[Boxscore] – [Wire Recap] – [SBN Game Page] – [New York Reaction]
[Shift Charts] – [Head-to-Head TOI] – [Corsi and Fenwick] – [5-on-5 Faceoffs]
Late in the third period, with a 1-1 game crawling toward overtime, the unlikely duo of Eric Wellwood and Andreas Nodl executed a textbook smash and grab.
Wellwood smashed a high shot into Dwayne Roloson‘s face, and Andreas Nodl grabbed an easy rebound and pushed it into the back of the net, giving the Flyers a 2-1 lead that they would hang onto for the remaining handful of minutes.
There were nervous moments from the two rookies in the line up at the end of this one, with Eric Wellwood missing a wide open empty net from inside the blueline, followed shortly by Sergei Bobrovsky sending a puck sailing into the stands a few seconds later. But a win is a win, and although a victory over the Islanders might seem like the most routine of results, this was a game the Flyers really had no business winning.
The Flyers did lose once in Uniondale late last season during the Jeremy Duchesne Era, but aside from that the Orange and Black’s complete inability to lose to the Orange and Blue is pretty absurd. The games are rarely pretty, but they’re almost always wins.
Some assorted bullet points on this sixth(!) straight Flyer win:
- Matt Carle’s stick save to rob Matt Moulson in the first period was absolutely crazy, even better than Mike Green’s on Mike Knuble in Game 4 of the 2008 ECQF (look it up if you don’t remember).
- There was none of the animosity that everyone expected from this game, at all. After the ugliness in their last meeting, the over/under was set at about 3.5 fights. But there were zero. Hmm.
- Jeffie (my new moniker for the bizarrely lightning rod-ish #17) broke yet another stick in a crucial moment, this time with a yawning net on a rebound from a Mike Richards shot. You really gotta change sticks, Jeffie. Really.
- Claude Giroux took a blast to the ankle in the dying moments of this game and seemed mildly hobbled by the experience. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious.
- Absolutely nothing to do with this game: has any GM ever gotten as much camera time during games as Brian Burke does in Toronto?
After the jump, questions answered, and a comment of the night.
Questions Answered:
- Any left over shenanigans from last time these teams met? Suspiciously few shenanigans.
What’s the apparent impact of scratching JVR? None, really. Wellwood and Nodl were beasts. Or as Kelis would say, bosses (I just heard that song, sorry).
The Flyers dominated the Isles last weekend in every aspect of the game. Same story tonight? Not at all. The Isles dominated this game, and probably deserved to win it.
Bobrovsky makes his sixth straight start. Any signs of slowing down? Never. He was awesome. But will he be too tired for the quick turnaround to tomorrow’s game in DC?
Comment of the Night:
I am so excited for Geoff right now.
Deal or Nodl? (Nonsensical but it’s the best I’ve got right now) —Ben Rothenberg (Yeah, I picked myself saying something absolutely ridiculous. Deal with it.)
The top two teams in the East do battle in Washington tomorrow. Should be fun. Go Flyers.
