Minus the shootout finale, last night's game in Colorado reminded me a lot of games played in the late 1990s. There was a lot of obstruction and clutching and grabbing let go by the officials, and the players on both teams did a lot of it. Perhaps it was fitting that Philly ended with an old fashioned "hard-fought point on the road."
When the Avs played with the lead in the third period, they did a lot of clogging up the neutral zone. Also, to their credit Colorado frequently forced the Flyers to try to go 200 feet. It did not seem like a comeback was going to happen right up until a combination of Wayne Simmonds and Danny Briere (Simmonds got credited with the goal, but it looked like it should have gone to Briere) tied the game 2-2 in the final 19 seconds of regulation.
All in all, I thought the Flyers cranked out a decent bounceback game after the Boston debacle. There were times in the second period that I thought the puck pursuit could have better and a few times where easy exits in the defensive zone proved to be more difficult than they should have been. Also, the Flyers allowed several odd-man rushes to Colorado but managed to recover. Overall, however, I thought the Flyers' patience, work ethic and resiliency were good enough to give them a chance to win if they were able to finish more of their chances against Jean-Sabastien Giguere.
Ilya Bryzgalov had another strange night. I thought he looked very sharp in regulation and overtime. He made some clutch early saves with the game scoreless and also came up with a couple good ones in the third period to keep his team close. Bryz had no real chance to stop Gabriel Landeskog's goal that tied the score 1-1. There was a coverage breakdown on the play.
However, on the double deflection that resulted in Colorado's second goal of the game, Bryzgalov didn't have the paddle of his stick along the ice -- a goaltending fundamental. If he did, all that would have come of that play was a faceoff. This is about the fourth time so far this season where Bryz gave up a goal on a funky deflection off skates and/or sticks that wouldn't have gone in the net if the goalie's stick had been in the right place. Of course, if Matt Carle (who had a solid game on the whole) hadn't whiffed on a clearing attempt, the subsequent deflection sequence wouldn't have happened at all. Hockey can be a maddening game sometimes.
On the flip side of the coin, bad fortunes also sometimes change in a hurry. The Scott Hartnell slam-dunk power play off a perfect feed from Jakub Voracek was very nearly Philly's only tally in their last six periods of hockey. A third period power play went awry and then the club later ties the game with their final 6-on-5 desperation push.
Briere had a rough night until the closing seconds of regulation and then calmly scored in the shootout after playing a part in the tying goal. James van Riemsdyk, who has been struggling badly since returning to the lineup, potted one in the shootout after putting on a dozen little forehand-backhand moves on his path to the net.
As for the goaltending in the shootout, it's unfair to always expect the goalie to stop all three (or more) shot attempts. But he can't go 0-for-3, which is what Bryz did. Giguere was also beaten three times on three attempts. However, the Colorado netminder got help from the crossbar on Matt Read's game-ending unsuccessful bid to prolong the skills competition.
Win or lose, shootouts remain a terrible way to decide a team game. Any time a team musters a final-minute comeback to rescue a point from the game, it's hard to get too worked up about not leaving with a second point. The Flyers go at it again tomorrow night in Dallas.
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Tom Sesisto made his Flyers regular season debut last night, replacing Jody Shelley in the lineup. I thought that Sestito did a nice job forechecking and throwing his weight around. He figured in the second Colorado goal, as the puck bounced off his skate. But those things happen.
Matt Walker, who has been with the club all month since clearing recall waivers, finally got into the lineup last night. He played just 8:59. Walker's most notable moment came when he broke up a 2-on-1 attempt.
Walker played because Kevin Marshall has been returned to the Phantoms. Andreas Lilja is likely to make his return to the lineup tomorrow night.
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Although the official word on Claude Giroux is that he remains out indefinitely with a concussion, I suspect that he will be in the lineup by Friday night's game against the Rangers. As a matter of fact, if Giroux has his way, I think he may even be a game-time decision tomorrow night in Dallas.
All of this, of course, is dependent on Giroux being symptom free.
I am always a believer in erring on the side of caution with injuries, especially where concussions and groin pulls are concerned. I am leery of Giroux playing at all this week, even if he thinks he's ready. I'd rather the Flyers hold their best player out of an extra game or two where he could have played than potentially lament losing him for a much longer period of time if it turns out he came back too soon.
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