Thanks everyone! Happy new year! Let’s go, Flyers…on Sunday at Ottawa.
Final Thoughts: Great game, even though the Flyers got the short end of it. At least they were able to get a point in the standings for it. Now they’re only one point out of eighth place and playoffs in the East. Every point counts, especially the outdoor extravaganza ones.
4:27: They gave Tim Thomas an American battlefield flag, a nice touch. The gift bag, not so much.
4:23: Team USA announcement, Boston fans boo Phil Kessel kid stand-in. Hardy har har! Poor kid, I hope somebody warned him about that.
4:18: Final score, Boston 2-1 Philadelphia in OT. Giant novelty check to Ronald McDonald House, that’s good stuff.
4:16: Center ice hand shakes. Marco Sturm snuck behind Braydon Coburn and tipped one past Leighton. Gotta feel for Leighton, he played great and deserved to win.
4:15: Boston goal! Ugh! Booooo!
4:14: PHI scoring chances! Nothing to show for it!
4:11: 4-on-3 to start OT. Flyers iron three: Betts, Pronger, Timonen
4:09: Overrrrtime. Flyers survived a scare but still need to kill the rest of the BOS PP in overtime.
4:08: Flyers delayed penalty…damn. Ultra critical penalty kill here.
4:07: SO CLOSE!!! Puck squirted through the crease past Thomas.
4:05: Bruins score…Mark Recchi breaks through on the PP. Damn.
4:03: Critical penalty kill here. 3:40 left to go.
4:01: Close call there. Leighton the save. Other way, Jeff Carter shoots wide! Ugh!
3:58: A note on the fashions of the day: Superb. Coaches’ varsity jackets, Bruins coaches’ chapeaus, retro jerseys, all superb.
3:56: Barry “Two Goal Lead Is The Worst Lead In Hockey” Melrose be damned, Flyers need another goal here.
3:55: Eight minutes to go.
3:54: Denis Leary and “Sweet Caroline” at a Fenway hockey game…nothing says “Boston gimmick” than that.
3:51: Bruins sustaining more pressure than Philadelphia. Flyers need to take the game back this last half of the period.
3:49: Hockey players wearing eye black. It’s a good look.
3:45: Flyers almost got one there with that quick flurry. A TV timeout is most welcome here, the Flyers’ D was scrambling there.
3:43: Flyers survived the penalty kill and post-PK heavy pressure. A PHI goal here to blunt the BOS momentum would be great here.
3:39: Delayed penalty on Carcillo. C’mon PK!
3:35: OOOOOOOOH, that was so close! Have to be lucky and good sometimes, Leighton was lucky there. That puck kissed the post.
3:34: More checking line oh-fense, way to draw that penalty, Asham!
3:32: Game on, 3rd period!
2nd Intermission: Flyers need to win this period to take the game and the two points. Their annual February slump came a little early this year, so they need all the points they can get to re-enter the Eastern Conference playoff picture. The Flyers are starting to make Laviolette’s motion hockey work, so that bodes well. They’re only a couple points out with a lot of hockey left in the season.
2nd Intermission: Flyers outhit (13-9) and outshoot (12-6) Bruins in 2nd, with help from that power play, PHI 1 BOS 0 going into the third.
3:10: Strong work by PHI to withstand sustained BOS pressure to end the 2nd. Flyers’ odd-man rush at the end foiled. Need to put those chances away, Flyers! 2nd intermission on.
3:02: Hartnell with a cannon blast wide! The Flyers are starting to get it going.
3:01: Arron Asham on the breakaway…MISSED! Thomas with the save.
2:58: DING! Off the post!
2:57: Power play on!
2:56: Want: Varsity jacket that Coach Peter Laviolette is sporting. Super sharp!
2:54: Another strong PHI rush, couple good chances and a power play coming up.
2:52: Great breakout pass by Mike Richards on that break, Giroux had a bouncing puck. Oh well.
2:51: Giroux on the breakaway…wide left! That’s two he shoulda had!
2:47: Flyers goal scored by number 26, Danny Syvret! His first. The assists, number 19 Scott Hartnell and number 17 Jeff Carter!
2:44: 1-0 Flyers thanks to Thomas losing his cool with a little crease work by Scott Hartnell. Not sure who will be credited, but the result is the important thing.
2:43: Good stop, Leighton, Flyers storm back…SCORE!
2:42: Checking line offense! *groan*
2:40: More ice repair. One of these years, they’re gonna do this on an actual pond.
2:37: Game on! 2nd period, let’s go, Flyers!
1st Intermission: Good action, but Flyers are getting outshot and outhit. Curt Schilling in a #30 Bruins shirt. What, no #38?
2:17: End of 1st period. Carcillo with some smudged eye black, this must be an outdoor game.
2:16: Good flurry of chances against Thomas, good chance going the other way against Leighton.
2:15: Scoring chance, Flyers. Good shot by Gagne.
2:09: GLOVE SAVE AND A BEAUT! Leighton flashing the leather!
2:07: Ice repair.
2:01: Carcillo v. Thornton, Round 1
2:00: Get ‘em Danno! That’s a win for Carcillo!
1:54: Thomas, save on the Wakefield knuckler.
1:47: Stoppage in play. Whew, great action.
1:43: Furious action, old time hockey!
1:41: Aw, c’mon Claude, you had a goal right there.
1:40: Claude Giroux missed a golden opportunity!
1:39: B-2 flyover complete. Wow. Just wow. Okay, let’s go, Flyers!
1:36: James Taylor!
1:35: Daniel Powter? Seriously?
1:31: “Well, we just have to work hard, y’know, and be strong on the puck, eh? We have to play sixty minutes, y’know.” (For you, Scott.)
1:30: Well, that was awkward, Clarke just slashed Orr. A Winter Classic honorary captain first!
1:28: Dropkick Murphys!
1:24: Me, I’m just waiting for the 2018 Summer Classic: Tampa Bay Lightning v. Florida Panthers at Dolphin/Land Shark/Gloria Estefan Stadium
1:22: Ohhh, it’s Bobby Orr. (Not Blaine Lacher.) He just happens to be the 2nd or 3rd greatest player ever, and his career was sadly too short.
1:20: Bobby Clarke on the screen, he was clutch against Boston. Lace ‘em up, Clarkie!
1:19: GEICO Caveman alert! There he is, cleaning the ice. Cue sad trombone.
1:15: Coming up, the greatest Boston Bruin ever. Blaine Lacher?
1:14: Mites on ice! I could watch mites on ice all day.
1:13: My take re: Michael Leighton or Brian Boucher: Leighton’s won four in a row with a shutout in his last game (v. NYR). Go with the hot hand, even if he was just plucked off the waiver wire scrap heap. Make no mistake, this is a big game, so don’t throw out a cold Boucher coming off an injury.
1:06: Weather Channel says it’s 32 degrees, feels like 27, cloudy in Boston. Let’s play some hockey! (Or at least shinny.)
1:03: Bob Costas told us all that this is the first NHL game played here ever. If Big Bob says so, it is so.
1:01: Highlights of Winter Classics past. Let’s hope for goalies in toques.
12:45: Outdoor hockey is back, people! Let’s hear it for Fenway *Pahk*!
Philadelphia Flyers (19-18-2, 40 points, 4th place Atlantic Division/9th-tied Eastern Conference)
v.
Boston Bruins (20-12-7, 47 points, 2nd place Northeast Division/5th Eastern Conference)
Starting goalies: PHI Michael Leighton v. BOS Tim Thomas