It's Almost 2009 or Something

So, this final day of 2008 is turning into quite the shitshow for me. After getting home from work yesterday, I fell asleep at 6 and did not wake until I heard Jim Jackson's call of Jeff Carter's league-leading 27th goal.



I'll blame it on my back, which seems to be deteriorating faster than L.J. Smith's career, but I digress. I proceeded to watch the Flyers hang on for a 3-2 win … and then couldn't get to sleep until 4:30 in the morning. I slept briefly before waking at 8 and heading to work. I'm really not sure how this whole day is going to go, but I can't envision it going very well. I have a lot of work to do by Friday, and I'm going to punish myself by driving out to Minneapolis for the Eagles game with silver fox and Toonces this weekend.

Basically, I'm a mess right now, but I seem to be doing better than Simon Gagne at the moment. After missing everything right before the Carter goal, I hadn't seen the dirty hit that caused Gagne to leave with an upper body injury. Thankfully, it looked to be a hurt shoulder and not a concussion. Nonetheless, the Flyers weren't too pleased with the check from behind by Kevin Bieksa just 15 second in:

Gagne was blindsided by defenseman Kevin Bieksa after 15 seconds and fell to the ice. No penalty was called. Captain Mike Richards immediately went after Bieksa, and the two slugged it out.

Gagne appeared to injure his right shoulder and he did not return.

"He hit Gaggy. I kind of saw it out of the corner of my eye. I felt it was kind of a cheap hit, a late hit and from behind," Richards said. "So I felt I had to do something about it. I thought it was a hit that should have been a penalty and there wasn't a call."

Minutes later, Carter put the Flyers up 1-0, and the guys in orange and black never trailed. After the Canucks tied it, Scott Hartnell responded to make it 2-1, and Jon Kalinski scored his first NHL goal in the 2nd—the eventual game-winner.

At times, the Flyers looked sluggish and outplayed by Vancouver, but as has been the case in nearly every game this season, the Hartnell-Carter-Lupul line was the best line on the ice. The trio routinely got sustained pressure, and every player created incredible scoring opportunities. Hartnell even had two breakaways, both of which were denied. I have to say, Lupul has just been a beast in the corners, and with the game on the line, that's the line I want out there every time.





In a tough, evenly played game, there were some Flyers that truly impressed. Claude Giroux moved up to the Richards line when Gagne went down, and the rook looked confident. He had a very strong game, as it almost looked as if Mike Knuble and Richards didn't miss a beat. It was certainly an encouraging sign.

Another guy who has impressed me of late is Josh Gratton. Granted, Gratton isn't the most talented guy in the world, but for a player who really is never sure if he's going to be in the lineup or not, he comes to play every time he's called upon. If ever there was an energy player, he's it. No matter what the scenario, you know Gratton will help get the forecheck going, and the Flyers' forecheck was really strong last night.

As far as defense goes, man, the Flyers really do have some studs back there. Of course, having Kimmo Timonen and Matt Carle back was great, as both have been fabulous this year, but no one is player any better on the blue line of late than Ossi Vaananen and Braydon Coburn. Last night, Ossi made some spectacular plays, including a save late in the game, and the guy has continued to convert me into a true supporter. After a slow start, Ossi is turning into a steal for the Flyers.



And last night, I think Coburn was the best defenseman on the ice for either team. He really was throwing his body around knocking Canucks off the puck, and his speed out of the zone was an incredible advantage for the Flyers last night. His contributions, while not showing up on the stat sheet, have been huge this season. Coburn is quickly becoming one of the best blue liners in all of hockey.

I'd also like to give kudos to Marty Biron for a very solid performance last night and a spectacular third period. Marty was called upon to make some tremendous saves in the final period, and he did just that. And that penalty kill to end the game was a thing of beauty for the Flyers. Richards and Carter were beasts harassing the Canucks. That's something Carter does not get enough credit for, his defense.

Last night, as he's done all year, Carter was relentless on his backcheck, often stealing pucks and getting the Flyers in transition. In the third period especially, he was incredibly determined in his own zone. If he can keep up this pace, Carter may be making a case for the Hart Trophy come April. There's still a lot of season to be played, for sure, but there isn't any player who is playing better two-way hockey than Jeff Carter so far this season. He certainly has been one of the biggest reasons for the Flyers' success so far, and he was integral in last night's win.

It was a much-needed win … and the Flyers' 14th straight game without a loss in Vancouver, dating all the way back to 1989. That's pretty ridiculous. Again, the Flyers are two points behind the Rangers for first place in the Atlantic. Hopefully, they'll be taking over pretty soon.

Update: Gagne has a mild shoulder sprain, will miss about a week. Whew!

No Place Like Home for the Holidays

It's no secret, the Flyers are scorching hot … especially at home. Over their last 12 home games, the Flyers are 10-0-2. That's 22 points out of a possible 24 in case you're counting. In their last 10 games overall, the Flyers are 7-1-2. Not bad for a team that started out the season with six straight losses, huh?



With last night's 6-4 victory against Ottawa, the Flyers pulled to within 2 points of the Rangers for the top spot in the Atlantic Division, thanks to a tremendous choke job by New York last night, with 3 games in hand. The Rangers jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Washington last night, and then gave up 4 unanswered to go to overtime, 3 of them in the third period. Then, less than a minute into the OT, the Caps finished the job, scoring their 5th straight goal to hand the Rangers the overtime loss at home. They must be taking their cues from the Mets.

Meanwhile, the Flyers were completely undressing the Senators … at least in the play. Somehow, some way, with the Flyers completely dominating every phase of the hockey game, the Sens stayed in it. It looked exactly like the Flyers-Caps game from last Saturday, with the Capitals completely owning the Flyers through 2 periods, yet falling 7-1 in the end.



But the Flyers simply wouldn't let Ottawa steal this one, no matter how hard the Sens tried. After surrendering the first goal, Matt Carle fired one off a face-off win that somehow got through Alex Auld to tie the game. And before the period was done, the Carter line came through yet again, as Joffrey Lupul lit the lamp.



But those pesky Senators wouldn't go away. On a two-man advantage, Danny Heatley slammed one home on a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play, tying the game. But the red hot Jeff Carter countered with a power play tally of his own to regain the lead—his league-leading 26th goal of the season.



Andres Nodl gave the Flyers a 2-goal cushion with his first NHL goal heading into the third. It looked like the game was over. But Danny Heatley picked up his second goal of the game less than halfway through the final period, and you could feel the momentum, which had been with the Flyers the entire game, begin to shift. The Flyers began to sit back a little on defense, giving Ottawa room to work, and the Sens began to fire away. Minutes later, the game was tied, and I was pissed.

The Flyers had completely dominated the play … from shots to chances to time in the offensive zone to hits … everything. Yet here we were, all tied. Shit. I was so angry I almost thought about flipping to the Sixers for a moment. Then my senses got the best of me.

I was rewarded 4 minutes later when Simon Gagne continued his resurgence, showing no ill effects of last season's devastating concussion.



Gagne made an incredible individual play. After the Senators controlled the puck off the face-off in their own zone, Gagne pick-pocketed Daniel Alfredsson, an incredible feat in its own right, and fired one toward the net that somehow went in. Mike Knuble provided a strong screen in front, and the puck trickled past Auld to recapture the lead for the Flyers. From there, Mike Richards added a empty-netter to finish off the 6-4 win in the final game at the Wachovia Center for some time. It was glorious.

And while last night's game was clearly about offense—and the Flyers' offense has been incredible all year—I'd like to give some love to the defensemen. As a six-man unit, these guys have been tremendous since a slow start. We all knew how incredibly good and underrated Kimmo Timonen is from getting to watch him for a full season last year. Simply put, the guy is one of the best defensemen in all of hockey—offensively and defensively. His calming influence back there and heady, intelligent play cannot be overstated.



And that play has rubbed off on the rest of the defense. Early in the season, Ossi Vaananen did not impress me one bit. He looked unsure of himself and mistake-prone. Since, he's been nothing short of tremendous. Pairing with Timonen has helped, no doubt. Suddenly, the Ossi is doing it all—hitting, blocking shots, erasing passes and jumping up on the rush. He looks confident, quick and decisive. He looks like a a top-shelf defenseman.

Add in the incredible addition of Matt Carle, who is playing with last year's breakout star on the blue line, Braydon Coburn, and the Flyers have two completely shutdown defensive pairs. Carle has done nothing but impress since coming over from Tampa Bay. Sure, he let a couple guys get behind him in Montreal last week, but besides that, he's been superb. Carle has tremendous offensive instincts, smart defensive positioning and can flat out fly. Pair that with Coburn, who has taken another step defensively this year, and these guys are no fun for opposing forwards.

And then there's Andrew Alberts and the recently returned Randy Jones. Jones has been impressive in his two games coming back from injury, and Andrew Alberts has been a big, bruising force since coming over from Boston. These guys don't give much of a drop-off from the top two pairings. Plus, the Flyers still have Luca Sbisa, the 18-year-old who showed he certainly belongs, and Lasse Kukkonen, a do-it-all guy.

The blue liners have picked up their game, and the offense has continued to roll all the season long. Add in the tremendous forechecking game the Flyers have going right now, and this team looks tough to beat. If they can keep it up, this will be a team that no one wants to face come playoff time … and at some point they'll be getting Daniel Briere and Scottie Upshall back. Scary.