Flyers @ Red Wings

DEFEAT

3 : Philadelphia Flyers @ Detroit Red Wings : 2

Welcome to 2011, bitches.

Some Notes From The Game:

21 years - an NHL record in futility. Ken Daniels opens up with this commentary gem. It was the most talked about prelude to this game, and I blame the repetitive story line for jinxing it.

It has been exactly 21 years since the Flyers have beaten the Red Wings in the Joe Louis Arena. This includes a Stanley Cup Finals series in 1997.

Some things that have happened in the last 21 years:

Yup.

Also, Tomas Holmstrom looks awful. Taking that puck to the face during the Avalanche game gave him two black eyes.

At least it didn't break his face...

And for the record I actually attended this game. Surprisingly enough... it was my first Red Wings game. Ever. I don't put much stock into the regular season, but it was the only home game available during my time home on leave and I figured, whatever. Might as well. Bought tickets for my whole family and brought them along.

It was an... interesting experience.

 

The First Period:

A Flyer goes to the box for smooshing Helm.

... me love you long time?

Helm heads to the locker room as the refs clean some debris off the ice. Skate problem, maybe?

Anyway, power play time. Except the Wings can't quite manage to set up the power play. Oh well.

That's okay, because with 48 seconds left a Flyer defenseman knocks a puck out of the ball park, netting the Wings a 5-on-3.

Get the eff outta here!

 Really, though. It was an impressive home run by the Flyer. That shit went flying into the stands.

We've got a lot of power play time to fool around with, but other than a one-timer by Lidstrom and some tic-tac-toe through the crease, we don't generate much.

With 25 seconds left in the power play, a turnover nets a Flyer rush into our end. Franzen is forced to take a holding penalty and Zetterberg breaks up the rush with a glorious backcheck. Yeesh.

Brief 4-on-4. Nothing on that, and the Flyers get their power play.

Stuart blocks a shooting lane and dumps the puck from the seat of his pants. It was awesome.

Franzen gets the puck as he comes out of the box, and bumps a pass off the boards to a speeding Helm, netting a breakaway. He doesn't score, of course, but I still dream...

There's a lot of rebound chaos following this when Zetterberg throws a party. No joy.

Tatar executes a ridiculous skate keep-in. It was very nice.

Big E mixes it up with Shelley a bit. They exchange pleasantries.

Lidstrom defends a 2-on-1. It's so perfect that I want to frame it and put it on my wall. I'll settle for immortality on my blog that exactly two people read (hi guys!).

Not on my watch!

 Absolutely nothing for the remainder of the period.

Second Period:

Well, the Flyers score. Deflects off Filppula's stick and over Jimmah's shoulder.

Yaaaaaaay!

Whatever. Shake this one off, boys.

Man, Helm is fast...

And then the Flyers score again. A one-timer from the point by a Flyer defensemen bounces off of a Wing and two Flyers.

Damn.

On a rush with Mursak, Miller is tripped up and knocks the net off. He takes his time getting up, and heads to the dressing room immediately after stepping off the ice. Ugh.

Not good.

Thankfully he returns to the bench after a few minutes.

Bertuzzi has a nice moment and baseball bats the puck on goal.

During the next stop in play, there's a look at the final regular season game last year between the Rangers and the Flyers as they battled for a playoff spot. It eventually got down to a shootout, which the Flyers won. And, as we all know, ended up making it all the way to the Finals and losing to Chicago.

And then the Flyers score. Again. Top shelf, long side. Ewww.

There's some discussion of Bertuzzi's new haircut. He chopped it all off, by the way.

Nothing for the rest of the period. Pretty lame back and forth.

The Third Period:

Well, they've pulled Jimmah for Ozzie. Didn't see that coming. No doubt an effort by Uncle Mike to shake things up.

There's a bit of chaos in the crease right off the bat as the Flyers go digging for gold.

Filppula's goal:

Franzen's got it on the right in neutral. Passes to Filppula on the left for the entry. Filp dangles the shorts off a Flyer defenseman and wrists it in. Awesome.

Somewhere, Pavel Datsyuk is smiling

Zetterberg breaks his stick on a faceoff. Zetterberg breaks a lot of sticks.

There's a lot of frantic back-and-forth rushing. Kronwall gets denied. Filppula makes a good showing.

And then Stuart gets drilled in the back of the head by a puck. He didn't look to enjoy it. Piet tends to him on the ice.

Uh oh. Is there blood? Oh god, there's blood.

Eventually he gets to his feet while Zetterberg and Lidstrom hover like worried mothers. He's helped off the ice and into the locker room. He doesn't return.

Don't worry, man. I got you.

 Immediately after this, to keep the mood awful, Franzen gets fucking robbed.

DENIED

For some random reason, the next several minutes of archive footage is replaced by the GameCenter Live 'The game will start soon' screen. Awesome.

It cuts back in at a Flyer power play. I get a few seconds of that before it cuts back out again. Oh, wait, back to the power play. Oh, no, back to the waiting screen.

Ugh.

Cuts back in just in time to catch Miller throwing Leino into Osgood. This draws a random goaltender interference penalty. Not really deserved, but we'll take it.

Surprise!

And apparently the Flyer power play was a result of Ozzie playing the puck outside the trapezoid.

Really, Osgood? Really?

Anyway, there's a brief 4-on-4. Filppula gets a chance, and then we get Hudler back from serving Ozzie's penalty. Power play time.

Mick advises the Wings to take it slow, not rush anything. All they need is one good shot.

The Wings comply.

Zetterberg's goal:

Lidstrom and Rafalski play catch on the point before switching sides. Lidstrom passes to Zetterberg on the left, who slides it to Franzen over on the right, who hands it back to Lidstrom on the point. Lids shoots a rocket on goal. It's blocked by the mass of humanity in front of the crease. Holmstrom, who's obviously screening the goalie, gets a stick on it first, tapping it to an incoming Zetterberg. Zetterberg executes his backhand, and boom. Goal.

Zetterberg, picking up the garbage

Nick and Hank are now on seven game point streaks.

Zetterberg negates an icing. It was pretty funny.

We play some frantic hockey for a few minutes. A lot of defensemen going deep, a lot of stealing chances in the offensive zone. Filppula is really going for it. There are a couple looks-like-a-power-play moments.

With a minute left we pull Ozzie for the extra man.

No joy.

Don't Think We Didn't Notice:

Osgood played the puck outside of the trapezoid. Again. That means someone had to pay the price in the box.

That's right, Hudler. Serve that shit. Serve it with pride.