* Pre-Skate *
Now that I have a moment to write about the game, I'll be able to get into all the good details. I didn't feel like skimping anything, though I hope I don't miss anything. We began our night at the Hooters down the street from American Airlines Center in Dallas. It's a pretty good spot to pre-game whether you're the visiting or home team here in Dallas. There were plenty of Philadelphia Flyer fans all around. Make sure you go before 6 PM. They have very good beer specials until then. Make sure to have a couple of drinks there before you spend a lot money on expensive beer inside American Airlines Center.
As I said, the atmosphere was really good. Unlike the football rivalry around here (Eagles and Cowboys hate each other as bad as a dog and cat hate each other), the hockey crowd is very tame. There were a lot of Flyers fans all over which made the night fun. On the way into the game (and out) there were plenty of high fives and comments exchanged with fellow fans of the Flyers. I have yet to see a game in Philadelphia, so I always love when a good Philly crowd shows for the games. There was a pretty good turn out.
As soon as we entered the doors, my brother and I ran to the Philly end to watch them warm up. Seeing the guys up close gave perspective to how big they really are on skates. Scott Hartnell and Braydon Coburn looked like monsters. You also get to see how talented these guys really are. They make sending a blistering wrist shot into the net seem easy. Much like a child in a toy store, I could only stand back in awe. It's almost sad how childish (in terms of awe, not maturity) that I get around these guys. I totally enjoyed getting a chance to get close to see a warm up.
After grabbing yet another beer, the the brother and I headed for our seats where a friend was waiting. There was a ton of Flyers fans all around which helped us get a "Let's go, Flyers!" chant going. The first period started out very well for the Flyers. They scored the first goal when Andrej Meszaros sent a shot towards the goal where it was deflected by Jeff Carter and Trevor Daley of the Dallas Stars into the net (Carter from Meszaros and Carle). 33rd goal of the year for Carter. It was a typical Philly goal with plenty of traffic in front of the net. It sent the lot of us Philly fans into a riot. The rest of the pretty low key. Aside from a few scoring chances, neither team could take a complete hold of the game.
In the second period, a period that featured me getting another beer, the Flyers went ahead 2-0 with a tip in goal by Mike Richards (Richards from Meszaros and Carle). The puck took an awkward deflection off the boards where Richards whacked it into the net. The goal was number twenty for Mike Richards. This was scored from the opposite side of where I was sitting so it was difficult to see. I was actually just sitting down from the intermission when they scored. Again, the Philly faithful didn't disappoint with some loud cheers and some more "Let's go, Flyers!" chants. Dallas wasn't content to let Philly run away with this one though. Alex Goligoski sent a shot from the point past Sergei Bobrovsky for his eleventh goal of the season (Goligoski from Morrow and Benn). Both the Stars and Flyers had picked up the physical play in this period. I thought Philadelphia was going to hold onto the 2-0 lead for awhile, but as always, Bobrovsky didn't have a chance on a perfectly screened goal.
Between periods, I made sure to hop over to the Jack Daniels bar inside the AAC for a very expensive shot with my entourage (we're not cool). One last beer for the third period and we were ready to go. The last period was very tense for both clubs. Claude Giroux tipped a perfect pass right into the post. I really thought he was going to land that one which would have likely given the Flyers a knock out punch. It looked good for the Flyers until Stephane Robidas took a pass from Steve Ott and blasted one home right by Bobrovsky (Robidas from Ott). It was number five for Robidas this season. Really nice shot. At the time, I was a little disappointed that Bob let this one get by. After seeing a replay, Robidas just made an incredible shot. It was probably the best one of the night. Tied at two a piece, I was beginning to worry a little bit that the Flyers were going to let yet another one slip by them. With less than two minutes to go in the period, Kimmo Timonen sent a puck over the boards in the defensive zone. He was whistled two minutes for delay of game. Uh-oh. Philadelphia managed to keep the Dallas Stars from getting on the board during regulation. Overtime was coming and the Stars had just under a half of minute of power play remaining.
At this point, all of us Flyers fans just wanted to win however we needed to knowing the Flyers needed two points to secure a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The fact that the best defenseman we had playing (Pronger was hurt) was in the penalty box, didn't help with that. Overtime started and thankfully saw the end of the Stars power play opportunity. Neither team was able to capitalize but the Stars had the best scoring opportunity. Sergei Bobrovsky made the save of the game when he stopped a sure goal with a sprawling leg save. That was easily the stop of the game. Bob had a few shaky moments, but kudos to his play Saturday night. After the five minutes blew by and the horn blew, we were heading for a shootout.
Right off the bat, I had a bad feeling about the shootout. Kari Lehtonen isn't a bad goaltender (against the Flyer he has been, back in his days with Atlanta and a few with the Flyers, his record against the Flyers is 0-10-3 now) so I knew he could easily beat us since the Flyers aren't generally good at shootouts. Both goaltenders faced the first three shots and stopped two. Claude Giroux made a real nifty backhand shot towards the left hand side of Lehtonen to put the Flyers ahead. Facing elimination and the end of the game, Mike Ribeiro hesitated and deked Bobrovsky into making a move while placing the puck in the net. Both goalies were really sharp until it was the Flyers turn to shoot in the sixth round of the shootout. Ville Leino skated in on Lehtonen who committed to challenging Leino leaving a wide open net. Leino went around Lehtonen and slid the puck into the net! FLYERS WIN!!!!!! I don't know if it was the beer or pure joy, I jumped out of my seat and banged on the glass in celebration. All the Flyers fans around us began high-fiving one another and handing out hugs. Huge moment. The Flyers sealed their ticket to the playoffs this year with a huge win over the Dallas Stars.
It really was a good game. I do wish the Flyers would have dominated more and would have taken this game in regulation. How can I complain though? They won and provided me with some extra hockey. We walked over to a cigar bar with some friends and a had a victory beer with a cigar. I think I gave a high five to everyone wearing orange on the way out of the place. The only thing missing was my wife (she was stuck working). I had a great time and hope Philadelphia comes next year. Why the NHL doesn't have every team visiting every team in the league is beyond me. Twas a great night though.
Here are some general stats for the night.
Stars of the Game (as reported from NHL.com with comments by me)
1. Ville Leino - Scores the game winning and playoff clinching goal in a shootout. Solid two-way play the entire night.
2. Stephane Robidas - Ties the game up 2-2 with a huge blast of a shot. Plays lots of minutes as the Stars lost Grossman and Skrastins during the game, leaving the Stars with only four defensemen.
3. Andrej Meszaros - Lands huge assists on both goals scored by the Flyers. Mes has been a solid addition this year and provided the Flyers with quality play against Dallas.
Power Play/Penalties
Typical of the Flyers, Philadelphia let Dallas have plenty of chances to take this game by taking penalties. Thankfully they're penalty kill is in the top ten. No fights whatsoever. Jody Shelley was scratched by the Flyers and replaced with Andres Nodl. Dan Carcillo played a physical game, but nothing close to a fight brewed between the two teams.
Philadelphia was 0 for 1.
Dallas was 0 for 4.
* Results *
I'll take a .500 day after going 4-6. I went 3-3 tonight with my picks. Two games reach overtime and both games resulted in a loss for the team I chose. The Rangers defeated the Penguins pretty easily. The Predators beat the Sabres with the help of overtime. The Devils beat the Blue Jackets behind a Martin Brodeur shutout (aided by the fact he only faced 13 shots). The Canadiens slaughtered the Wild behind a four point P.K. Subban effort. The Blackhawks beat the Coyotes in a close game 2-1. Finally, the Flames failed to roast the Ducks tonight, losing in overtime by a score of 5-4. Here is the lines for Sunday.
3/20/2011 - Sunday
Rangers at Penguins : Pick - Penguins : Result -- 5-2 Rangers : Wrong : 162-123
Predators at Sabres : Pick - Sabres : Result -- 4-3 Predators : Wrong (OT/L) : 162-124
Devils at Blue Jackets : Pick - Devils : Result -- 3-0 Devils : Correct : 163-124
Canadiens at Wild : Pick - Canadiens : Result -- 8-1 Canadiens : Correct : 164-124
Blackhawks at Coyotes : Pick - Blackhawks : Result -- 2-1 Blackhawks : Correct : 165-124
Flames at Ducks : Pick - Flames : Result -- 5-4 Ducks : Wrong (OT/L) : 164-125
-Results Format-
Game : Pick : Result : Pick Result (OT or SO W or L based on my pick) : My Season Record
OT/W or OT/L - My pick won or lost in OT.
SO/W or SO/L - My pick won or lost in a shootout.
=Dumbest Pick of the Night=
Rangers at Penguins : No slant to the Penguins, but the moment I made these picks this morning (quickly), this was the one game I really considered changing. I stuck with my guns thinking the Penguins would pull it off. The Rangers are hard to judge. I think my respect level for their team needs to go up. They have some good players, I'm just never that blown away by them. This probably stems from their history the last five years. The Rangers are in the playoff picture for a reason and thus need to be given more respect. The way they've been stomping good teams lately, I should have given this a better look. Very dumb on my part.
=Hardest Pick of the Night=
Blackhawks at Coyotes : Though the Coyotes are higher in the standings, I feel as if the Blackhawks are more dangerous. It's hard not to have deep respect for the Blackhawks when they have Toews and Kane. I do respect the Coyotes due to the Bryzgalov goaltending they get. The guy is great (my opinion). The Coyotes were on a five game winning streak prior to the game which made this a tough decision. Hot teams can fizzle any second. I went with the Blackhawks but looked this game over several times.
=Easiest Pick of the Night=
Devils at Blue Jackets : No team is more hell (hell....Devils....look at me go) bent on making a run for the playoffs than the New Jersey Devils. It's truly amazing that they are only seven points (after tonight's games) out from the eighth spot. This team was horrendously awful before they got their crap together. Here they are now, absolutely exploding their way to the top. The Blue Jackets on the other hand have played their way out of the playoffs. They're still capable of putting up a good game here and there, but I'd say they're done. They're only eight points out of the eighth spot (a very hotly contended eighth spot), but I see them trending the opposite path that the Devils are traveling. With all of that said, this pick was easy. Hot team that's hungry for points over a team that seems to be okay with where they are in the standings. Yawn...how many games left in the season?
=Got Owned Game of the Night=
Canadiens at Wild : Wow. The Canadiens absolutely obliterated the Wild on Sunday 8-1. The Wild were once playoff contenders but their recent play has been ugly enough to basically knock them out barring any miracles. They're 2-7-2 over their last 11 games. They're a little banged up but have little else to use as an excuse. The Canadiens have been pretty good recently, now 8-3 in their last 11 games. I'm really surprised by this score. The Wild aren't bad enough to get beat this bad. Well, I suppose they are. P.K. Subban, a defenseman of all players, came out with three goals. Rare to see a defenseman now down a Hat Trick. Subban finished with four points. Only six players on the Canadiens didn't get a point. Surprisingly, one of those players wasn't goaltender Alex Auld. Auld, the Canadien's back-up goaltender, nailed down an assist. Habs fans must have loved this one. Not so much for the fans of Minnesota. Minnie got owned.
* Picks *
Two measly games on the agenda for Monday. Both games should be pretty good. The Penguins visit Detroit for a rematch of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs. I see Detroit taking that game. The other features the Calgary Flames visiting the Los Angeles Kings. Calgary is currently sitting just outside the playoff bubble. Los Angeles is only three points ahead of them sitting in fifth place. Big games with playoff implications. Good games for you on Monday night. Here's what I show.
3/21/2011 - Monday
Penguins at Red Wings ==> Red Wings
Flames at Kings ==> Kings
Night!
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