Despite outshooting the Flyers 30 to 23 and some bad officiating that went their way, Montreal managed to screw it up once again.
Maybe good things don’t always come in small packages.
The Flyers Black Ops – I mean, Special Forces – sorry, Special Teams – pretty much won the game. The Habs penalty killers seemed a bit unfocused and discombobulated.
And is it just me or did some of the play look an awful lot like a pick up game at your local rink where the guys don’t really know one another? You know, passes to players who aren’t there, dump and chase and no one seems to know who is supposed to be the chase-ee, tripping over your own teammate?
All of this is depressing enough, but now a Pens fan friend of mine said she is rooting for the Flyers because the Habs beat her Pens! Have you no shame, woman!?
Of course, being a Steel Town Gal, her response was: “As a Pens fan it is a sacrilege to support “Filthy” (Philly), but this current situation goes deeper. I will not be happy until the Habs are out and their dreams are crushed just like ours were – they ARE NOT better than Pittsburgh or the Caps.
“I’m pulling for a west coast team to win it now (Boston would’ve been ideal, but they pissed that away), so I have no choice!”
And from fellow blogger Frank: “Well, Flyers like you said the other night, Philly wants it more. I can’t friggin’ believe a third string goalie has thrown two shutouts in a row. I think Montreal is playing scared and Halak looked like crap.
“That being said, having Jacques Martin behind your bench is never a good thing in this type of situation.
“Plus Montreal has the Ex-Panther factor with 4 over Philly who have 1.
“Blackhawks smartly have ZERO!”
The Chicago/San Jose show was more entertaining on multiple levels. Better play, astute officiating, classic set-ups and most of all – The Jumbo Joe Meltdown Show!
The Blackhawks downed the Sharks 4-2 and Thornton was not happy about it. One NHL staff writer put it perfectly: “(Joe Thornton) played mostly like a man possessed by someone with anger-management issues…”
In the second, Thornton nearly knocked Brent Seabrook into the luxury suites with a legal mid-ice check. Then in the third, he slashed Dave Bolland’s wrist before the puck was dropped during a faceoff. Bolland wound up rolling around on the ice, wondering if his hand had been severed. Finally, with only 18 seconds to go in the third and nothing left to lose, Jumbo Joe decided to take down anyone within reach, creating a scrum of Monty Pythonesque proportions after which the officials assessed almost 20 minutes worth of penalties.
In Joe’s defense, I can’t really fault the guy’s frustration. Bolland has been working on ramping up from Pest to SuperPest, being an annoying little stick-picking, puck-stealing gnat buzzing around Thornton for two straight games. But in hockey, if you blow your cool, you lose the game. Bolland and his teammates know that all too well. Patrick Sharp (most likely with a big grin on his face) told NHL.com, “We saw it at the end of the game when a couple of guys were trying to get at Bollie and push him around. That means he’s doing his job.”
So here’s what I suggest, we should all send Joe some aromatherapy candles, soothing balms and calming sounds of nature MP3s to relax to in his hotel room in order to prepare for the next onslaught of annoyance that is Bollie.
I think Joe may also be remembering this hit and is thinking “not again.”