They said it couldn't be done, but I worked the title of an Incubus song into the title of an article. Now let's Drive into the recap. The Flyers tied the series with the Rangers 2-2 tonight thanks to goalie Steve Mason more so than anyone. Mason denied 37 shots out of 38 tonight to anchor the Flyers as they fought for a hard-earned 2-1 victory.
Things didn't start out so great for the Flyers. It was looking like a repeat of games 1 and 3, as the Rangers outshot the orange and black 16-6 in the first. New York also drew first blood four minutes in by way of a Dominic Moore goal. In the interest of giving credit where it's due, that was a good goal by Moore. The guy shot it, got his own rebound and wrapped it around the back of the net to put it off Mason's skate and into the net.
Nine minutes into the first, Matt Read would even the score when he received a missed shot from Jason Akeson that bounced off the back wall behind Lundqvist. To Akeson's credit, he showed more hustle than any Flyer on offense tonight and the third line looked to be their best tonight.
What would ultimately become the decisive goal was scored 7:22 into the second period. Brayden Schenn received a pass at the top of the zone and fired a slapshot that Jakub Voracek was able to redirect past Lundqvist to make it 2-1.
The rest of the game the story was all Steve Mason. He turned away every shot to close out the game and was even punching some Rangers players on plays when he got pissed after the refs failed to blow the whistle on time. You could tell he wanted this one bad. It feels good to have Mason back between the pipes, especially going back to NY on Sunday.
Now, I hate to be the guy that blames refs for the team's problems, but tonight was a little ridiculous. The Flyers were not getting nearly as many calls as the Rangers and Giroux was getting mugged out there, even having to limp to the bench after getting popped by possible little person Mats Zuccarello. Some shots were clean, some were dirty, but if those hits had been placed on Crosby or someone like that the offending player would have been in the penalty box immediately. This is a tired rhetoric, so I'll stop now, but I also want to mention how much the Rangers seem to be flopping. I didn't think it was as bad as others did in Game 2 and tried to see past it, but tonight was awful. Man up and play, New York, especially Carcillo. This ain't Miami and it sure as hell isn't Pittsburgh.
Game 5 is Sunday at noon on NBC.
Note: Grossmann left the game in the second period, not to return, due to jamming his leg when he crashed into the boards.
Note: Have people already known that Steve Mason totally looks like Nick Swardson? I just realized tonight, but damn, is it a close resemblance!
-Ben Lebo
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat
Nine minutes into the first, Matt Read would even the score when he received a missed shot from Jason Akeson that bounced off the back wall behind Lundqvist. To Akeson's credit, he showed more hustle than any Flyer on offense tonight and the third line looked to be their best tonight.
What would ultimately become the decisive goal was scored 7:22 into the second period. Brayden Schenn received a pass at the top of the zone and fired a slapshot that Jakub Voracek was able to redirect past Lundqvist to make it 2-1.
The rest of the game the story was all Steve Mason. He turned away every shot to close out the game and was even punching some Rangers players on plays when he got pissed after the refs failed to blow the whistle on time. You could tell he wanted this one bad. It feels good to have Mason back between the pipes, especially going back to NY on Sunday.
Now, I hate to be the guy that blames refs for the team's problems, but tonight was a little ridiculous. The Flyers were not getting nearly as many calls as the Rangers and Giroux was getting mugged out there, even having to limp to the bench after getting popped by possible little person Mats Zuccarello. Some shots were clean, some were dirty, but if those hits had been placed on Crosby or someone like that the offending player would have been in the penalty box immediately. This is a tired rhetoric, so I'll stop now, but I also want to mention how much the Rangers seem to be flopping. I didn't think it was as bad as others did in Game 2 and tried to see past it, but tonight was awful. Man up and play, New York, especially Carcillo. This ain't Miami and it sure as hell isn't Pittsburgh.
Game 5 is Sunday at noon on NBC.
Note: Grossmann left the game in the second period, not to return, due to jamming his leg when he crashed into the boards.
Note: Have people already known that Steve Mason totally looks like Nick Swardson? I just realized tonight, but damn, is it a close resemblance!
-Ben Lebo
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat
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