Ahh, spring. Warm weather and the Flyers tumbling and falling down the stretch. The playoffs are all but a pipe dream at this point and being eliminated from the race is imminent. But hey, at least the Bruins have found a way to choke themselves all the way out of a playoff spot, so at least some things in the world are good.
However, the Flyers game today was not good. That is from a score standpoint, as they lost 1-0 in Columbus. This has been a common theme for the Flyers while playing in Columbus, as they have not won in Nationwide Arena since December 13, 2005.
This game took on the same story line that so many others have this season, with the Flyers playing very well — like the better team — but coming out with the loss.
Scott Hartnell started out the game asserting his presence as the ultimate player in a game of “should of kept” also featuring Sam Gagner and Sergei Bobrovsky. Scott ran over Brandon Manning, giving him war flashbacks to the Connor McDavid incident. Soon after, the Flyers were granted a power play, an area where the Flyers have not scored since former Rangers goalie Gump Worsley retired in 1974. They did exactly what they’ve done on the power play the last few weeks and … didn’t score! The first period ended scoreless, as nothing much happened. Nick Schultz took a phantom tripping penalty just to remind everyone that he is still playing for a team, known as the Flyers. The Flyers out shot Columbus 11-5, tightly following the prevailing narrative of this season.
Did we mention Matt Read has woken up from hibernation? Read was tied for the league lead in goals to start the season and has been asleep ever since. Matt has had a resurgence over the last two games playing alongside Claude Giroux. This would be all nice and fuzzy to hear if Travis Konecny was not playing on the 4th line getting 12:17 minutes of ice time, with the bulk of that coming in the third period.
The second period yielded much of the same results the first did, that is until Wayne Simmonds broke his stick, Andrew MacDonald passed a puck directly to Kyle Quincey. Alexander Wennberg would then score on the ensuing turnover, as Neuvirth didn’t even see the puck go in and was still in the standing position as the puck crossed the line. It was bad. Seriously watch this.
Andrew MacDonald throws a puck in the middle of the ice directly to the other team, Neuvirth lets in a soft goal
Saw that coming. pic.twitter.com/uvZCAwitE3
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) March 25, 2017
Radko Gudas also had a fight which was nice. It last approximately 0.6 seconds with him and Boone Jenner wrestling each other to the ground.
Gudas Vs. Jenner pic.twitter.com/3mBcy4nxWx
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) March 25, 2017
The Flyers ended the second period still following the script, outshooting Columbus 24-13 but still losing 1-0. Nothing fun went on during the third period as the game just dragged out. The Flyers clearly looked defeated, and Columbus was on their way to a win.
Well folks, we’ve got eight games left in the season. Only eight more games of top defensemen Andrew MacDonald and 4th liner Travis Konecny. So if you need a positive there is one for you. The Flyers are back in action tomorrow against everyone’s favorite team … the Pittsburgh Penguins. This will be the final game of the season against the Penguins, and will take place in Wells Fargo Center West or ‘The House Bobrovsky Built’. Maybe the Flyers can channel some 2012 magic for that one, but until then … the Flyers are bad. Goodbye.
