It nearly appears safe to say that the 7-1 loss in Florida was an aberration stacked up against available evidence before and after.
Advertisement
Nuclear NeuvirthMichal Neuvirth stopped all 30 Blackhawks shots to achieve his second straight shutout in his first two games, the first Flyer to achieve such a record since 2003.
“Those are fun games, unbelievable games to play”, Wayne Simmonds said after a Tuesday practice at the Skate Zone. The last time Chicago won a game on Philly’s home ice, it was a special one – the 2010 Stanley Cup finals clincher in Game 6, the first of their three Cups over the last six seasons.
The Flyers outshot the Blackhawks by a 15-9 margin in the second period. Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford made 26 saves and has given up two or more goals in all three of his starts this season. This number needs to increase if the Flyers hope to have more success against the top flight teams this season.
“I was just trying to stay patient and wait for him to do the first move”, he said. “Guys are so good at blocking shots now days you just have to get it by their first man and let the guys in front do their jobs”.
At the 5:35 mark, the Flyers’ second power play unit broke through for the game’s first goal.
But the Hawks came on in the third period, and Patrick Kane – whose ongoing allegation of a summer rape against him has spurred a wave of creative chanting from crowds around the league, and the Wells Fargo Center chorus was no exception – double-timed his efforts. Jeff Hackett in 2003 was the only other Flyers goalie with shutouts in his first two starts. “Coming to the game I come to relax and tell myself it’s just for fun”. He’s certainly got momentum on his side heading into Thursday’s game.
He did not play for the Flyers last season after being diagnosed in August with blood clots in his lungs and lower right leg. When he was cleared to play, the Flyers traded him to the Blackhawks on February 27.
“In more ways than one, he had an impact”, Chicago captain Jonathan Toews said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (2-1-0): Artemi Panarin joined Kane with a goal and two assists as Chicago completed a home-and-home sweep of the New York Islanders with a 4-1 triumph on Saturday. “Sometimes it’s hard. You can’t expect people to play the same way or put the same effort”, said Timonen.
The packed crowd came, though, to celebrate Timonen.
Maybe. Considering how much hockey the “Hawks” core has played in the past three years and how little time they have spent away from skating, there has to be a few sort of benefit of the three-day layoff.
Advertisement
“Tonight would have been the night to get us going”, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “The music, the preparation, and getting ready for the game I kinda went, ‘Oh, this would be nice again.’ Reality is, I’m 40 years old”.
