October 24, 2015
It was rivalry night on Saturday in Philly, so the Flyers (4-2-1) and New York Rangers (5-2-1) gave the rowdy crowd a performance well worth the price of admission. In a game that saw a combined 78 shots (48 for the Flyers!), the Orange and Black topped the Rangers in a shootout of all places, 3-2.
Michael Raffl’s scary situation is the story of the night and rightfully so, but this was also an excellent hockey game. Here’s what I saw:
• After 60 exciting minutes ended deadlocked at 2-2, the 3-on-3 overtime and shootout were even better. Henrik Lundqvist came up huge for New York on multiple occasions, but both Claude Giroux and Sam Gagner deked “The King” out of his pads in the shootout.
• By the way, here’s Giroux’s goal. Filthy (GIF via @BradyTrett):
Claude Giroux isn't fair. pic.twitter.com/aDp7uaQ1Pp
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) October 25, 2015
• Both goalies brought the goods. I joked about it on Twitter, but it’s unfair for Lundqvist to be so good at hockey and also ridiculously good-looking. One or the other, but not both. He made 46 saves on 46 shots. Hank left Wayne Simmonds smarting on this 2-on-1 attempt (GIF via @SonsofPenn):
Lundqvist stones Simmonds pic.twitter.com/0dJXx7h8Pv
— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) October 24, 2015
• In the other net, Steve Mason had some swag tonight. Like, he actually made a couple of his 36 saves with some attitude. But Mason’s best stop of the night came when he had to go into scramble mode (GIF via @BradyTrett):
Insane stick save from Steve Mason pic.twitter.com/5uhLQKD3pq
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) October 24, 2015
• Both sides had their moments, but this was a pretty even game by Corsi (58-56 Philly at 5v5). The Flyers acquitted themselves well against a good team, especially considering they were without two of their top-six forwards (Raffl and the Rinaldo’d Sean Couturier) for most of the game.
• Radko Gudas might be hearing for the Department of Player Safety for an open-ice hit on Viktor Stalberg. No penalty was called on the play, but the hit appeared to be pretty dicey.
• The Flyers’ goalscorers were Mark Streit and Scott Laughton. Laughton, who lofted a beautiful wrister from the left circle over Lundqvist’s shoulder, looks to be solidifying a spot on the big club after coming into training camp on the bubble.
• There was a little controversy in this one as well. Stoll had a goal disallowed for this reason. Gotta let the man do his job!
#NHL: "Stoll made incidental contact with ... Mason before the puck crossed the goal line, preventing Mason from doing his job" #doyourjob
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) October 25, 2015
The Flyers continue their homestand on Tuesday night against promising rookie Jack Eichel and the Buffalo Sabres (2-6-0). On paper, the matchup looks like a golden opportunity for the Orange and Black to take two points and keep up their winning ways/get back on the right track.
It’s also Danny Briere night, as the Flyers will honor their new front office employee’s retirement. They can only hope the result is the same as it was last week when Kimmo Timonen took center stage. The puck drops a little after 7:00 p.m.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
