Have The Flyers Turned The Corner?
Now that the Philadelphia Flyers have put together back-to-back wins for the first time this season the question on every fans mind is has the team turned a corner or is this just an aberration?
It is my opinion that the Flyers have indeed turned a corner and it may surprise some people as to when exactly that turn was made or who it was responsible for leading the way.
Rewind for a moment to last Wednesday. The Flyers were in the midst of their latest miserable effort, this one against the New York Islanders, when the second period was coming to a close. Islander forward Andy Hilbert was unhappy with one of the Flyers and just as the horn sounded to end the stanza he tried to “take liberties” with this Flyer forward.
Perhaps he saw an opportunity to spark a deflated team, perhaps he was sick and tired of watching first hand what was happening to this team or perhaps he was just looking for a fight.
Whatever the reason, Sami Kapanen, clearly the Flyers best player and clear-cut on ice leader this season, decided enough was enough and he fought back. Following Kapanen’s cue, Mike Richards, Freddy Meyer and Ben Eager all came flying into the fray in defense of their teammate.
It was a scene that was probably viewed across the league as commonplace but for a team described by some as devoid of any chemistry and heartless at times this was a turning point in my view.
The Flyers lost that game but they did come out in the third period and outplayed the Islanders, hitting two posts and scoring the only goal.
The momentum continued to build over the next two games despite the fact that they lost both contests in heartbreaking fashion on late goals, Saturday at home, in what was at the time possibly their best all-around effort of the season, against Buffalo and then Monday night in Pittsburgh.
Even the most casual hockey fan could see the change in the Flyers attitude over these two contests. Led by the likes of Kapanen, Richards, Geoff Sanderson and the prodigal Petr Nedved the Flyers had seemingly regained their confidence. You no longer saw the team collectively drop their shoulders when they fell behind, there was no more standing around flat footed in their own zone and the team seemed poised to take this new found confidence and their returning captain, new skates and all, to the west coast.
Unfortunately for the Flyers, they had the daunting task of facing the best team in the NHL on Wednesday in Anaheim. The Ducks hadn’t lost at home all season and boasted the league’s best goaltender in the undefeated J.S. Giguere.
The Flyers seemed unimpressed with the Ducks credentials and exploded with 5 first period goals chasing Giguere form the net. They finished the contest with a 7-4 victory getting goals from 6 different players, 2 from Kapanen, and scored 3 times on the power play, something they hadn’t come close to doing this season.
But it was a rejuvenated Peter Forsberg who led the way. Skating with poise for the first time in quite some time and reunited with Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble, Forsberg scored a highlight reel goal and set up two others.
Thursday night the Flyers skated into the Staples Center to face the Kings, not nearly the team that Anaheim is this season. The game started out well enough as the teams were tied at 1 after two periods. Then in the third after a couple of breakdowns defensively the Flyers found themselves down 3-1. 2 weeks ago this game would have been over, but instead of the Flyers hanging their heads low they dug in their heels and mounted a monstrous comeback scoring twice in 40 seconds late in the third.
Gagne scored first on a breakaway on a beautiful feed from Knuble, then R.J. Umberger buried a laser beam past Kings goalie Dan Cloutier off a face-off to tie the game. Less then three minutes later Umberger whacked a backhander past Cloutier on a broken play in the Kings zone and the Flyers withstood a fierce Kings attack in the waning seconds, most notably a great save by Forsberg who slid behind Antero Niittymaki to stop a shot, to pull out a come from behind 4-3 win.
The Flyers have one more game out west Saturday night in San Jose before coming home for their next three, a rematch against the Penguins, struggling Ottawa and the possibly Ken Hitchcock led Columbus Blue Jackets on Black Friday.
Renewed confidence, a restored scoring touch and some timely goaltending all seem to be back for the orange and black and it all stemmed from one seemingly innocuous melee at the end of the second period of a dreadful game.
It may not have the place in today’s game that it used to but who says old time hockey is dead?
Flyer Notes
Former fan favorite Todd Fedoruk was reacquired this week by the Flyers in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks received a fourth round draft pick in return. Fedoruk had his cheekbone shattered earlier this season in a fight with Eric Boogard of Minnesota and hasn’t returned to the ice since.
Kyle Calder, acquired in the off season for fan favorite Michal Handzus, who was being counted on to provide an offensive spark this season has been a healthy scratch the last two games.
Mike Bergan is the Flyers Beat writer for http://www.phillysportsline.com
Contact Mike Bergen with questions or comments at mikeb@phillysportsline.com
Tags: Hockey, NHL, Philadelphia Flyers
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