Richie18

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

Huge comeback lifts Flyers to 4-3 win over B's

If you asked some people whether they thought the Flyers could come back from 3-1 after one period of play, they'd think you were crazy. Well the Flyers did just that, by coming back to beat the Bruins in overtime 4-3 today, on a Randy Jones goal. However, Jones's goal was not the cleanest of goals, but it worked very well. Three minutes into overtime, Jones took a wrist shot from the point, and it hit Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference, and then it went past Manny Fernandez into the net. It was a lucky goal for the Flyers, but all good teams get lucky breaks.

The first period was not a good period for the Flyers at all. Marc Savard scored at 3:52 to give the B's a 1-0 advantage when he got one past the left side of Marty Biron. In my opinion, Marty has to make that save. This was a game where the Flyers finally got some well deserved power plays. In the latter part of the period, Simon Gagne got the Flyers on the board and tied the game at 1-1. However, the Flyers let another player score their first career goal. This time is was Byron Bitz, who scored the goal right in front of the net. Mark Stuart took a shot from the point, and it hit the post, then Bitz was there to put it in the net. Right after the Bitz goal, Chuck Kobasew joined the party and scored eight seconds after that goal to give the Bruins a commanding 3-1 lead. Marty Biron just did not have a good game.

In the second period, Antero Niittymaki came in to replace Marty and he was on his game. Niitty made some huge saves, and the Flyers offense began to get going. About two minutes into the period, Glen Metropolit scored just his second goal of the season. It is nice to see Metro contribute, because we need him to be one of the players that can be a secondary scorer on this team. Later on, Scotty Hartnell scored his 20th goal of the season, this one on the power play as the Flyers tied the game at 3-3. At this point in the game, you could start to feel the momentum shifting towards the Flyers. Niitty came in and infused the Flyers and he allowed them to get back into the game. Late in the second period, the Bruins were called for too many men on the ice. The reason why I mention this is that the Flyers have been plagued with this all season. It's about time that the opposing team gets called for it, eh?

The third period was basically a defensive type of period, as neither team scored. Niitty had to make 7 saves in that period, while Manny Fernandez had to make 8 saves, including a game saving save with the Flyers shorthanded in the final seconds of the period. The reason for the Flyers being shorthanded late in the period was that Niitty was called for delay of game when he batted the puck out of play. When looking at the replay, Niitty probably didn't intend on batting it out of play, but it was still called a penalty.

In overtime, the Flyers got the winner from Randy Jones. Three minutes into overtime, Jones took a shot from the point that hit Andrew Ference, then went into the net. Ference tried to keep it from hitting him, because the puck was probably not going to hit the net if Ference didn't get hit with it. In the end, the Flyers were very, very estatic about getting the win. You have to give a ton of credit to the Flyers for being able to fight back and win this game against the best team in the league in their barn. The fact that the Flyers did it without Mike Richards and Scottie Upshall was even better, and this is definitely a game that the Flyers can build on throughout the rest of this season.

Game Summary
First Period
Scoring
BOS- M. Savard(21), Asts: M. Lucic(18), M. Stuart(5) 3:52 Bruins 0-1
PHI- S. Gagne(21), PP Asts: M. Knuble(15), C. Giroux(4) 14:57 Tied 1-1
BOS- B. Bitz(1), Asts: P. Nokelainen(2), M. Stuart(6) 18:59 Bruins 1-2
BOS- C. Kobasew(11), Asts: S. Hnidy(9), P. Bergeron(17) 19:07 Bruins 1-3
Penalties
BOS- B. Wheeler, Holding 2 min 10:04
BOS- D. Wideman, Hooking 2 min 12:58
BOS- M. Stuart, Tripping 2 min 13:55
PHI- S. Hartnell, Interference 2 min 15:48
Second Period
Scoring
PHI- G. Metropolit(2), Asts: A. Asham(5) 2:08 Bruins 2-3
PHI- S. Hartnell(20), PP Asts: J. Carter(22), J. Lupul(16) 6:25 Tie 3-3
Penalties
BOS- C. Kobasew, Interference 2 min 5:40
BOS- Team, Too many men on Ice 2 min 16:41
BOS- B. Wheeler, Hooking 2 min 19:56
Third Period
Scoring
NONE
Penalties
PHI- C. Giroux, Hooking 2 min 11:14
PHI- A. Niittymaki, Delay of Game 2 min 18:36
Overtime
Scoring
PHI- R. Jones(3), Asts: J. Carter(23), S. Hartnell(18) 3:00 Flyers 4-3
Penalties
NONE

Goalies
Philadelphia Flyers
#30 Antero Niittymaki(W): 22 Saves on 22 Shots
#43 Marty Biron: 12 Saves on 15 Shots
Boston Bruins
#35 Manny Fernandez(OTL): 26 Saves on 30 Shots

THREE STARS OF GAME(WBZ Radio 1030):
1. #91 Marc Savard BOS
2. #45 Mark Stuart BOS
3. #19 Scott Hartnell PHI

Next Flyers game: Tomorrow @ Atlanta Thrashers 3pm CSN-HD

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