Bill Meltzer: Wrap: 4-3 OT Win in DC; Alumni Game in Reading

I'm so happy Voracek is turning his season around.

Last night was also proof that if our first PP unit doesn't convert, no one else will. Once Read hit the ice it seemed all pressure was lost. Not to pick on him, but was it someone here that said if Read is our threat on the 2nd unit we're in trouble? We need more sustained secondary scoring.

I know Ryan white has caught a lot of heat lately for his play but it was nice to see him get rewarded with a goal, guy is always working hard. Ghost seems to be getting more and more comftorable every game and hak is gaining trust, can't wait for the rest of the D prospects to get to the big club. Neuvirth did not have a good game, good thing holtby wasnt on his game

Caps were lethargic during the first and Holtby was often left to fend for himself. But the Caps still dominated stretches and forced the game into OT.

But the Flyers showed resiliency and hard work to get the win and to retake the lead in the second after the Caps tied it. It's a nice way to enter an extended break.

I'm so happy Voracek is turning his season around.

Last night was also proof that if our first PP unit doesn't convert, no one else will. Once Read hit the ice it seemed all pressure was lost. Not to pick on him, but was it someone here that said if Read is our threat on the 2nd unit we're in trouble? We need more sustained secondary scoring.
- moose_is_loose

We used to have a guy named Vinny that didn't get a long look this year on 2nd unit. He racked up another point last night!
The 2nd unit is sorely missing Couturier but even with him they need help!

To all the Flyer win predictors, I apologize ( what was I thinking of? )
Good thing we were not playing Toronto or the Oilers.
Sick roof job by Voracek on the winner

And who would be getting Vinny the puck?

I watched last night the LA and Colorado game. At even strength he is still slow. And yes he gets 2nd PP time there but he is also out there with Gaborik, Brown I believe and other threats.

And really who cares about Vinny. So Vinny is picking up some points. Is another 2 years of Vinny worth those points? Or is getting out of the deal, essentially in a buyout without future repercussions better? I'll take the cap space we are getting and continue to reshape the roster

Caps were lethargic during the first and Holtby was often left to fend for himself. But the Caps still dominated stretches and forced the game into OT.

But the Flyers showed resiliency and hard work to get the win and to retake the lead in the second after the Caps tied it. It's a nice way to enter an extended break.
- Jsaquella

They were terrible moving the puck in the first.

Gagner had a nice turnover for the first goal. I know the puck had zip but he has to either direct it out of the zone or handle it.

Nice goal by White and he had some other good moments in the offensive zone.

But seeing him out there killing a penalty in the last minute of a tied game was scary. He just doesn't have the skating ability or defensive awareness to be a good penalty killer.

We used to have a guy named Vinny that didn't get a long look this year on 2nd unit. He racked up another point last night!
The 2nd unit is sorely missing Couturier but even with him they need help!
- 3flyerkids

I'm chalking his play up as the last hoorah. Once he agreed to retire there's no holding back. It's the only thing keeping me somewhat assured about the whole thing.

It's true. There are plenty of other holes to fill first, but if there would be any splashes Hextall makes in the next few years of free agency I think a top-6 winger would make sense.

I'm so happy Voracek is turning his season around.

Last night was also proof that if our first PP unit doesn't convert, no one else will. Once Read hit the ice it seemed all pressure was lost. Not to pick on him, but was it someone here that said if Read is our threat on the 2nd unit we're in trouble? We need more sustained secondary scoring.
- moose_is_loose

The second PP unit had been looking pretty good, but then it lost Couturier to a lower body injury and lost Medvedev because of Hakstol's bizarre infatuation with an AHL plug.

I'm chalking his play up as the last hoorah. Once he agreed to retire there's no holding back. It's the only thing keeping me somewhat assured about the whole thing.

It's true. There are plenty of other holes to fill first, but if there would be any splashes Hextall makes in the next few years of free agency I think a top-6 winger would make sense.
- moose_is_loose

I don't mind seeing Vinny do well. People are comparing our roster to LA's like it's apples to apples. LA is up near the top of the standings and was before the trade. Vinny went to a team with superior depth at forward which can allow Vinny to do his thing. If he were to have stayed here and played, we'd be seeing him languish playing alongside players who would not be able to completment him. Just because the deal seems to be working out for Vinny and LA doesn't mean it doesnt also work for us. We need the cap space going forward. I just hope Vinny honours his word and retires at season's end here.

And who would be getting Vinny the puck?

I watched last night the LA and Colorado game. At even strength he is still slow. And yes he gets 2nd PP time there but he is also out there with Gaborik, Brown I believe and other threats.

And really who cares about Vinny. So Vinny is picking up some points. Is another 2 years of Vinny worth those points? Or is getting out of the deal, essentially in a buyout without future repercussions better? I'll take the cap space we are getting and continue to reshape the roster
- J35Bacher

It was a no brainer shipping him and eating the cap for the rest of the year. It comes down to LA's current situation and that their roster can better support - and quite frankly afford - to have someone like Vinny. I mean afford as in a slow, defenseless PP unit 2 threat, not $$.

It's just funny seeing him do well in that role. He'd have never fit in here.

Claude Giroux won the first faceoff cleanly back to Shayne Gostisbehere at the point.
- bmeltzer

This can't be. I was assured that Giroux never wins the opening faceoff on a PP.

All in all, they were quite lucky to get even one point, let alone two. The Caps took a period to get back on track, but they took it to the Flyers in the second (sort of like the Pittsburgh game). Neuvirth was good, not great, and the giveaway to White was just plain bad.

The first Caps' goal is going to happen sometimes with Ghost. He didn't make a bad play, but it was a risky play to fire a pass with a forechecker that close. It stinks that the puck jumped, but you've got to make smarter decisions with the puck. He generally does.

Glad to see Voracek finally finding his groove. I know there was a lot of hand wringing about him the first 2 months, justifiably, but it seemed like he just had an extended cold spell carrying over from last year.

And what the heck did Kuznetsov do after the Caps' 3rd goal? I'm not sure if he was signaling allegiance to Hitler or doing the abbreviated hokey pokey or what.

I know Ryan white has caught a lot of heat lately for his play but it was nice to see him get rewarded with a goal, guy is always working hard. Ghost seems to be getting more and more comftorable every game and hak is gaining trust, can't wait for the rest of the D prospects to get to the big club. Neuvirth did not have a good game, good thing holtby wasnt on his game
- ClaudeFather

Ryan White seems like a good guy and he does work hard. But aside from his goal off on an atrocious turnover, he just isn't really good at much other than winning faceoffs. Hard work does not equate directly to success.

I don't mind seeing Vinny do well. People are comparing our roster to LA's like it's apples to apples. LA is up near the top of the standings and was before the trade. Vinny went to a team with superior depth at forward which can allow Vinny to do his thing. If he were to have stayed here and played, we'd be seeing him languish playing alongside players who would not be able to completment him. Just because the deal seems to be working out for Vinny and LA doesn't mean it doesnt also work for us. We need the cap space going forward. I just hope Vinny honours his word and retires at season's end here.
- Hextall271

I actually just commented about LA's roster. This is absolutely the case. I hope the Flyers' roster can get to that level soon. It's just hard not to imagine Vinny in LA chuckling to himself that he still has it.

If Vinny goes back on his word I hope no team would offer him a contract to force him into retirement. That'd be slimy.

Also, anyone want to guess what's going to happen to Wideman? I'm not sure what he was thinking, that was a hard cross check to the linseman.

Also, anyone want to guess what's going to happen to Wideman? I'm not sure what he was thinking, that was a hard cross check to the linseman.

I havent seen the entire thing, but if he truly got his bell wrung then I could believe him not even knowing who he hit. Definitely not an excuse though...I doubt it will be less than 10 games

Glad to see Voracek finally finding his groove. I know there was a lot of hand wringing about him the first 2 months, justifiably, but it seemed like he just had an extended cold spell carrying over from last year.

- jmatchett383

It is crazy, right? It just would've been nice to have some stats that suggest he was in that cold spell. Then we could've known for sure

I havent seen the entire thing, but if he truly got his bell wrung then I could believe him not even knowing who he hit. Definitely not an excuse though...I doubt it will be less than 10 games
- YuenglingJagr

He seemed a little dazed from the hit. But he's skating slowly to his bench with one hand on his stick. Maybe 4 feet from the linesman, he puts both hands on the stick and violently cross checks him. I'm not buying the temporary insanity plea.

Ryan White seems like a good guy and he does work hard. But aside from his goal off on an atrocious turnover, he just isn't really good at much other than winning faceoffs. Hard work does not equate directly to success.
- jmatchett383

Once Couturier is back I would love to see the below lines:

Voracek - Giroux - Simmonds
Weal - Couturier - Schenn
Raffl - Laughton - Read
Vandevelde/Umberger - Bellemare - White


I know it might be high for weal but gives Couturier and Schenn a more playmaker winger. Also by sliding Raffl to the Laughton line I think it gives them more skill and skating. They have speed and can try to create havoc on fore-check and still be defensively responsible. Can also give them more minutes.

He seemed a little dazed from the hit. But he's skating slowly to his bench with one hand on his stick. Maybe 4 feet from the linesman, he puts both hands on the stick and violently cross checks him. I'm not buying the temporary insanity plea.
- jmatchett383

Yeah and he says this
“I was just trying to get off the ice. And, at the last second, I looked up and saw him,” said Wideman post-game. “I couldn’t avoid it. I didn’t know where to go or how to get out of the way of him.”
Sooooo yeah he is getting the book and the kitchen sink

Yeah and he says this
“I was just trying to get off the ice. And, at the last second, I looked up and saw him,” said Wideman post-game. “I couldn’t avoid it. I didn’t know where to go or how to get out of the way of him.”
Sooooo yeah he is getting the book and the kitchen sink
- YuenglingJagr

For those who also didn't see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj4PoDrqv-E

I'd like to start a petition to changes Worthlessberger's number. I am convinced RJ has pictures of Hextall doing something really bad to a) get the trade to begin with and b) never get the healthy scratch.

We can't even say he costs $4.6M per goal. He'd have to score once for us to say that.

He is an embarrassment to Pronger's #20. He should be wearing #0. How do we make this happen?

Last night's Phantoms game.

http://ahl.neulion.com/ah...binghamton-senators/14138