[Boxscore] – [New York Reaction]
I don’t complain about officiating often. In fact, I’m not sure I ever have in the last year-plus I’ve been writing at this location. But today is a different story, one that demands calling out a pathetic effort by Kerry Fraser and Rob Martell.
With the Flyers rolling in the second period, Kimmo Timonen tee’d up from the point and blasted one by Dwayne Roloson to make it 3-0 Flyers. Fraser, the referee positioned behind the goal line, signaled that it was a goal. Scott Hartnell then continued his momentum toward the net and goaltender Roloson, plowing him over after Timonen’s shot was already in and out of the net.
Martell, positioned out near the blue line, came in and told Fraser that the goal should be waved off and it should be a penalty on Hartnell for goalie interference instead. 2-0 Flyers, with a power play to the Islanders
Just follow along with me here for a second. If the puck crosses the goal line, the play is dead. It’s a goal. So how can it be goaltender interference if, technically speaking, it never happened? Never mind the fact that you can’t interfere with a goalie while the puck is in the net.
It defies logic, but so does a lot of the stuff with this league. Of course, thanks to their zebra-accelerated spark, the Isles came out on the ensuing power play and scored, turning the gaffe into a two goal difference. The Isles then turned it on even more, creating a third period that was essentially Ray Emery versus the ugly stepchild of the New York sports scene, the entire Islanders team.
Luckily for us, Emery was up to the task. He wound up with 31 saves on the afternoon and the Flyers were able to squeak out the 2-1 victory. A game the Flyers completely dominated otherwise turned into an afternoon of unnecessarily nail biting hockey, and an outstanding performance by the newly-minted line of Darroll Powe, Danny Briere and Jeff Carter will be the note from this game that likely goes ignored.
But what ultimately matters is that the Flyers came away with the two points and a 4-2 record on the six game homestand. With a nice little road trip against some pretty weak Western Conference foes on the horizon, the orange and black are set up to make a nice little run over the next week.
After the jump, questions with answers and the comment of the day.
Questions With Answers
- Does Trevor Gillies, New York’s called-up tough guy, try any nonsense today? He played less than Riley Cote’s average ice time this season.
Can Mike Richards score his 100th goal yet? We’ve been waiting a week, Mike. Richards was completely invisible at even strength and if it weren’t for his really pretty assist on Hartnell’s PPG in the first, he would’ve been invisible on special teams as well.
Can anybody on the top two lines do.. um, anything?! Powe-Carter-Briere showed up, at least.
Does the Powe/Hartnell swap last, and does it create anything? It lasted, and Powe certainly had some immediate chemistry with his new linemates.
Comment of the Day
I cannot wait to see Lavvy go ballistic on the refs.
