about 6:15.
* Downie and Stuart off for roughing at 7:07. On the 4-on-4, the Flyers give up a 2-on-1 rush but no harm comes from it. Later, Krejci jumped on the ice too soon on a line change and Boston gets flagged for too many men on the ice at 8:48.
* On the ensuing Flyers powerplay, Auld comes way out to cut down the angle on a Timonen slapshot. Later on the advantage, the Flyers miss a pair shots from the point-- their 13th and 14th misses of the game,
* BRUINS 3 - FLYERS 2: At 9:19, the red hot Scott Hartnell scores on the powerplay to bring the team to within a goal. Carter goes in alone on Auld but loses the puck as he tries to move to his backhand. He stayed with the puck, Umberger got the puck in front and Hartnell poked it in.
* FLYERS 3 - BRUINS 3: At 12:45, Briere pulls the puck around Auld and has plenty of room to deposit the game-tying goal on the backhand. Gagne gets the lone assist.
* Carter goes to work on an excellent shift with about 1:30 left in regulation. The Flyers continue to generate pressure for the next minute. A Gagne shot from high in the zone gets blocked.
* Flyers outshoot Boston 11-10 in the third period; Bruins lead in shots after regulation, 31-23.
***
Overtime highlights:
* BRUINS 4- Flyers 3: Briere moves over the middle but can't finish the play. The puck eventually comes all the way out as Niitymaki moves way out of his crease to prevent a breakway. The goaltender plays the puck to the boards, where Aaron Ward shoots it and finds the net at 0:46. The puck appeared to deflect off Jim Vandermeer.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»