In a night where I had a massive headache, the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the team with the worst luck in the NHL: The Toronto Maple Leafs. In a sequence of events that only the unluckiest of teams could manufacture, the Leafs saw not one, but two goaltenders fall victim to injuries, the second of which fell victim to the injury bug in pre-game warmups. Yes. pregame warmups. This led to the back-up to the back-up goaltender Jussi Rynnas getting his first NHL start ever in a situation in which I had to think the words "Oh shit". uttered from his mouth. The Maple Leafs have recently been eliminated from playoff contention for like the seventh straight season, were facing a team in the Philadelphia Flyers that is still very much so in a battle for home ice advantage in the playoffs. So, with that being said, what can you expect from a Maple Leafs team that is floundering and a brand spankin' new goalie (who probably had nerves the size of the Grand Canyon), well, let the game unfold....
Brayden Schenn, who is always a big story when the Flyers play the Maple Leafs, solely because brother Luke (he apparently doesn't have the force... hah! Star Wars joke) opposes him, scored two first period goals. His first was a little over five minutes into the game (I checked, it was at 5:34 courtesy of the box score on the Flyers official website) and his second goal was a powerplay goal at 11:01. Thus giving the Flyers a rarely seen first period lead at 2-0.
The Flyers did an amazing job at keeping possession of the puck, and all together dominating the entire game. Holding the Maple Leafs to just five shots in the first period.
Speaking of first period shots, did a Flyers goalie give up a goal on the opposing team's first shot of the game?? NO! Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky let in a goal on the Leafs' second shot of the game!. All's well that ends well however, since Toronto did not score again after that, despite some quality chances. Nice night for Bob!
The second period saw goals from Wayne Simmonds, and rookie number 2 to score on the night, #24, Matt Read, oh which by the way, was a shorthanded goal... no big deal though. hah! The second period however, is when Dion Phaneuf started getting a little frustrated and his string of bad penalties (he went to the sin bin a total of three times throughout the game) started 2 minutes into the second period. Somewhwere on the ice a smirking Scott Hartnell whispers sweet "Suck it Phaneufs!"...
The third period sees the Flyers scoring three more goals, starting with rookie #3 to score, #47 Eric Wellwood (who also has a brother in the NHL... Kyle, in case you didn't know). We also see goals from one of our favorite gingers (you'll learn that I have a thing for gingers... sorry!) Jakub Voracek a mere two minutes after Wellwood's goal. Also, in case you didn't already hop on board the Wayne Train after his first goal, you were given a second opportunity to hop on when he scored his second goal of the night at just under tweleve minutes in the third. Phaneuf gets really angry in the third period, probably because the fans that were still at the game broke out into very loud, "Let's Go Blue Jays" chants (sad, isn't it...), goes to the box twice, once for roughing and once for slashing (well technically he only went to the box once and had someone else serve his second penalty because it all happened at the same time, but it sounds better to say he went to the box three times. hehe).
Anywho, I know that was a lot of action, so let's recap the goals:
First Period: Brayden Schenn (2), and Mikhail Grabovski (the lone Maple Leaf scorer)
Second Period: Wayne Simmonds, and Matt Read
Third Period: Eric Wellwood, Jakub Voracek, and Wayne Simmonds.
Final Score: Flyers: 7 - Maple Leafs: 1
Bobrovsky saved 16 of 17 shots last night
Rynnas saved 23 of 30 shots last night
Bryz, hope your chipped foot feels better soon!
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