Better late than never! Flyers barely edge Isles, 2-1

My apologies for the lack of a recap after the game yesterday. I was away all weekend without internet access and neither Anthony or Ryan were around to cover the game, either. These things happen, I guess. We were one of the first Flyers blogs to break the Krajicek signing, though. Love us for that, please.

Anyway, I’m glad that CSN replayed this game. I missed the majority of it while attending the Philadelphia International Auto Show. Good times. Even though the show gets smaller and smaller every year. Signs of the times, I suppose. On to the game.

Peter Laviolette shuffled the lines going into Saturday’s match-up to try and find some offensive spark. Darroll Powe played on the first line with Carter and Briere, while Scott Hartnell was flipped to the other side of the ice and played alongside Gagne and Richards. It didn’t take too long for the new lines to find the twine. Late in the first, Darroll Powe would use his speed to chip the puck into the offensive zone and blow by the Islanders defender (I forget who it was – kill me) and play the puck in behind the net. Briere would come in from the opposite side and pick up the loose puck and make a quick wrap-around move to put the puck past Islanders goalie, Dwayne Roloson.

The Flyers second and final goal came from a Mike Richards shot that was beautifully redirected by Scott Hartnell who was standing alone at the side of the net.

Obviously, an NHL game wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t have officiating to complain about. In the second period, Kimmo Timonen took a slapper from the point that beat Roloson. Kerry Fraser, who was properly positioned in the corner of the rink, pointed towards the net and had awarded the goal to the Flyers. A split second after the puck had gone into the net, momentum carrying him forward, Scott Hartnell plowed into Dwayne Roloson and knocked him over. Roloson was furious after getting up and immediately charged to the corner to protest. Rob Martell, who was the center ice official, skated into the corner and discussed with Fraser that the goal should be disallowed and that Scott Hartnell should go to the box for goalie interference. That happened. Somehow. Even though the puck was in the net before Hartnell ran into Roloson, Kerry Fraser signaled that Timonen’s shot was a goal, and the play was dead, somehow, this call would be reversed. The Islanders would go on the power play and score on it which game them a lot more momentum than they should have had.

I don’t want to get into the rules and the rest of the blah blah blah, because I’m tired of it. The NHL really needs to work on its officials. Someone needs to take action when this kind of shit happens, before it costs someone a really big game.

Ray Emery was up to the task for the rest of the game when the Flyers fell asleep, and that’s the only reason the Flyers won this game. It was a sloppy win, but it was a win, nonetheless.

The Flyers are in Calgary tomorrow night to face the new Calgary Maple Leaf….I mean Flames, who no longer have Dion Phaneuf on their roster thanks to a slew of Sunday morning trades. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out for the Flames, and how badly it hurts the Laffs.

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