Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
With just 2:28 remaining in the first overtime period and the score tied at zero Noah Cates won the offensive zone faceoff back to Cam York. York passed the puck to Matvei Michkov. Michkov passed it along the blue line back to Cam York at the right point.
With Cates setting up the screen in front of the Penguins net York fired a wrist shot from the point. It wasn’t a laser in fact it was already wobbling as it sailed through the slot. Arturs Silovs who had played an outstanding game in the Pittsburgh net never saw it coming as it sailed past his glove.
Cam York led his team with 5 shots on goal in this game but the 5th one was the only one that really mattered. The Flyers had played almost four full periods of scoreless hockey before York’s shot hit the back of the net. One goal was all it took to end the Penguins season and send the Flyers to the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Goaltenders Battle
Dan Vladar and Arturs Silovs treated us to 77:32 minutes of scoreless playoff hockey. Both netminders were spectacular. Dan Vladar stopped all 42 Penguins shots to earn his 2nd shutout of the series. Silvos stopped 31-of-32 shots that he faced.
Vladar the MVP of the Flyers regular season was also the #1 star in this deciding game. It’s an odd thing to say when the team allowed 42 shots on goal but the Flyers played really well defensively in this game. The Penguins were desperate and determined to put a puck in the Flyers net. They were relentless.
For the most part the Flyers protected the dangerous areas, kept the porch clear, and the lanes closed. There was only so much they could do before the situation fell into the very capable hands of their netminder. There were times when the Flyers were held up in their own zone in desperate need of a line change as the Penguins pounded pucks at the net. Vladar made stop after stop to keep his team in this game.
Unpredictable
As I said in my Game Preview Wednesday morning the Flyers came into this series red hot, the Penguins came in ice cold. This game was going to be unpredictable because the two teams seemed to have finally leveled out. Almost four full periods of shutout playoff hockey is just about as leveled out as it gets. Even the regulation periods felt like overtime.
The Flyers played well defensively the forwards did a diligent job of back-checking and keeping second options to a minimum. They were gobbling up rebounds and getting pucks out of harms way ASAP.
Offensively the Flyers struggled all night. Strong individual efforts led to a lot of the their best chances. They were out of synch with each other, passes rarely connected, nothing was crisp. With a lesser performance in the Flyers net the Flyers may be gearing up for Game 7 in Pittsburgh right now. But despite all the adversity they found ways to stay in this game and eventually win it. It’s a testament to their character as a team.
Stay Gritty
Although they weren’t getting bounces in this game the Flyers did many things right. They stayed out of the penalty box for the most part. Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power-play. This was probably the cleanest game of the series.
It was a physical game and the Flyers out-hit the Pens 45-26. One of the moments that summed up the Flyers commitment to this victory was Christian Dvorak getting repaired right in the tunnel so he could quickly return to the bench. He had just taken a monster hit into the glass from gigantic Pittsburgh forward Elmer Soderblom.
Trainers were doing their best to clog the bleeding over Dvorak’s right eye. At the same time they were swapping out his jersey so he could return to play as the league does not allow players on the ice with a significant amount of blood on their uniform.
The Flyers were all in. Things weren’t necessarily coming easy for them but they persisted. They knew they needed to put an end to this series. And they did whatever it took to get the there.
This team that “had no chance of making the playoffs”. The team who was going to “get swept in the first round”. This young rebuilding Flyers team has defeated Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games and is headed to round two against the Carolina Hurricanes. What are the odds of all that?
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