Richie18

Here comes da' Ray Emery bandwagon, DE • United States • 15 Years Old • Male

Lack of effort, penalties cost Flyers in 3-2 loss

Last night, the Flyers did not play a good game. They lost to the Florida Panthers 3-2. It was an inconsistent effort, where in the first period, the Flyers had energy and played well. However, the second period was a different story. They gave up two goals that period and they played terrible. Usually, the second period is the period where the Flyers play their best, but that was completely different last night. In the third period, the Flyers had energy, but it was too late.

Simon Gagne got the scoring started in the first period, 10:44 in when he scored his 20th goal of the season. It was a deflection off his foot that was reviewed to see if there was a distinct kicking motion. The refs looked at it, and the call stood. About four minutes later, Bryan McCabe tied the game at 1-1 with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle that went past the right side of Marty Biron. In the pregame blog, I mentioned that the Flyers needed to watch out for Jay Bouwmeester and McCabe, because they love to jump into the offensive plays. The first period was also chippy, as Jeff Carter was called for cross checking and Scott Hartnell and Radek Dvorak received roughing penalties, all at 6:44 of the first period.

In the second period, the Flyers just played terrible. The energy level in that period was lackadasical. With the game tied at 1, Michael Frolik gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with his 10th goal of the season at 7:43 of the second. Just over a minute after Frolik's goal, Simon Gagne was called for high sticking. What made it worse was that it was for four minutes, because Jay Bouwmeester was bleeding on his right cheek. With Gags in the box, David Booth scored a power play goal about three minutes into the four minute power play, to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead. To sum the second period up, it flat out sucked.

However, the third period was a different story. Just 1:51 into the third period, rookie Claude Giroux scored his first NHL goal. It was a wrist shot that went past the left side of Tomas Vokoun. Claude's goal got the Flyers back into the game in the third period, and it was only 3-2 Panthers. The Flyers played a very good third period, but they just had some bad luck. Kimmo Timonen was called for interference at 6:33 of the third period. It was a very, very questionable call to say the least. Kimmo barely pushed Keith Ballard down. Ballard was already down a little bit as it was, but to say that Kimmo pushed him down hard is not fair. Mike Richards said it best after the game. "It's a little suspect. No offense to Kimmo, but when he's pushing people around and they're falling like that, maybe their guy (Keith Ballard) should hit the gym a little bit more." Here is the thing, I'm not one to complain about penalties all the time, but in this case, that shouldn't have been a penalty, plain and simple. Late in the game, the Flyers got a power play when Karlis Skrastins was called for hooking. Then with Marty Biron pulled for the extra attacker, the Flyers had a 6 on 4, but they could not capitalize, and that was the game, as the Flyers lost 3-2.

Game Summary
Scoring
First Period
PHI- S. Gagne(20), Asts: M. Knuble(13), M. Richards(31) 10:44 Flyers 1-0
FLA- B. McCabe(9), Asts: C. Stillman(13), M. Frolik(12) 14:34 Tie 1-1
Penalties
FLA- R. Zednik, Hooking 2 min 2:10
PHI- J. Carter, Cross Checking 2 min 6:44
PHI- S. Hartnell, Roughing 2 min 6:44
FLA- R. Dvorak, Roughing 2 min 6:44
Second Period
Scoring
FLA- M. Frolik(10), Asts: K. Ballard(14), S. Weiss(22) 7:43 Panthers 1-2
FLA- D. Booth(20), PP Asts: K. Ballard(15), M. Frolik(13) 11:50 Panthers 1-3
Penalties
PHI- A. Alberts, Tripping 2 min 1:45
PHI- S. Gagne, Hi-Sticking Double Minor 2 min 8:58
Third Period
Scoring
PHI- C. Giroux(1), Asts: D. Powe(2) 1:51 Panthers 2-3
Penalties
FLA- V. Peltonen, Holding 2 min 3:09
PHI- C. Giroux, Roughing 2 min 5:38
FLA- G. Campbell, Roughing 2 min 5:38
PHI- K. Timonen, Interference 2 min 6:33
FLA- K. Skrastins, Hooking 2 min 18:37

Goalies
Philadelphia Flyers
#43 Marty Biron(L): 24 Saves on 27 Shots
Florida Panthers
#29 Tomas Vokoun(W): 33 Saves on 35 Shots

Three Stars Of Game(South Florida Media):
1. #67 Michael Frolik FLA
2. #10 David Booth FLA
3. #12 Simon Gagne PHI

Next Game: Friday night @ Tampa Bay Lightning 7:30pm CW57

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