The Orange Update

A Salute to a Good Night

Posted by Christian on February 22, 2012 · 2 Comments 

Well Flyers fans, we may have just witnessed one of the most exciting games all season.  If you were unfortunate enough to miss this game then check out these highlights (courtesy of NHL.com) and try and absorb some of the energy of the game:

There was a lot of back and forth hockey tonight, but the Flyers seemed to really have most of the chances.  The big stories to take away from this game are the 50 (that’s right, I said 50) shots that Pavalec saved in a losing effort tonight, the Flyers below average penalty kill, and the fact that Jaromir Jagr set a new record for most overtime game winners with his goal tonight at 16.

The game started getting interesting in the second period after the game had already been tied up with goals by Dustin Byfuglien and Claude Giroux.  The Flyers got things started early in the period with a nice power play goal by Scottie Hartnell –  he can’t be stopped, and thats why he leads the league in PP goals.  After this, things started getting heated.  The Jets came back with two goals of their own, one coming on the PP (that’s 2 now, we’ll address this later) and one on even strength.

With the Flyers down by a goal, Max Talbot ,the king of energy, ends up in the right spot on the side of the net and buries the rebound off a nice shot from the point from Andrej Meszaros.  This goal was huge for the Flyers, and even bigger for Talbot as he missed a wide open net earlier in the period.

With the score now tied at three heading into the third period, the game was on the line and no team could afford to make a mistake.  Just 5 minutes into the period the Flyers made what was almost a game changing mistake and allowed another power play goal by the Jets. Now, we know that this was ultimately an epic win for the Flyers, but something has to be said in regards to their penalty kill of late. They allowed 3 power play goals tonight, and this has been a reoccurring problem for the past few games especially.

Here are some unsettling statistics: in the month of February, the Flyers have allowed 12 goals on 47 chances. That’s a measly 74% on the penalty kill.  That means that the Flyers are getting burned 1 out of every 4 times they are shorthanded, and as of late that number has gone up.  It might seem sour to stress this issue after such a big win, but it is definitely something the Flyers need to improve, especially with the addition of two new defensemen.  If the Flyers don’t find a solution quickly, we could be in trouble.

Anyway, back to the game. With that latest goal by the Jets, the Flyers now find themselves down by 1 with 15 minutes left in the period. Plenty of time for the Flyers to come back right? Not so much.  With each player pouring on the intensity, it seemed like every play was more heart pounding than the next.  The Flyers thought they had the game back in their grasp while they were on the power play.  The puck made a fortunate bounce onto Jakob Vorachek’s stick and he got enough on the puck to backhand it towards the wide open net.  From out of nowhere, Pavalec dove across the crease and snatched the puck out of mid-air.  We can expect to see play in the top 10 tomorrow.

With the Flyers giving it everything they’ve got with no results, it seemed like the Jets were going to pull out a victory.  With 9.7 seconds left in the game, James van Riemsdyk made some questionable moves in the neutral zone and somehow carried the puck into the Jets zone. Deep in Jets territory, he made one last pass to the crashing Wayne Simmonds who got his stick on

the puck and lights the lamp to tie the game at 4.

With the game in OT, all Flyers fans were likely thinking the same thing, “Please, do not let this go to a shootout”. The Flyers must have been thinking the same thing and the team played their hearts out.  It seemed as though Pavelec was going to rob the Flyers of another win, until Danny Briere outworked two defensemen  behind the Jets net and somehow found Jagr sitting in front to slam home  the goal.

Tonight was a huge victory for the Flyers, and an exciting game for the fans.  A win like this is a great start for the Flyers on their road trip, and they’ll need to carry this momentum the rest of the way.

Orange Update 3 Stars of the Game:

(1) Jaromir Jagr (OT winning goal, 16th career OTG, most in NHL history)

(2) Ondrej Pavelec (50 SV on 55 SA, .909 SV%)

(3) Scott Hartnell (1 PPG, 1A, 16:30 TOI, +1 rating)