Tonight was supposed to be a light affair — meet up with old friends and family and spend some much needed happy time together. But the Red Wings had other ideas, ruining the Flyers‘ Thanksgiving with a 5-2 loss.
In all honesty, theres not all that much to be thankful for in this game. The offense got some bad deals, for sure, but it was clear that the Red Wings worked the Flyers right to the bone. That kind of thing will happen when the only flavors your defense has are “dog turd” and a slight hint of fairly decent Swiss chocolate. Ugh.
The first course of the game was a little weird. The Flyers certainly seemed to be in fairly good control, yet the Red Wings were the first too cook up some offense after Stephen Weiss tipped the biscuit past Steve Mason. That goal was a little odd — Andrew MacDonald wasn’t really providing sufficient coverage of Darren Helm (the guy who shot the puck), and Braydon Coburn may have been unintentionally screening Mason. Regardless of whose fault it ultimately was, when those ingredients combine, it’s bound to be gravy for the opposition.
Other than that goal, the first period was rather…bland. It ended being pretty well-balanced, but certainly left me hungry for more.
The second course started off tasty enough, with Claude Giroux quickly slicing into the zone and firing the puck past Jimmy Howard. But unfortunately, Thomas Jurco put the Wings right back on top, gobbling up a juicy rebound right in the slot and delivering it directly to the back of the net. Pavel Datsyuk then put a cherry on top, picking up a goal on the power play.
And the magician wasn’t done there — he just kept ladling it on, scoring another one before the end of the period.
All of that drama left a really bad taste in my mouth, and it seemed like Thanksgiving was going to be ruined, for the first time in history, by some wings.
Jake Voracek did his part to cleanse my palate, scoring a goal on the power play for the third course, but it just wasn’t enough to leave me satiated. Other than that goal, absolutely nothing worthy of note happened in the period, which was awesome considering the Flyers had dug themselves into such a deep hole.
Come to think of it, I guess this was a pretty typical Thanksgiving. I ended the night feeling like absolute crap and wondering why I keep returning to the ones I love despite the fact that they annoy me every single time. So…I guess not all is lost?
Here are some of Al’s Tasty Tidbits™:
- Michael Raffl made his return tonight after missing eight games due to an injury, playing the wing alongside Scott Laughton and Wayne Simmonds. That line seemed to dish out the goods immediately, drawing a fowl on the Red Wings during their first shift together. Later, Raffl and Simmonds found themselves on a two-on-one, which unfortunately resulted in the puck deflecting off the post. All in all, it was nice to see that Raffl was able to make it back for the holidays.
- Jake Voracek is still an absolute beast. Multiple times tonight, he was able to carve out space for himself and maKe holding on to the puck look easy as pie. He also drew a pretty amazing holding penalty on Henrik Zetterberg that Bill Clement just straight up drooled over. The guy is a cornucopia of hockey greatness, and we should all be very thankful that he’s on the Flyers.
- Kyle Quincy must have voiced some political opinions that Sean Couturier REALLY disagreed with, because the two started fighting towards the end of the second period. Couturier, who isn’t exactly a “fighter” per se, looked formidable enough, throwing punch after punch like he was trying to tenderize some meat. But in the end, Quincy and Couturier mutually decided to end the ordeal and accept each other’s differences.
- If you had doubts about whether or not Pavel Datsyuk hates America and its traditions, it’s time to toss that notion in the garbage like week old leftovers. Datsyuk ruined Thanksgiving worse than that creepy uncle who you never see but always shows up year after year and just kind of stares at your little sister inappropriately. Yeah, he was that good tonight.
- The Flyers power play was really sub par tonight — they registered just one shot on four opportunities. That kind of thing just can’t continue in the future, especially given how much they rely on special teams.
- Claude Giroux finally got an even strength goal tonight, so I guess we will all stop talking about how he might be a bad captain (hahaha, that will never happen). Giroux is obviously this team’s best player and that was never in doubt, but regardless, it’s nice to see him stuffing the puck in the net in five on five situations.
- Steve Mason was asked to leave the table after surrendering three goals on only 14 shots, presumably in an attempt to spur the Flyers’ appetites. I don’t know if, well, any of those goals could be entirely blamed on Mason, but regardless, he was sent to bed without dessert.
- The entire crowd starting singing “Living on a Prayer” at some point in the third period. I know you guys are back from college and all, but leave that kind of crap at State when you come home. /
- R.J. Umberger sucks.
