Winter Classic in rewind

Wow, what a game. Even thought the Flyers lost this was still a phenomenal game to watch.

Henrik Lundqvist stole the show early and often in this one as the Rangers edged out the Flyers 3-2 in this years rendition of NHL Pond Hockey. From the moment the game started there was a noticeable level of tenaciousness on both parts. But shockingly no fisticuffs.

The first period ended in a 0-0 tie but was much more exciting than the scoreboard would indicate. With the shots 12-9 in favor of the Flyers both net minders were very busy. The game stayed scoreless until the 12:26 mark of the 2nd period when Braydon Schenn tallied his first career NHL goal and he couldn't have chosen a better stage unless it were game 7 of the Stanley Cup. Schenn is not the first Flyers player to record his first NHL goal while playing in the Winter Classic. Back in 2010 when the Flyers lost to the Boston Bruins 2-1 then Flyers Defensemen Danny Syvret recorded his first ever goal under the lights at Fenway.

Claude Giroux would later make it a 2-0 game when he pocketed a beautiful backhander past Lundqvist for his 18th of the season. The assists would come from Maxime Talbot and Scott Hartnell, who was far and away the most physical Flyer in the game leading all players with 13 hits. Then just 30 seconds later Ranger tough guy Mike Rupp would rip a wrist shot past Sergei Bobrovsky, who started the game in place of Ilya Bryzgalov and his 9year $51M contract.

Then just under 3 minutes into the 3rd period Rupp would strike again this time tying the game at 2. It was just Rupp's 3rd goal of the year and 2nd of the game. Shortly after that the Rangers would strike again this time Brad Richards, the high priced free agent this off season who shunned Calgary for the bright lights of New York City and who could blame him?

The game would take a curious turn late in the 3rd period when Rangers coach John Tortorella took exception to a few calls made by the officials during the game which became apparent after the game.

"They called a penalty shot which I still don't understand," he said. "I'm not sure if NBC got together with the refs to turn this into an overtime game. I thought the game was reffed horrible.

"I just thought tonight, in that third period, it was disgusting."

Perhaps Tortorella is right. Most would tend to differ. If anything the officials may have saved the game for the Rangers. Late in the 3rd with an empty net in front of him, Rangers captain Ryan Callahan broke free from Flyers D man Kimmo Timonen and then, for whatever reason, decided to grab hold of Timonen's stick. Had he not grabbed the stick, he would have gotten the hooking call because the stick of Timonen was all over him holding him back. Both players would be taken to the penalty box which would set up perhaps the most exciting last minute in a hockey game so far this season.

After some applied pressure from the Flyers which included several amazing saves by Lundqvist and a puck that Matt Read put off the post the Flyers best opportunity came with about 20 seconds on the clock when Danny Briere got a puck behind Lundqvist that Rangers D Ryan McDonagh smartly slid behind and kept the puck from sneaking past the crease. McDonagh however closed his hand on the puck which awarded the Flyers the first ever Penalty Shot in a Winter Classic game.

Lundqvist stoned Briere and the following 19.6 seconds would be followed by a frivolous attempt by the Flyers to knot up the score but the Rangers would ultimately prevail and grab the ever important 2 points that a lot of fans forgot about with this game. Rather than jumping to a 1st place tie with the rivals from the North the Flyers drop 4 points behind and will look to make up some of those points in their next tilt, when they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday at 7:00 at the Wells Fargo Center. It will mark the return of two former Flyers Dan Carcillo and Sean O'Donnell.


Please email any questions or comments to Phlyers1967@gmail.com and we will attempt to feature them on a future blog. I hope you enjoyed reading my assessment of the game.