I've mentioned several times during the playoffs, the Flyers have been playing incredibly unpredictable. As soon as you think Philadelphia is going to close out a game, the team blows it. When the odds are against them, the Flyers set themselves up to win again...
...but then that's what makes sports great.
Tonight of course was no different. The Flyers were playing the top seed Montreal, the game was the Flyers' third game in four days, and the game was in Montreal.
But it didn't appear to matter.
The Flyers stayed back in all game and started their rushes from their own zone. It neutralized the Canadiens rush and speed throughout the Habs' top three lines. Montreal won the face-off battle by a lot 41-27. This should have stalled the Flyers offense.
But it didn't.
The Flyers out shot Montreal and drew more legitimate power plays (see below for details). The Flyers got goals from two unlikely sources: R.J. Umberger and Jim Dowd in the first period.
But the lead didn't last.
Montreal came storming back in the second period. The Habs controlled the pace, out shooting the Flyers 13-9 and out scoring them 2-0. Andrei Kostitsyn scored his fourth playoff goal and with less than four minutes left in period, Alexei Kovalev scored short handed.
But the Flyers came back.
The third period belonged to the Flyers. A shot advantage of 13-9 led to the Flyers controlling most of the period. Joffrey Lupul scored just 19 seconds into the period on a power play that carried over from the end of the second period.
But it didn't matter.
A penalty on Mike Richards with just over a minute left gave Montreal a six on four when the Habs pulled their goalie. Fast forward to 29 seconds left and the puck is in the net thanks to Alexei Kovalev. The Habs had all the momentum going into the overtime period.
And this mattered.
First shift in overtime, Tom Kostopoulos scored for Montreal and it was over. Two goals in the last 1:17 meant Montreal escapes with a 1-0 series lead.
__________________________________________
The Flyers did several things very well. Philadelphia limited the amount of penalties they took big time. Dumb penalty after dumb penalty against Washington allowed the Caps to stay in several games they should have been out of early.
That just wasn't the case tonight. The Canadiens' only power play for the majority of the game came early in the second period.
The Flyers also managed to stay in this game without any contributions from Philly's top players. Daniel Briere in his return home to Quebec, Scott Hartnell, and Vinny Prospal didn't notch a single point.
__________________________________________
The Flyers had this game stolen from them. I didn't get to watch, only was able to listen to the radio coverage. I did get to see the highlights which showed the wrong calls.
The second Montreal goal cannot be a goal in any way. There's no justifying it. How could Kovalev scored? His stick came down on the top of the goal after he hit the puck. That is a TEXT BOOK high stick. I don't understand how that can possibly be anything different. You clearly see his stick come down after he hits the puck, it's not like it went upwards after he hit the puck and then down onto the goal. That shouldn't have been a goal.
The Mike Richards penalty that gave Montreal a power play with under a minute left was not a penalty. It was ruled kneeling. His knee never makes contact with the Canadiens' player. That was a clean hit. Philadelphia has legitimate gripes in this game.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Canadiens Comeback to Take Game One
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
16 comments:
The video I saw of Kovy's SHG showed him hitting the puck with the heel of his stick just as it was under the crossbar. Certainly really close, but since it was ruled a goal initially and there really wasn't indisputable evidence otherwise, it stands.
Exactly. The heel of the blade was even with or below the crossbar... the tip of the blade was above. The puck went into the net off the heel of the blade. It was a goal in my opinion.
Ok, it's hard to over turn that call with the angles, so I guess you can say it's a goal.
But, there's not justifying the penalty. The penalty put Montreal in position to score the final goal.
I can live with the decision on the high stick call, it was really close, but they only had called about 3 penalties the ENTIRE game and then to wait until there was under 2 minutes to go to get the whistle back out of their pockets... then there had better been an infraction! Washington was upset that a penalty was called on them in OT which led to the Flyers winning the series but it actually was a blatant trip! There was nothing to call here.
I agree, its outrageous to call a phantom penalty with only 2 min to go!
I'm not really sure how you consider that a "clean hit". When you take out one leg in the middle of open ice it's gonna be a penalty. I don't care if it's tripping, kneeing, roughing, or whatever. Those kinds of sloppy open ice hits have been penalties all season long, and they're not going to stop now.
they called the goal a goal in Toronto (NHL HQ for goal review), as opposed to "inconclusive".
The penalty was an attempted knee on knee. Those are career ending hits and automatic penalties, whether he connects or not. The NHL has cracked down on them ... so it was legitimate.
Habs hit 2 posts and a missed a break away, while the flyers had 2 fluke goals. So stop whining the flyers got robbed ... they were lucky to be in the game at all.
since when is a "knee" a "shoulder"?
I watched the video again of both the goal and the hit. As I've been informed, it's where the puck hits the stick, not the entire stick is what matters when it comes to determining a high stick. The puck appears to be below the goal when hit by the stick.
That said on a side note, that rule should be changed. If the heel of the stick, the dangerous part of the stick is above the goal, the goal shouldn't count. But I digress.
On the hit, I have no problem with the refs making that call if it was a legitimate penalty. The problem was, there is nothing about that hit that is illegal. He hits shoulder first and the little contact with his knee comes after the hit with the shoulder. Most hits in the NHL involved shoulder first and the knee gets driven into the guy to finish the check.
amen! GO FLYERS!
it was an attempted knee on knee. Check the rule book ... legit penalty (the same way a can opener is this year)
what is Carter, a left hander, doing taking a crucial draw on the left side in his own end anyway. Thats a left handers weak side. Bad coaching. ... Like i said, lucky to be in the game at all.
cry cry cry some more please.
You watch highlights and scoreboards and think what you have to say in that post holds any value??? PLEASE.
Stop whining about officials. What goes around comes around. I remember Koivu getting eye gouged with a stick, bleeding from his eye socket, and no call was made.
Stop whining.
Habs won that fair and square.
And BY THE WAY.
Flyers scored ONE GOAL and got 2 lucky bounces in.
Brisebois scored on our own net and Lupul luckily had his leg where the puck landed from the air.
Pshhhhh, cry some more.
Thanks for your input anon. I'm glad you contributed to this article by posting meaningful thoughts.
Taking video and breaking it down frame by frame like I did on those two plays has some value.
If there is an attempted knee on knee in the forest...
and nobody's knee is their to collide...
does it warrant a penalty...?
It doesn't, unless it's a whiny Canadian.
Post a Comment