Philadelphia Musings, In-Game Scribbles
February 27, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles
Montreal 4 at Philadelphia 3, OT
First Period
Why not just give them the game? First goal is against Montreal. Just standing around. Metropolit, Stewart and Komisarek. Later it’s Plekanec being careless with the puck.
Kovalev is on the ice on the first two lines. Opening with Metropolit and then with AK46 and Pleks.
I fear we may miss Bouillon’s toughness.
Metropolit now takes a penalty. High stick. Brunet begins making excuses for him. The penalty kill goes well and Metropolit stopped on a from-the-box-breakaway.
And now it’s 2-0. Hamrlik’s mistake.
Not much later the struggling (for weeks)Komisarek fans on a puck in front of Halak. This time we get the stop. Lucky. Still 2-0.
Kostopolous shows some nice stickwork to get himself alone in front of Flyer goalie, Antero Niittymaki. Stopped.
I think of a recent comment on a TSN forum regarding Koivu being overpaid. What a missing synapse comment.
Soft skills should be recognized in the workplace and in sports and reflected in employee/player salaries. The other issue is particular positions or roles being underpaid. In football, corners are typically much lower-paid in comparison to the wide receivers they shut down. It’s wrong.
Koivu is one of the great leaders in the game’s history. He won’t get the full credit for years after he retires. He will get it, though.
One-hand clearing attempts by the defenders in front. Creating all kinds of scare situations. This time it’s Gorges. Another horrible halloween chance for Philadelphia’s goon squad. All courtesy of our carelessness.
Komisarek gets beat down the side and hacks his way to a penalty. Having a bad month?
Suddenly: Three Montreal goals and the truth is revealed.
Montreal should not (except for luck or own-goal mistakes) lose this game against this opponent.
D’Agostini misses a direct open net. Pierre Larouche minus the goals and the speed?
Second Period
Kovalev is playing very exciting hockey …..
Lapierre takes a hooking penalty. Not a great penalty but at least it was an extension of great defensive effort and ugency. He must be our Steve Begin now. Every night.
There is no choice. Montreal kills it.
Then Montreal goes on the man-advantage.
Philadelphia has to have a very active penalty-kill in order to counter the numerous Montreal power-play rooks and bishops.
It becomes a game of cat-paw in mousehole …. eventually the mouse will come out at the wrong time
But we don’t score nor do we create any good scoring chances.
Shortly thereafter, Brisebois gives up a breakaway and Simon Gagne scores. A shame.
Where’s Laraque?
Gregory Stewart’s unapologetic air in the penalty box is not endearing. Nor is his shrug to whomever prior to entering the box. As if in failing to start a fight he is somehow exonerated in taking a penalty. He is fully in Jim Dowd territory.
Now we have to end the period killing a penalty and unfurling the Flyers’ sails rather than getting three golden and glorious goal opportunities and a pair of beauts. Yes, I foresaw this. The Force is strong in me.
Koivu is always impressive on the penalty-kill. It’s where he is at his best. The frantic efficiency of a firefighter. He even looks like he might be wearing a Scott air-pack.
Montreal kills the penalty. And the period ends.
But the Flyers have decided to remind us that they are the third-oldest city in Alberta. Roughing it up at the end of the second period.
Alberta Theorem (an eighties phenomenon): fall behind; start a fight (applied fully to Calgary and Edmonton for years ….. that attitude seems to have gone the way of the condor ….. or just flown to Philly)
Third Period
Watching the highlights I see Jordan Staal score and look as happily relieved as he always does when he scores. If Jordan Staal got eight minutes a game would he score any goals? Where can one find the goals-per-minute statistic, I wonder.
The camera moves from player to player. Stewart looks like the kind of guy who will never admit it. The faces scroll by. Intensity, intensity, observation, intensity waiting. And Andrei Kostitsyn lost in his glove.
An Ace Frehley distractedness.
They drop the puck for the third.
Did someone add a goal to the scoreboard for Philly? It feels like it should still be 3-2, Montreal.
Hartnell is like a guy who fixes a tv by kicking it. Just on force, he manages to water-buffalo his way through two Canadiens and gets a shot off. High and wide but his single-mindedness is notable.
Stewart. Disappointing.
The Flyer stripe (at the bottom of the jersey) looks like an oversized scotch-tape seat-belt for divas. It’s gauche. But for a team that wears orange, maybe it works. On the other hand, for a team known as the Broad Street Bullies… it doesn’t.
Montreal is really fighting. Someone told them something. Seriously, it seems as if the team’s confidence has grown yet another level.
Now the Flyers ice it in a way that shows they are ready to lose. Higgins works very hard on the deep Flyer boards and draws a penalty.
No goal. We go to OT.
Overtime
Koivu is great. The word faufiler was waiting for Saku Koivu to be born.
Braydon Coburn recognizes the scrappy forward in front of the net after the whislte. He holds off and goes easy on his old teammate, Metropolit.
Moments later, Upshall gets called for being a little bottle-head (made no effort to avoid the goalie). And then gets mad about it.
Montreal goes on the power-play again. This time in overtime.
And they score. Schneider. Montreal wins 4-3. Kovalev and Koivu assist on the goal. Koivu was rushing off the ice seconds before the goal. Montreal scores with just three players to Philadelphia’s three on the ice.
Brunet is like a Restaurant Makeover decor critic. If the shot is early, they weren’t patient enough. If it’s too late, they were too pretty. If it goes in, there is no criticism. Method matters not to this mediocre media madman. And nothing is ever correct.
We see the replay. Koivu goes off the ice, Kovalev goes Baryshnikov and Schneider makes a sausage in the back of the net.
They should take down the glass at Flyer games.
To the torch-bearers: First Star, Alex Kovalev
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