Not more than a few hours after getting the unexpected news that he would be left off the Canadian Olympic team, Claude Giroux led the Flyers back from the west coast to play the New Jersey Devils in the final game of a 6-game road trip. With the 3-2 win tonight, the Flyers achieved a 5-1 record on the trip.
The news that Claude Giroux didn't make the Canadian team is compounded by the fact that Chris Kunitz made it over him. This is a joke and pretty much solely based on the fact that he plays alongside Crosby every game and they have chemistry together. Truth be told, Giroux not being on the team isn't so bad though. He'll be rested going into the final stretch of the year, and hopefully pissed off and fired up. Plus, there was honestly no way I was going to root for team Canada anyway, you too I'm sure. This takes all conflicts of interests out. Go U.S.A! ...and Finland!
Back to the game. The Devils took an early 1-0 lead on an opportunity that was created by former Flyer (and Capital/Ranger/Penguin/Star/Bruin) Jaromir Jagr. After some smooth skating up the zone he centered the pass that Adam Henrique would soon put home.
The Flyers and Devils combined in the second period to score as many goals as there are libraries in Pittsburgh. In the third, Claude Giroux showed that he really wasn't too phased by the Olympic news by notching his 13th goal of the season on the power play tying it at 1-1. Soon after, Scott Hartnell continued his 7-game point streak with a goal to take the lead 2-1. It looked as though this would hold until the end, but Michael Ryder scored with 30 seconds left shorthanded, though they did have Brodeur pulled from the net.
In overtime, Brayden Schenn, who had earlier in the game been gashed in the stomach by Dainius Zubris' skate, scored the game winner off a feed from Grossmann that no one saw coming, even Brodeur. Grossman's 2 assists earned him his 2nd career multi-point game. If you haven't seen the video of Schenn getting slashed as he hits Zubris it's at the bottom of this article. It's pretty badass and worth 23 seconds of your time.
Ray Emery performed well tonight to give the Flyers a chance at winning in OT, saving 31 of 33 shots. The Fly Guys return home finally tomorrow night to play the Montreal Canadiens.
-Ben Lebo
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat
Back to the game. The Devils took an early 1-0 lead on an opportunity that was created by former Flyer (and Capital/Ranger/Penguin/Star/Bruin) Jaromir Jagr. After some smooth skating up the zone he centered the pass that Adam Henrique would soon put home.
The Flyers and Devils combined in the second period to score as many goals as there are libraries in Pittsburgh. In the third, Claude Giroux showed that he really wasn't too phased by the Olympic news by notching his 13th goal of the season on the power play tying it at 1-1. Soon after, Scott Hartnell continued his 7-game point streak with a goal to take the lead 2-1. It looked as though this would hold until the end, but Michael Ryder scored with 30 seconds left shorthanded, though they did have Brodeur pulled from the net.
In overtime, Brayden Schenn, who had earlier in the game been gashed in the stomach by Dainius Zubris' skate, scored the game winner off a feed from Grossmann that no one saw coming, even Brodeur. Grossman's 2 assists earned him his 2nd career multi-point game. If you haven't seen the video of Schenn getting slashed as he hits Zubris it's at the bottom of this article. It's pretty badass and worth 23 seconds of your time.
Ray Emery performed well tonight to give the Flyers a chance at winning in OT, saving 31 of 33 shots. The Fly Guys return home finally tomorrow night to play the Montreal Canadiens.
-Ben Lebo
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat