January 02, 2015
From Claude Giroux's injury to Steve Mason's strong play, and everything in between, here are eight things I took away from the Flyers' 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes:
Claude Giroux was rushed off the ice in the third period after being cut on the back of the leg by the Justin Faulk. Giroux was helped off the ice near the Hurricanes bench (that’s the side of the ice where the injury took place), meaning they wanted to get him off the ice and to a locker room - any locker room - as soon as possible. If that wasn’t scary enough, the replay really showed what actually happened.
This Claude Giroux injury looked Erik Karlsson bad. https://t.co/tvUQtGohSo
— Dave Lozo (@DaveLozo) January 3, 2015
[Here's a photo of the injury, which turned out to be a mere flesh wound, at least compared to what could have happened. DO NOT click that link if you're grossed out by this kind of stuff.]
Furthermore, the team did not release a status update on Giroux during the game. And - to no one’s surprise - the only update the team had after the game was that the captain suffered a lower-body injury. Oh, really?
UPDATE: The Flyers announced that Giroux is PROBABLE for tomorrow’s game. Did not see that one coming.
At the 12-minute mark of first period, Wayne Simmonds was clearly tripped during a great scoring chance in front of the Hurricanes net. There was no call, but he should have - or at least could have - scored. The replay confirmed that it should have been a penalty, but Simmonds didn’t appear upset by the lack of a call.
After being outshot 12-4 in first period, the Flyers were lucky to be trailing the Hurricanes just 1-0. They can thank Steve Mason for that. Carolina had three shots in final 1:07 of period, including a great chance by Jay McClement after a giveaway by Andrew MacDonald. It certainly could have been worse for the Orange and Black, but they still found themselves trailing after 20 minutes. The Hurricanes, on the other hand, found themselves in unfamiliar territory. For just the eighth time in their 32 games this season, they led after the first period.
The game would finish with the Hurricanes holding a 26-24 edge in shots, despite the Flyers getting their 10th shot of the game with less than five minutes remaining in the second period. The slow start, however, set the tempo, and forced the Flyers to play catchup the entire rest of the game.
NOTE: The Flyers fell to 4-15-4 when allowing the first goal.
Not only did Mason make critical saves late in the first, but neither of the Hurricane’s goals were Mason’s fault. Not entirely, at least. The first, netted by Brad Malone (13:41) in the first, came after Zach Boychuck stripped the puck from Mark Streit deep in the Carolina zone, creating a 2-on-1 break. The second goal came just 39 seconds into the second period after Matt Read allowed a bouncing puck to skip over his stick, eventually leading to goal by Eric Staal. Mason was also able to stop a great shorthanded opportunity by Patrick Dwyer in the second period.
Both Hurricanes goals came after turnovers. It was also a giveaway by MacDonald that led to McClement’s shot, which hit the post before settling under Mason’s pads, late in the first period.
How does a guy with such a diminutive stature play such a violent game? Nathan Gerbe (5-5, 178 pounds) reminds me of Darren Sproles in that way. He’s small, but effect. Shifty and fast. And he hustles. Look no further than the diving clear he made during the Flyers first power play of the second period. He brook up the play twice with the poke check, the second of which included a clearance while in mid-dive.
Flyers top line tonight: 2 shots
— Tim Panaccio (@tpanotchCSN) January 3, 2015
Giroux, Jake Voracek and Read needed to be better against one of the league's worst teams. They finished with six shots and a +/- of -1.
The Flyers had a pair of power plays in the second period and had just three shots to show for it. In fact, the best scoring chance probably came from the shorthanded Hurricanes in the former of a Patrick Dwyer breakaway.
The person selecting the music at the arena deserves a raise.
