Check out my newest Bleacher Report article on the crazy Pens vs. Flyers series. It was featured on the Pens page of B/R last night (see below pic and link)!
Tag Archives: philly
A 2nd Period to Remember, Spotlight Pens vs. Flyers, 2/18/12
2Today’s Pens vs. Flyers game was a great spectacle. The teams have an awesome rivalry that has just grown over time. Recently adding to the rivalry was Max Talbot’s trade to the Flyers and Jagr’s decision to pursue the end of his career in Philly rather than in Pittsburgh. Fans have also learned to love each team through their up-close actions shown on HBO’s 24/7. Both teams have hosted the Winter Classic, both have made it to the Stanley Cup final in the last 3 years and this season they are both contenders despite being plagued with major injuries to some of their star players.
The game today was close with goals continuously being traded back and forth throughout the game. The first goal came from Penguins’ forward Matt Cooke only 3 minutes into the game. His goal was overshadowed by the pair of goals from Jagr that finished out the 1st period. Yeah, you can imagine how bitter Pittsburgh fans must have been about that.
With the Pens down 2-1 after the first, they fought back in the 2nd period. The first goal of the second was an impressive short-handed goal by Pens’ center Jordan Staal. About a minute after Staal’s shorty goal, Cooke managed to do the impossible. He scored on a breakaway while the Pens were down 2 men! The Cookie Monster really came out to play!
Flyers players were visibly furious on the ice. If the 2nd period wasn’t exciting enough after two short-handed goals, the Flyers ended up getting a major break from Pens’ defenseman Deryk Engelland. Engelland tripped on the ice and let Wellwood get off a quick shot near the end of the 2nd period. Wellwood ended up scoring off Engelland’s major mistake. After Wellwood’s goal the 2nd period ended at 3-3.
After the excitement of the 2nd period, the 3rd turned out to be pretty lack-luster in thrill-factor (especially if you are a Flyers fan). The Pens scored 3 goals and left the Flyers goal-less until the last minute of regulation. Pretty exciting game overall and definitely a rivalry that is worthwhile in the NHL.
I will upload the individual play videos when they go public on YouTube, but if you want to see the game recap and the goals I am talking about here is a link where you can watch it! —> http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hlg=20112012,2,865
20 Consecutive Home Game Wins for the Wings
6With tonight’s Wings win over the Flyers, Detroit is starting to look unstoppable. Tonight marks their 20th consecutive home-game win. The Red Wings have never accomplished this feat in franchise history. In fact, the only other teams to ever replicate what the Wings have done over these last 20 home games, were the 1929 Bruins and the 1976 Flyers. Impressed yet? It looks like Detroit has a lot going for them. Can you imagine what it could mean if Detroit kept winning like this until the Winter Classic and 24/7?
Tonight’s 4-3 win should be attributed to the effectiveness of the Red Wings powerplay (2 goals on the PP). PP goals were attributed to Kronwall and Datsyuk. Mike Babcock (the coach of the Wings) even said, “We got credit for two power play goals, but really (the Flyers) never got out of their zone on the third one at all, so we basically had three power-play goals.” Pretty impressive. Especially because different power-play units got the goals. Overall, a major congratulations to the Wings. Now, they just have to make sure to not let the wins go to their heads and stay focused for their next home game against the Dallas Stars (shouldn’t be too tough right?)
FiveForBoarding 