Red-Hot Thrashers Sweep Flyers in Home-and-Home
NHLHS writer Dave Strehle takes a look at the Philadelphia Flyers’ weekend home-and-home series with the Atlanta Thrashers.
Heading into the weekend, the Philadelphia Flyers had to feel pretty good about things. They had just beaten the Dallas Stars 3-2 Thursday night and held their destiny in their own hands. They had tied the Ottawa Senators for fifth place and had a game in hand on both Ottawa and the Montreal Canadiens, the team that had been nipping at their heels.
But after being swept in a home-and-home series with the Atlanta Thrashers, things are looking a bit more complicated for the Orange and Black.
On Saturday night in Atlanta, the Thrashers jumped to 2-0 and 3-1 leads, but each time the Flyers answered with a goal to cut the lead to one. But when Atlanta went up 4-2, they would not allow Philly to get any closer as they beat the Flyers 5-2 behind goaltender Johan Hedberg. Colby Armstrong, a player that Philadelphia GM Paul Holmgren reportedly inquired about at the NHL trade deadline with Thrashers’ GM Don Waddell, scored 2 goals for Atlanta in the victory. The players that the Thrashers’ acquired in the Ilya Kovalchuk deal, Niclas Bergfors (goal and an assist) and defenseman Johnny Oduya (+1 and 7 blocked shots) were also big for Atlanta.
This made Sunday night’s game in Philadelphia a big one for both teams. Tonight’s tilt with the Thrashers was the game in hand that the Flyers had on Montreal, so coming up with the two points, or even one, would be crucial. Philly had to feel fairly confident, since they had won 6 of their last 7 home games heading into Sunday.
Once again it was Atlanta grabbing a 2-0 lead. Defenseman Ron Hainsey scored on a slapshot just two minutes in, and Todd White wristed a shot through Philadelphia starting goaltender Brian Boucher from the left circle midway through the first frame.
Despite outshooting the Thrashers 35-21 after two periods, the Flyers found themselves still trailing 2-0. Starting goaltender Ondrej Pavelec was spectacular, but he had a bit of luck in the last 10 seconds of the second period. Philly defenseman Braydon Coburn blasted a slapshot that beat Pavelec, but hit squarely off of the right post and bounced back into the crease. With a mad scramble and Pavelec lying flat on his back, Jeff Carter’s whack at the puck was going into the net, only to hit Flyer forward Danny Briere’s skate and slide back under Pavelec’s arm for the stoppage of play.
The third period was much of the same, but Mike Richards was finally able to get Philly on the board midway through the stanza. Defenseman Matt Carle carried the puck down the right wing boards and as he went behind the net, feathered a perfect pass to Richards at the right side of the net, who beat Pavelec high to the glove side to draw the Orange and Black to within one at 2-1. It was Philadelphia’s 40th shot on goal of the game, and the Flyers were now buzzing to get the game tied.
But any Flyer hopes were deflated with just over 3 minutes left in regulation. Rich Peverley took a long feed from Hainsey and skating in on a 2-on-1 with Armstrong, wristed a shot from the top of the left circle through Boucher to put the game out of reach at 3-1. It was the second weak goal of the night for Boucher, who now stands at 1-2-1 since being named Philadelphia’s starter when Michael Leighton went down with a high ankle sprain.
Pavelec finished the night with 44 saves and Hainsey had a goal and 2 assists. Atlanta remains just 1 point behind the Boston Bruins for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference standings, and are now only 4 points behind Ottawa, Philadelphia and Montreal.
There are exactly three weeks left in the NHL season and the Flyers still can be in control of their own destiny. They play the Senators in Ottawa on Tuesday night and Montreal on Good Friday. Down the stretch Philly will also play the Pittsburgh Penguins, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and close the season with a home-and-home series against their hated arch-rival New York Rangers.
If the season were to end right now, the Flyers would open in Buffalo against the Sabres for the first round of the playoffs. But if Philadelphia doesn’t get better goaltending performances and some more offensive support, they may not have to worry about what team they play in the first round at all.
Ugly Incident Goes Unpenalized
Not sure if anything will come out of this, but defenseman Chris Pronger was involved in a bit of an ugly incident with Atlanta winger Evgeny Artyukhin in the Sunday night game in Philadelphia. The two went heavily into the boards and fell to the ice early in the third period behind the Flyers’ net. Artyukhin got up and cross-checked Pronger, who was still down on the ice, across the head and onto the back of the net. A referee was near the two as the play moved up ice and moved in to separate the combatants but didn’t make a call.
As play continued, the puck came back into the Flyers’ zone. Pronger got the puck and noticed that Artyukhin was directly in front of him. He wound up with a slapshot that glanced off of Artyukhin’s leg. The two players again went after each other as the play was called for an offsides. After a near melee, there were surprisingly no penalties called on either player.
No word yet from league officials if any disciplinary action will be taken against Pronger or Artyukhin.
My 3 Stars for Sunday:
#1 Ondrej Pavelec Thrashers – 44 saves, many spectacular. Incredible performance.
#2 Ron Hainsey Thrashers – A goal, 2 assists, in on all three Atlanta goals.
#3 Rich Peverley Thrashers – A goal and assist, put the final nail in the Flyers’ coffin with insurance goal late in third.
David Strehle
NHLHS Flyers Correspondent / NHL Writer
dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @PhilaDAVEia
