7,773.
Recaps don’t usually start with the attendance, but for me this is the biggest story of the afternoon. It is an absolute embarrassment for a team in the largest metropolitan area in the country to fail to put up 50% attendance, and to fall short of putting five-digit attendance in the seats for a weekend game against a marquee divisional opponent. I know the game was opposite the NFL, but that’s not an excuse.
As for the game which the Flyers and Islanders put on in front of this cozy crowd, it went pretty much as all Flyslanders games do. The Flyers were clearly the more talented team throughout, but Dwayne Roloson kept his team in it long enough for the Flyers to blink. And blink they did, giving up two shaky goals (the first on the defense, the second on Bob) in thirty-six seconds to go from 1-0 up to 2-1 down incredibly fast.
The universe righted itself in due time, with Andreas Nodl and Danny Briere both beating Roloson high stick to secure the Flyers twenty-first win in their last twenty-three games against the Islanders.
This was one of those days where in the end, you just wind up feeling bad for the whole Islanders organization (on the other days, you just forget they exist entirely).
Just three bullets on the second straight Flyer matinee win:
- Sergei Bobrovsky got his second straight afternoon start. Why? Don’t trust Brian Boucher to be adequate against the Islanders?
- Nikolay Zherdev (he of the eight goals and one assist) really doesn’t like to pass. Ever. I assume this is already obvious to everyone, but it bears repeating. Can’t imagine he’s much fun as a linemate (or anywhere else).
- Andrej Meszaros, on the other hand, is a model teammate, with his one goal and eight assists. Two more helpers today gave him the team lead on points for the day, and presumably means he gets to pick the DVD for the bus ride home (I’m predicting Ice Age 2).
After the jump, questions answered, and a comment of the night afternoon.
Questions to Answer
Peter Laviolette promised power play goals after yesterday’s game. So, coach? Like he would ever lie to us. Nodl’s goal was on the PP, and Carle’s came mere seconds after one ended.
Claude Giroux’s 100th point today, like, for real this time? Done. Our long national nightmare is over.
Can Mike Richards keep up his fiery play? He was good, as per usual. Not the story of the day, but Richie is an increasingly consistent force.
The penalty kill hasn’t looked good lately either. Any turnaround in that department? Not an especially sexy kill today, but it was enough.
The play in the neutral zone lately has been sloppy. Really sloppy. Breakouts, gaining the offensive zone, etc. Improvement? Did a good job of keeping the play in the Isles end for most of the game, except a small stretch of third period.
Comment of the Afternoon:
Andreas Nodl = Islander Killer. Since he destroys The Islanders, may we call him “The Hurricane” or “Hurricane Nodl” or something?
…
Get it? Because hurricanes destroy islands???
(crickets…) —mikefive
Fish on ice Wednesday. It’s a regular season game, sadly. Go Flyers.
