It's odd sitting in a completely empty Wachovia center, knowing that for about three hours tonight, this place was so loud that my ears are still ringing. As expected, the South Philly faithful filled every seat and rained it down all night. It was a common theme with the players after the game too, the energy of the crowd and the lift it gave them.
The Flyers were really up against it tonight too, so they'd need everything the building could bring. From the start, the whistles came heavily into play, and more often than not, it was a Flyer who headed off. This wasn't the Let Them Play style of officiating we grew up on in the playoffs. We'll get to that later. It was a tightly wound hockey game, with limited shots despite the many man advantages, and every goal was answered with an equalizer.
That is, until 3:35 into the overtime, when Dan Carcillo banged home the game-winner and the Flyers left the ice leading this opening round series two games to one.
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Chico & Richie
For Carcillo, it was more than just a game-winner. It was an exclamation point on a statement season for for him in Orange & Black, and a new playoff legacy to replace his marks on last year's series against Pittsburgh (answering one of our questions heading into the series). Tonight, Carcillo would log the least minutes of any Flyer, on the ice for only 7:11 of a game that went into OT. However, the fact that his TOI was that limited, yet he was in fact on the ice for that early OT shift, tells you his play wasn't limited due to lackluster play or a lack of confidence on the part of Peter Laviolette.
After the game, Lavvy was quick to point out that Carcillo's ice time tonight was circumstantial, owing to all the time the team spent on the power play, and, more often, killing penalties. Chico regularly doesn't skate with either unit, and this game was impacted by 15 different penalties, 10 of which were called on the Flyers. It's a testament to Carcillo's motor and his character that he was ready to go when called upon in the OT.
Carcillo would speak highly of his linemates afterward, and how playing with Mike Richards and Simon Gagne has made him want to spend less time in the penalty box this season. "I’ve gotten an opportunity to play with two superstars in this league. Those opportunities don’t come by very often, and you’ve got to take advantage of them," he said. "I’d rather be playing with those guys than spending another 100 minutes in the box." Chico also spoke to Richie's unique two-way talent and his ability to lead by example. That latter aspect has been called into question by fans and the media this season, but he's stepped up and silenced any doubt in this series. Peter Laviolette praised Richards as the team's best forward in each of the last four games.
Richards, whose tenacity going after the puck was what led to the OT winner, would say after the game that Carcillo is a high-energy guy, sometimes a little bit too much energy... Richie also added that Carcillo is the type of guy who feeds off the crowd, and the team in turn feeds off of his energy. So if you want another win on Tuesday, you'd better walk through the door fired up too. Here's what they came out of the tunnel to on Sunday night:
Silencers
Defensively, the Flyers executed a gameplan of smothering the most dangerous players in red and black. On their efforts to keep Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise off the board, Chris Pronger explained, "We tried to limit them, to take away their time and space as much as possible. Our forwards did a great job of reloading back to the middle and forcing them to dump a lot of pucks that maybe they didn't want to. And really, it was just trying to deny those guys pucks and not allow them easy access to the net, where they score a lot of their goals."
At even strength, Kovalchuk was stifled so effectively that he failed to register a single shot on goal; Patrick Elias would join him in going SOGless. Kovalchuk was a key in the Devils' powerplay though, setting up both of Brian Rolston's goals, but limiting the damage to only those two helpers was crucial to this win for the Flyers.
Boosh
Neither Devils goal could be hung too heavily on Brian Boucher, who played another solid game for the Flyers. Both came on the power play, and both were heavily screened. Boosh handled the angles well, and stayed sharp despite seeing less than 20 shots on the night.
Blowing the Game Into the Ground
Much of this game was marred by the referees' decision to call it tight, repeatedly whistling obstructions and stick penalties that had little if any impact on the flow of the game. In the first seven minutes alone, the Flyers were called for three minors, a total that would balloon to four in the first ten minutes and five calls in the first period; three minors were called on New Jersey in the frame, but one was a coincidental minor at time when the Flyers were also called for a separate penalty, setting up a Devils power play.
In short, it was brutally stop-and-go hockey, amplified by the fact that this is the playoffs. The players couldn't just sit back and be skated on, but if they bore down on the puck carrier, they were called for it. Oddly enough, particularly early, this was a very chippy game, but the rougher contact exchanges weren't called, while the ticky-tack stick infractions were. After a second period that saw three Flyers penalties called to zero against the Devils, things evened out a bit, with the Devils called for two in the third period and even one in the OT. No matter which side you root for, there were simply too many penalties called overall. Too much of this game was spent with one team down a man, and three of its five goals came on the power play. Fortunately for all of us, this post is about a win, or you'd be reading an even longer litany of how bad the officiating was.
Extras
That the Devils would score their two goals with the man advantage undercuts how effective the Flyers' penalty killing units were for most of the night. With that volume of kill time on their legs, it's amazing how well they cleared the puck and limited the number of bona fide scoring opportunities the Devils could generate.
Claude Giroux continued to build on his own playoff legacy, potting the Flyers' first goal on a perfect slap pass from Kimmo Timonen via Pronger.
Martin Brodeur was in vintage form. It's hard to believe the Flyers won this game, because Brodeur was probably the best player on the ice tonight. With Philadelphia dominating possession for most of the third period, there was constant pressure around his crease; he stopped all 12 shots he faced in the third period, during which the Devils would only put three on Boucher. Until the Flyers finally did score, Brodeur looked as though he might just steal this series, holding off the Flyers' barrage until the Devils scored some fluke goal that had the natives tearing out the seats.
Key faceoffs were a major part to this Flyers win. Not a consistent strength of our centers, winning 32 of 58 draws was huge, especially considering how many of those came on the penalty kill. Mike Richards won 9 and lost 8, with the ninth coming on the play that would decide the game.
The Flyers have the momentum and confidence going into game four, playing some some solid all-around hockey while acknowledging repeatedly after the game that they can still play better. Rather than bitch about all the calls like I did, they just alluded to having to take fewer penalties, even calling the stick infractions "lazy."
It's always easier to focus on the positives after a win.