The Hatred Continues

For the Flyers, Tuesday’s first leg of the home and home series with Pittsburgh was one worthy of forgetting. From the drop of the puck (and gloves) to the final horn, the Penguins dominated Philadelphia in Mellon Arena in front of some rowdy Pittsburgh fans just two nights ago. As always with these home and home series, familiarity breeds contempt and undoubtedly the already highly competitive Pennsylvania civil war is going to be just as if not more physical when the Flyers and Penguins suit up for round two tonight. The Pens will be in search of the home and home sweep while the Flyers are just trying to right the ship under their new coach Peter Laviolette after a lackluster effort in the Steel City two nights ago. Jordan Staal was a force for the Pens in the game in Pittsburgh scoring two goals and again proving to be the most fearsome shorthanded weapon in the NHL. Even though the power play went just 1 for 4 the other night, the Penguins may have to start taking penalties instead of drawing them as they scored two shorthanded tallies. Flyers Captain Mike Richards offered up quite the quote to NHL.com following the Flyers 6-1 loss on Tuesday when he said simply: “We’re not playing with enough heart right now to win.” That is the sound of a demoralized captain and the Penguins need to look to capitalize on the fragile psyche of the Flyers early here tonight as when Philly surrenders the first goal of a hockey game they are a dismal 3-11 this year. An early goal from the Pens could send the Flyers into a tailspin from which it may be too difficult to recover. Some news on the injury front as Bill Guerin was struck by a puck on the ankle in the 2nd period on Tuesday night and missed practice yesterday, but despite the injury he is still going to skate tonight and hopefully he feels no ill effects.

After the brawls in Pittsburgh just 48 short hours ago, fans hungry for a rematch will have to wait no longer as the Ali – Frazier in the hockey world is set to get underway. Sidney Crosby sets the puck up for Chris Kunitz who just fans on an attempt on the doorstep of Brian Boucher’s crease. Jeff Carter counterattacks for Philly taking the puck down the right wing boards crossing inside the circle and throws the puck at Marc-Andre Fleury as it bounces through the crease to the hated Scott Hartnell who sends the puck into the twine to start the scoring in a hurry at 1-0 Flyers. Philadelphia fans show their displeasure at the first penalty of the night as Daniel Carcillo is called for high sticking into the mug of Crosby giving the Pens a chance to pull even. Pittsburgh is able to capitalize as Evgeni Malkin throws a puck into the padding of Boucher and the rebound is cleaned up by Guerin and into the Philly net to tie this one up at 1-1. A terrible giveaway by Flyers goalkeeper Boucher results in a chance for Staal as Boucher recovers just in the knick of time to make a pad save on Staal’s attempt. It took a minute or two longer than the other night, but the first fight ensues as Mike Rupp and Arron Asham throwdown again much like Tuesday night with both men landing some quality punches resulting in a virtual wash. Pittsburgh is penalized off of the ensuing faceoff as Tyler Kennedy is sent to the box for tripping giving Philly their first power play chance of the night. The Flyers get a great chance as the man advantage is winding down courtesy of a terrible rebound off the pads of Fleury but he quickly redeems himself by absolutely robbing Danny Briere on the rebound attempt reaching back over his head to snatch the biscuit with his glove. Malkin is beginning to make his presence known out on the ice taking pucks away from Philadelphia defenders creating odd man breakouts for the Pens on two successive shifts. The Pens go on the man advantage again as Carter is in the sin bin for roughing but the Flyers kill off the infraction without much threat. Carter lets a wrist shot fly from the far circle and Fleury answers his quick release with an even quicker glove hand to freeze the puck.

Time runs out on the opening period of play bringing to a close a rather entertaining twenty minutes of hockey with a high quantity of shots for both sides as Pittsburgh fired 14 to Philly’s 11 in the 1st period. Pittsburgh has to be happy with that period as they look to open things up a bit more over the next two periods and find some more room for their defensemen to work in the offensive zone by pinching down the wings a bit. The second frame gets going with Malkin taking an unnecessary penalty tripping after being stripped of the puck by Ryan Parent and the Flyers cash in immediately as Carcillo throws a puck off of the pads of Fleury and the rebound is buried by Claude Giroux to give Philly a 2-1 lead. A beautiful outlet pass from the neutral zone by Alex Goligoski creates a two on one chance for the Pens with Craig Adams feathering a pass through to Rupp who just hits the outside of the Philadelphia netting. The goal scorer Giroux is called for a high stick giving the Penguins their third power play of the evening. Scrambling in their own end on the man advantage, the Pens even things up as Malkin takes a hooking penalty for hauling down Hartnell and there will be some four on four hockey for a bit. As the penalized players are ready to exit the box, Hartnell is sent there himself for taking down Penguins Jay McKee with a trip to put the Pens back on the power play. A shot off the boards by Sergei Gonchar comes to Kunitz who touches the puck from alongside the net onto the stick of Crosby by the near circle as he winds up on a slap shot and sends the puck barreling behind Boucher to even things up at 2-2. Another whistle on the Flyers as Carter bats a puck over the boards into the netting in his own zone and heads to the box for a delay of game infraction. The penalty expires with no damage and Fleury is called upon to make an outstanding save as he stretches his pad out to deny Asham on the doorstep. The grittiness of the Penguins continues to pay dividends as they have already blocked a number of Flyers shots tonight to help out their goaltender. The next goal could be a critical one as the Penguins are 23-0 when scoring three of more goals in a game this season. Ruslan Fedotenko goes down as it appears he takes a stick to the face and is helped off of the ice going immediately to the locker room.

The rest of the Penguins will join him as the 2nd period concludes with the score still knotted up at 2-2. This has been a whale of a game thus far much cleaner than the first leg of the home and home on Tuesday night and hopefully that sets things up for a dramatic conclusion in the final twenty minutes of action. Period three gets going with Geno zinging a wrist shot from the high slot that is denied by Boucher’s glove hand. Fleury is standing tall at the opposite end of the ice as well stoning two Flyers shots on the doorstep with his right pad. Some kind words for sure are exchanged as Hartnell finds himself pressed against the boards by the Penguins bench when the whistle sounds as the puck goes out of play. The Crosby, Guerin, and Kunitz combination creates a golden opportunity as the puck finds its way onto the stick of Sid on the right wing but the puck is deflected over the top of the cage by the left pad of Boucher on another brilliant stop. Brooks Orpik de-skates Hartnell in the Penguins zone and Hartnell returns the favor crunching Malkin into the boards at the other end of the ice with a shoulder. The physicality is really picking up as the hits keep coming and the scrums after the whistle are beginning to be more and more chippy in nature. Offsetting penalties are assessed as both Parent and Matt Cooke are sent to the box for roughing and there will be some four and four skating for the next two minutes. Some furiously strong action by the Penguins as Kennedy does the dirty work with Adams down low to get the puck out to Gonchar creeping up in the slot as he fires a shot on net stopped by Boucher. Fleury is forced to answer again on a shot by Kimmo Timonen and he does as the puck is iced by McKee.

The third goal continues to be elusive for both teams as this game will head into overtime for an extra five minutes of action. Both teams have earned one point and are in pursuit of a second as the puck is dropped and coincidental minors by Orpik and Carcillo are called as they slashed one another and there will be three on three hockey with tons of open ice. This really is a rarity in the game other than in practice for these teams with just a few bodies out on the ice. Back to the customary four on four overtime style now as the penalties run out as does the time on the clock and this one will be settled in a shootout. The Flower will be up first in the alternating format as the Flyers choose to shoot first and Danny Briere starts things off and Fleury denies his chance with a poke check. Kris Letang is up for the Pens and a disgusting fake from the Tanger sikes Boucher and he scores to make this 1-0. Fleury poke checks again taking the puck off of the stick of Giroux and Crosby comes through in the clutch with the deciding goal as he goes over the shoulder of Boucher to earn the extra point for the Pens in a 3-2 shootout victory.

The next game is on Saturday night as the Pens will get their first look at the Buffalo Sabres and make the trip up to the shores of Lake Erie to test themselves against one of the league’s best netminders in Ryan Miller. The contest will be the backend of a back to back for Buffalo however, so it may be Patrick Lalime in net for the Sabres instead depending on who they choose to start tomorrow night. Regardless of who is between the pipes for Buffalo, this should be an interesting game against an unfamiliar opponent up to this point in the season.

Tags: Alex Goligoski, Arron Asham, Bill Guerin, Brian Boucher, Brooks Orpik, Buffalo Sabres, Chris Kunitz, Claude Giroux, Craig Adams, Daniel Carcillo, Danny Briere, Evgeni Malkin, Jay McKee, Jeff Carter, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, Marc Andre Fleury, Matt Cooke, Mike Richards, Patrick Lalime, Peter Laviolette, Philadelphia Flyers, Ruslan Fedotenko, Ryan Miller, Ryan Parent, Scott Hartnell, Sergei Gonchar, Tyler Kennedy