vzaleski
04-12-2010, 07:52 PM
The enormity of the game was evident five hours before the puck had even been dropped in yesterday’s game at Wachovia Center between the Philadelphia Flyers and the rival Rangers from New York.
The parking lots were filled early with fans of teams, each chanting for their team and also saying some things about each other that could not be written about in this article.
New York and Philly, need more be said? There is no greater rivalry between two cities such as this one.
As I entered the press box yesterday you could feel the tension even in the still empty arena. Yes, something was very different about today’s game; the seasons of both the Flyers and the Rangers, were hanging in the balance.
Each team would need to emerge with no less than a victory to advance into Lord Stanley’s playoffs.
The game action was furious from start to finish with the Flyers outplaying the Rangers most of the way, but still, the Rangers had managed to hang onto a 1-0 lead into the third period mostly on the play of their net minder Henrik Lundqvist, arguably the best goaltender in the NHL today.
The Ranger goal came early in the first period off a tip in from an unlikely source, tough guy Jody Shelley, who had also stung the Flyers with a big goal in the contest just two nights earlier up at Madison Square Garden. A game in which the Rangers had to win in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Rangers would come out victorious in that one winning it 4-3.
The Flyers threw everything they had at the Ranger goaltender, who had come up huge time and time again throughout the game.
The Flyers would finally send the Wachovia Center crowd into frenzy when defenseman Matt Carle backhanded home a rebound off a Danny Briere shot over a fallen Lundqvist to tie the game at one.
The game would remain tied throughout the rest of the third period as well as the five minute overtime period. With both goaltenders making big saves. Thus, setting up what would turn out to be one of the most fantastic finishes in Philadelphia sports history.
You could feel the intensity inside the arena, building, as Flyers’ coach Peter Laviolette sent out Danny Briere to shoot first.
The Wachovia Center crowd went crazy when Briere, deked down Lundqvist, and put a shot up over top of the Ranger goalie for the first goal of the shootout.
The shootout would remain 1-0 with both goalies making saves on the next two shooters.
The Rangers would tie the shootout in the bottom of the second round as Pa Parenteau faked Flyers goalie Brian Boucher down and put a floater up and just over his left shoulder into the net.
The third shooter for the Flyers, young star Claude Giroux, would quickly put his team back into the lead.
Skating slowly toward the Ranger net and almost coming to a stop, Giroux fired a laser wrist shot between the pads of Lundqvist that dented the twine and almost caused the roof of the Wachovia Center to come off.
Rangers coach John Tortarella would choose to not send out the team’s leading scorer Marian Gaborik, but would instead send out Olli Jokinen.
Jokinen would take a few big wide turns way back near his own net before striding to center ice and stick handling the puck toward the Flyer goal, as Boucher went down into the butterfly position Jokinen tried a backhander that Boucher would manage to keep from crossing the goal line with his stick as he slid backward into the net.
Boucher jumped up pumping his stick into the air as the stadium erupted into pandemonium.
The Flyers had landed one of the biggest wins in their franchise history. And in doing so, they vaulted into the playoffs and sent the Rangers and their faithful back home to New York in disbelief.
In a very joyous and crowded locker room after the game I asked Boucher if he was surprised that the Rangers had chosen not to send out Gaborik to take the third shot, he replied “A little bit, but I don’t know, they chose Parenteau on the second shot and he scored, so I guess he turned out to be a good choice.
I asked shootout and game clinching goal scorer Claude Giroux if he thought that Lundqvist was thinking he would go high glove side, he replied “Maybe he was, but I was just looking for the first opening to shoot at.”
The Flyers will take on the New Jersey Devils (a team that they beat five out of six times this season, including the last three straight) in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs beginning Wednesday night at Prudential Center.
http://www.insidehockey.com/columns/6447
The parking lots were filled early with fans of teams, each chanting for their team and also saying some things about each other that could not be written about in this article.
New York and Philly, need more be said? There is no greater rivalry between two cities such as this one.
As I entered the press box yesterday you could feel the tension even in the still empty arena. Yes, something was very different about today’s game; the seasons of both the Flyers and the Rangers, were hanging in the balance.
Each team would need to emerge with no less than a victory to advance into Lord Stanley’s playoffs.
The game action was furious from start to finish with the Flyers outplaying the Rangers most of the way, but still, the Rangers had managed to hang onto a 1-0 lead into the third period mostly on the play of their net minder Henrik Lundqvist, arguably the best goaltender in the NHL today.
The Ranger goal came early in the first period off a tip in from an unlikely source, tough guy Jody Shelley, who had also stung the Flyers with a big goal in the contest just two nights earlier up at Madison Square Garden. A game in which the Rangers had to win in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Rangers would come out victorious in that one winning it 4-3.
The Flyers threw everything they had at the Ranger goaltender, who had come up huge time and time again throughout the game.
The Flyers would finally send the Wachovia Center crowd into frenzy when defenseman Matt Carle backhanded home a rebound off a Danny Briere shot over a fallen Lundqvist to tie the game at one.
The game would remain tied throughout the rest of the third period as well as the five minute overtime period. With both goaltenders making big saves. Thus, setting up what would turn out to be one of the most fantastic finishes in Philadelphia sports history.
You could feel the intensity inside the arena, building, as Flyers’ coach Peter Laviolette sent out Danny Briere to shoot first.
The Wachovia Center crowd went crazy when Briere, deked down Lundqvist, and put a shot up over top of the Ranger goalie for the first goal of the shootout.
The shootout would remain 1-0 with both goalies making saves on the next two shooters.
The Rangers would tie the shootout in the bottom of the second round as Pa Parenteau faked Flyers goalie Brian Boucher down and put a floater up and just over his left shoulder into the net.
The third shooter for the Flyers, young star Claude Giroux, would quickly put his team back into the lead.
Skating slowly toward the Ranger net and almost coming to a stop, Giroux fired a laser wrist shot between the pads of Lundqvist that dented the twine and almost caused the roof of the Wachovia Center to come off.
Rangers coach John Tortarella would choose to not send out the team’s leading scorer Marian Gaborik, but would instead send out Olli Jokinen.
Jokinen would take a few big wide turns way back near his own net before striding to center ice and stick handling the puck toward the Flyer goal, as Boucher went down into the butterfly position Jokinen tried a backhander that Boucher would manage to keep from crossing the goal line with his stick as he slid backward into the net.
Boucher jumped up pumping his stick into the air as the stadium erupted into pandemonium.
The Flyers had landed one of the biggest wins in their franchise history. And in doing so, they vaulted into the playoffs and sent the Rangers and their faithful back home to New York in disbelief.
In a very joyous and crowded locker room after the game I asked Boucher if he was surprised that the Rangers had chosen not to send out Gaborik to take the third shot, he replied “A little bit, but I don’t know, they chose Parenteau on the second shot and he scored, so I guess he turned out to be a good choice.
I asked shootout and game clinching goal scorer Claude Giroux if he thought that Lundqvist was thinking he would go high glove side, he replied “Maybe he was, but I was just looking for the first opening to shoot at.”
The Flyers will take on the New Jersey Devils (a team that they beat five out of six times this season, including the last three straight) in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs beginning Wednesday night at Prudential Center.
http://www.insidehockey.com/columns/6447