Flyers Fan Reaction (FFR4) Gm 48: PHI 4, PIT 5 (OT) – Game, Sid, Match
“I just wish we could give him more as a group,” said Flyers goaltender Carter Hart.
When asked about Claude Giroux’s performance and how the Flyers captain is balancing trade rumors with playing some of the best hockey of his career, Hart had a lot of positive things to say. He talked about the leader and teammate and Giroux is. There aren’t many 34-year olds who are close to being “one of the best players” in the league, which Hart called Giroux, but the Flyers captain is up there. It’s impressive that Giroux is still leading the Flyers in points per game despite playing center (a sub-optimal position at this stage in his career) and the rest of the team’s top players dropping like flies. But as the longest-tenured captain in Flyers’ history likely nears the end of his time in Philadelphia, it’s the one line Hart wished he didn’t have to say that is the most fitting.
Whether it’s fair or not, Claude Giroux will always be compared to Sidney Crosby. The former became a full-time NHLer just as the latter’s team was reviving, and Flyers fans were desperate for a shiny toy of their own that could possibly hold up to Sid the Kid. The two have battled over 70 times — nearly a full 82-game season in their own — and both have produced moments that both fanbases will remember forever. But as it has been on nearly every occasion, Tuesday marked another night with Crosby in the spotlight and Giroux cast-off in the shadows.
After all, it was the former making history tonight, scoring his 500th NHL goal and 50th against the team he hates the most because that was simply the way it had to be. As Crosby and the Penguins usually do, they toyed with their rivals first; Crosby made a rare blunder with a drop-pass to no one in a 2-on-1 in the game’s opening minute, granting Flyers fans a short-lived sigh of relief. Crosby is often at his best when he is doubted or angered the most. And his power-play goal from an angle most players couldn’t even dream of scoring from proved that. It wasn’t even that impressive for Crosby’s high-as-a-kite standards. Especially against the Flyers.
It isn’t a surprise that the Flyers lost this game. They have a jaw-dropping ten players on regular, season-opening, or long-termed injured reserve. Their three scratches tonight? Hurt as well. According to Man Games Lost, the Flyers have the fourth-most games lost due to injury this season as of Feb. 10. Things have not exactly improved since. Derick Brassard is still out again. Gerry Mayhew missed tonight’s game due to eye swelling from the scary collision with the boards he suffered on Saturday. Rasmus Ristolainen moved to injured reserve to make room for Mayhew on the scratch list. They dressed a lineup with several fringe NHL players against the best team in the Eastern Conference since Dec. 4 on the road.
What is surprising is how they lost it. The Crosby goal came late in the first period, just 2:25 after Dominik Simon responded to Giroux’s opening tally in 22 seconds flat. Then the Flyers, one of the league’s worst second-period teams, outscored the Penguins 3-0 in the second. Scott Laughton and Nick Seeler — look, he had two assists last Wednesday and we’re grasping at straws at this point — stayed hot with goals. Justin Braun added an insurance marker off a wild scramble late in the frame.
The Flyers silenced the 18,000 plus fans on hand in the middle stanza. And they only gave up six shots on goal and 0.72 expected goals against in the third. But a pair of penalties by Isaac Ratcliffe, who was having a solid game up to that point, cracked the door open. Jake Guentzel capitalized on the second one off what Hart called “just a terrible bounce” that played more like pinball than hockey. For the second time on the night, the Penguins scored seconds after a goal, with Chad Ruhwedel sneaking backdoor to bury the equalizer 18 ticks later. And in overtime, the Penguins completed the comeback when Kris Letang knocked the puck off a falling Giroux, then looked off Hart before snapping the puck through his five-hole for his second overtime winner against the Flyers this season.
It was fitting for everyone involved; Crosby, Giroux, the Flyers, the Penguins. There will be a lot of emotions if, maybe when the Flyers trade Giroux sometime in the next month or so. Frustration will be one of them. Some will that direct that at Giroux. But a lot of will aim their grievances at those around him, both now and in the past. As Crosby will tell anyone, his legacy and each of his 500 goals and counting would not be possible without his teammates. His supporting cast has changed over the years, but Evgeni Malkin and Letang have almost always been there with elite support. Players like Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust have emerged as stars more recently. And over the years, the Penguins have simply done a much, much better job of supplementing their marquee star than the Flyers.
Of course, Pittsburgh’s marquee star has and always will be more big-time than Philadelphia’s. All due respect to Peter Laviolette, Giroux is not better than Crosby. He never was. And that’s ok. What he has been is the Flyers’ best player for over a decade, the longest-tenured captain in the winningest franchise for any team since the Original Six era ended. That should have been more than enough to get Giroux some of the glory that Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time Olympic Gold medalist, is known for.
The Flyers and Giroux found some, but nearly enough. Yes, there was The Shift. But the Penguins won the other two playoff series Crosby and Giroux faced off in. Sure, Giroux’s comeback-completing OT winner in the 2019 Stadium Series will go down as an iconic moment. But it was the Penguins who made the playoffs that year while the Flyers watched at home. Crosby himself has a shootout winner in an outdoor game himself. The Penguins had already won the 2017 Stadium Series against the Flyers in Pittsburgh, and they did that in regulation. Giroux has scored two overtime goals against the Penguins, including his outdoor one. Crosby has three against Philly. Since the Penguins opened their new arena in 2010-11, no visitor has more points than Giroux. Crosby has still scored at a higher point-per-game rate in Philly during that time.
What happens when the Penguins and Flyers face-off is always special. It doesn’t feel like it, but the Flyers have only lost one more regular-season game than they’ve one against Pittsburgh since Giroux’s first full season in 2009-10. What has happened when both teams were left to their own devices is what stings the most. The Penguins understood the urgency of trying to win with Crosby, and their reward grows by the day. The Flyers stagnated, took the risk of playing the long game, and lost horribly. Their pain grows at the same rate as their greatest rival’s pleasure. The link between their records didn’t have to pull that strong in opposite directions. Then again, maybe it did.
You can find spots where Giroux could have done more in both situations, but he has done everything the Flyers could have possibly dreamed he would do and then some. The team with Giroux has not. It hasn’t been for a lack of effort, leadership, or even talent on the part of Giroux. When Giroux drifted off the ice at PPG Paints Arena, perhaps for the final time as a Flyer, it still wasn’t his fault. Both Giroux and Crosby scored Tuesday. Giroux’s goal will be forgotten within the week. Crosby’s will be remembered forever. If this is their final clash in the Battle of Pennsylvania, there couldn’t be more a fitting ending.
Lindies
The divide between the Flyers’ top players and their depth in this game cannot be overstated. When the top-six was on the ice, the Flyers had a strong 55.97% expected goals. With their bottom-six on the ice, the Flyers were absolutely blitzed to the tune of a 7.4% expected goals mark. Unsurprisingly, the Flyers outscored the Penguins 4-0 at 5-on-5 with the former group on the ice and were outscored 3-0 with the latter group on.
It’s hard to criticize Mike Yeo too much given how short-handed the Flyers roster is. That being said, I didn’t like his decision to throw out the struggling Ratcliffe-Morgan Frost-Max Willman line immediately after the 4-3 goal; especially considering Ratcliffe was just coming out of the penalty box. Giroux and Cam Atkinson were on the ice for the 4-3 goal, but the excellent Oskar Lindblom-Laughton-Travis Konecny line was fresh.
In fairness to the Flyers, Pittsburgh’s quick-strike ability is far from isolated to against Philadelphia. The Penguins lead the league with 13 goals scored within a minute of another.
With his goal tonight, Crosby is just one goal behind Mario Lemieux for most goals against the Flyers. He needs ten more to tie the Penguins record for most goals scored against one team (Lemieux, with 60 against the Rangers).
Scott Laughton’s goal tied a career-long goal-streak (3 games) and point-streak (6 games). Laughton is currently on pace for a career-high 40 points. He also leads the Flyers with seven points since the All-Star break.
Tuesday was a good day to be a depth defenseman (previously) stuck in a massive goal drought. Nick Seeler scored his first goal in exactly three years to give the Flyers the lead in the second. Ruhwedel’s game-tying marker was his first tally since Dec. 2019. Dominik Simon, not a defenseman, also scored just his second goal in his last 43 games Tuesday.
The Flyers’ three-goal outburst in the second period was their first three-goal frame since the second period on Dec. 14 against the Devils. That game is also their last game scoring at least four goals in regulation. Since their next game (Dec. 18), the Flyers have had a multi-goal lead just twice; tonight and Jan. 25 against the Islanders. The Flyers lost both of those games.
It’s always frustrating to let a two-goal lead get away, but it stings a bit more considering how daunting the Flyers’ upcoming schedule is. Each of their next six and nine of their next ten games are against teams currently in a playoff spot; including possible Cup contenders like Washington (twice), Carolina (twice), St. Louis, Minnesota, and Florida. The Flyers probably won’t lose all of those games. But a third double-digit losing streak is certainly not out of the realm of possibility.
3 Stars
3rd: Jake Guentzel (PIT) – Goal (25), 3 Shots
2nd: Kris Letang (PIT) – Goal (6), Assist (39), 3 Shots, 27:53 TOI
1st: Sidney Crosby (PIT) – Goal (14), Assist (32), 3 Hits, 55% Faceoffs, 20:44 TOI
Next
PHI: 2/17, 7 PM vs. WSH (26-15-9, L1)
PIT: 2/17, 7 PM @ TOR (31-12-3, W1)
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All Advanced Stats are 5-on-5 unless otherwise stated and via Natural Stat Trick
