Pre-Game:
The Flyers and Wings enter this 5:00 game coming off vastly different games. The Flyers came from behind in the third period to beat Dallas while Detroit lost a stinker to Columbus.
Ryan Sproul is still sitting out, for some reason. I think sitting Sproul and putting Lashoff in was a mistake from the beginning, although you can probably defend it happening for one game. But we passed “indefensible” a while back, and now the decision has passed Ludicrous and gone right to plaid.
Anthony Stolarz is starting in goal for the Flyers. He’s undefeated in the NHL (1-0). Also, Shayne GhostPepper will not play, which will cut down on my time checking the spelling of names throughout the game.
First Period:
After a minute of back-and-forth action with no real chances, Zetterberg takes a penalty for interference. I’m not really sure what he was thinking there because he was never getting away with that. The Flyers have the best power play in the league, so this will be a test for our PK.
The Flyers PP moves the puck very well. Our PK continues to wait too long to pressure the puck carrier for my liking. Howard has a nice save on a one-timer from Schenn in the slot. Athanasiou goes out on a line with Vanek and Nyquist after the penalty expired. It’ll be interesting to see if that remains a line or if it’s just because of the penalty.
Tomas Tatar nearly scores off a series where Tatar took the initial shot, which wasn’t held. Tatar then nearly poked it in twice. A good start from the Red Wings other than the penalty. They look like they have offensive jump.
The blender is active. Athanasiou is out on a line with Larkin and Mantha Steve Ott, which I am calling the 2 Kids and an Anchor line.
The two kids create a beautiful chance, giving it to the trailer Brian Lashoff, who can’t score. It’s a good thing Lashoff is playing instead of Sproul.
We come back from a commercial with Larkin – Nielsen – Glendening, so it appears that the different line combinations were probably getting non-PKers out after the kill.
Nyquist nearly scores off a pretty setup from Vanek. The puck was on bouncing, and Nyquist couldn’t settle it quickly enough to put the shot on net.
Nielsen prevents a high-quality scoring chance from Voracek with a hard backcheck. The Red Wings are having trouble with zone exits. The Detroit defensemen don’t have many good passing options and are trying to force passes.
Dylan Larkin draws a penalty from Michael Raffl, and the Wings go to their first period. This is another time that having Sproul in the lineup would help. Nielsen nearly finishes on a great setup, but Stolarz keeps it out. Philly blocks a Tatar shot just after the penalty expires, and we go to the last commercial break of the period still 0-0.
Luke Glendening takes a penalty for interference. The replay followed Larkin instead of LGD for some reason, but it looked like the Flyer clamped down on Glendening’s arm with his own arm.
You can tell why the Flyer’s power play is so dangerous, but Detroit dodges the bullet, with help from Jimmy Howard. He’s having a solid game tonight, and looks to be fully recovered from his injury.
Danny DeKeyser took down a Flyer player with six seconds to go, but got away with it.
Scoreless at the end of the first period. For the first time since I can remember, every Red Wing was at least 50% 5v5 CF% at the end of the first period. Shots are 10-5 Philly.
Second Period:
After quick scoring chances at both ends, Detroit has about 45 seconds of sustained offensive pressure. Vanek and Nyquist drove much of the play during that time. The Flyers are very good at blocking shots, and they’ve stymied several scoring chances so far.
Mickey and Sheppard spend a minute talking about Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman. That’s not a joke.
Larkin and Athanasiou are making plays, and Detroit seems to be close to scoring. This feels like one of those games where Detroit will have more chances, but not take advantage of them before losing in the last five minutes. I really hope I’m wrong.
Nick Cousins picks Sheahan’s pocket and walks in on Howard, but Jimmy stands tall.
Shortly after that, Giroux hooks Larkin, and Detroit goes to their second power play. It has the same result as the first.
This is one of those games that does have good chances for both teams, but it feels boring. There’s been very little hitting, and not much physical play from either side.
Roman Lyubimov takes a penalty at 15:24 for closing his hand on the puck. The first minute of the PP wasn’t great, but Detroit had several good chances in the second half. Larkin set up Zetterberg, but the captain held the puck too long. Nyquist is doing everything but score. I remember how the Wings were going to shoot the puck quickly on the power play. That really happened, right?
Mike Green takes down Chris VandeVelde, and the Wings are really tempting fate here.
Athanasiou is out there on the PK with Nielsen, and he nearly gets a breakaway. He just couldn’t control the puck, although it was a very hard pass to handle with Athanasiou skating backwards.
Ott then leads a shorthanded rush the other way, which quickly becomes nothing because Ott’s stick is where offense goes to die.
According to Mickey Redmond, “Steve Ott plays less than 10 minutes a game, but you notice him like he plays 15 or 16.” Sure, Mickey. Sure.
Wings kill the penalty, and we go to the intermission still tied 0-0.
Fun stat: Tomas Tatar has 5:40 5v5 TOI through two. Steve Ott has 5:43.
Third Period:
The game has been happening for over a minute, and the announcers have not yet discussed what is happening on the ice.
Nielsen broke in alone, but couldn’t slide the puck five hole. The puck was sitting in the goal mouth, when Glendening pushed Radko Gudas into the crease. Gudas cleared the puck and knocked the goal off it’s moorings. The Wings put it in, but the net was already off. Gudas ends up with 2 minutes for delay of game.
Nielsen took an accidental hit and looks to be in pain as he goes to the bench. Stolarz robs Athanasiou off a beautiful feed from Zetterberg.
Detroit goes back to the power play at the 5:30 mark when Simmonds hit the puck out of mid-air over the glass.
Detroit has been doing better than usual at getting their power play set up, but they come up empty again. Zetterberg still does a lot of things well, but he seems to single-handedly slow down our power play.
Away from the play, a fight breaks out. Xavier Ouellet took exception to a hit on Steve Ott and whales on Michael Raffl. XO easily won the fight. The replay shows that was a really bad hit by Raffl. He blindsided Ott.
The initial hit by Raffl went unpunished, and Ouellet got an extra 2 for instigating and a ten minute misconduct. Big mistake by the officials to not call Raffl for the hit that started everything.
Ott and Simmonds are jawing at each other. That would be a great tradeoff for Detroit if Simmonds actually fights Ott.
Ott and Simmonds are still chirping each other on their respective benches. I’m an amateur lip reader, although I’m admittedly a little rusty.
Ott: So, wait, you’re saying to use applesauce instead of oil?
Simmonds: Yeah, it’ll make your cake moister.
Ott: How much do I use?
Simmonds: Just the same amount.
Ott: Thanks, man. I’ll take a pic and tag you on instagram.
The crowd has really gotten into it, which is apparently because of Steve Ott talking to Simmonds. Sure, FSD, let’s go with that.
A few good chances both ways, especially by Giroux with 10 seconds left. He pulled a slick move through his legs, but Kronwall stayed with him and the period ends 0-0.
We go to overtime.
Overtime:
Larkin – Nielsen – DeKeyser for Detroit. Giroux – Voracek – Del Zotto for the Flyers. Green was originally on the ice, but that made too much sense.
The Flyers controlled the puck for the first minute, but didn’t get a good chance. Vanek feeds a stretch pass to DeKeyser, but no go.
Jimmy Howard saves a point of a seemingly sure goal by Bellemare. Vanek lost the puck, giving the Flyers a two on one. Athanasiou did a good job recovering, and Howard came up large.
Schenn sends the home fans home unhappy, as he takes a pretty feed from Provorov and waits out Howard before tucking it in.
Dylan Larkin had a pretty good game tonight, so it’s too bad that his mistake led to the Flyers break where Schenn scored. Larkin tried a home-run pass to Zetterberg that was a really bad idea.
The Flyers dominated the overtime, and they deserved the extra point.
