Thursday, March 17, 2011
Posted: 9:45 p.m.Updated: 11:20 p.m.
By Tim Panaccio
CSNPhilly.com
BOX SCORE
ATLANTAIf theres one word that has defined the Flyers in the second half its inconsistency.
And thats just what Peter Laviolettes troops displayed Thursday night during a 4-3 shootout loss to the Thrashers at Philips Arena.
Play a solid, tight defensive game in Florida two days ago, then show up here and get outworked and outplayed for two periods before that ever elusive sense of desperation kicks in.
Did we play with the intensity we need to win hockey games in the first, two periods? Laviolette asked. No. We picked it up in the third period. We fought hard.
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There was two points there. We talked about the game and where we had gotten for 40 minutes and where we needed to go if we were going to walk out of there with points. We werent where we needed to be.
Atlanta, battling for that eighth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, was where it needed to be. This was the 18th time in the last 36 games that the Thrashers played past regulation. They only had three regulation wins over that span, too.
Rob Schremp won the game in the shootout. The final shootout attempt that put it out of reach came from Blake Wheeler, who appeared to lose the puck, then retrieved it. The rules say when the puck stops in motion, the play is over.
I dont know what the ruling is if the puck was moving forward, said goalie Brian Boucher. I dont know. I thought he lost the puck. Not that I gave up on it. I thought the puck was gone.
Danny Brieres second goal late in regulation forced overtime.
So what changed between the second and third periods?
We started playing physical, said team captain Mike Richards. At the start of the first and through the second, we turned some pucks over. They really had a forecheck going
Its all about wins now, really. Yeah, its nice to get a point but we got to start playing better and more consistent.
Problem is, weve seen this inconsistency far too often, lately, even though the Flyers remain in first place in the Eastern Conference once again by two points (94 points) over Washington.
While the Caps can tie the Flyers in points on Friday, they cant tie the Flyers in wins, so the Flyers will remain the No. 1 seed at least through the weekend regardless of what they do in Dallas on Saturday.
Another reprieve, but nothing to cheer about.
The third period we played better energy-wise, we had two big kills and stayed with it, Boucher said. It probably overall wasnt our best piece of work. The fact we got a point is something to be happy about it. We would have liked a better effort all around.
The Flyers wasted 1:58 of power-play time to start the third period trailing 3-2 by twice turning the puck over on entry into the Thrashers zone. When they finally did get set up, they had some chances but could not dent goalie Ondrej Pavelec, who was sharp in this game with 21 saves.
Right after that power play expired, the Flyers were nailed with back-to-back calls against Briere (hooking) and Sean ODonnell (interference).
Still, they tied the game in the final 1:27 with Briere getting the puck deep from Ville Leino, then battling both Ron Hainsey and the goalie to score in the crease. Brieres two goals gave him 31.
For the second time as a Flyer and the fourth time in his career, Briere hit the 30-goal plateau. He had 31 his first season as a Flyer in 2007-08.
We played catch-up hockey all night, Briere said of a game in which the Flyers never led. Thats tough to do. Theyre a good hockey team. They play hard, they skate hard. Early in the game they imposed their momentum.
After that, we were just trying to catch up and that is tough in this league. Theres not a big difference between a playoff team and non-playoff team with parity every night. We were playing a desperate team and they deserve what they got.
We were missing something. That little extra zip or jump that we didnt have tonight.
It was an odd start to the game, too, as the Flyers Dan Carcillo and Atlantas Chris Thorburn each wanted to go with each other. Instead, the officials intervened, giving both players roughing minors. The resulting four-on-four saw the Thrashers score at 6:59.
As often happens in these situations, one team gets a break, misses and the other cashes in. That happened as Braydon Coburn had a breakaway on Pavelec, who made a glove save.
Off transition, Tim Stapleton took an outlet pass from Evander Kane, angled in off the right boards and beat Boucher inside the far post for a 1-0 lead.
Briere just joined Claude Girouxs line with Jeff Carter and already seems to be developing some chemistry with them with assists in both games hes played there. By games end, however, Briere was back centering his old unit with Scott Hartnell and Leino which led to the tying goal.
With Brieres help, Giroux made it 1-1 at 9:21 going to the net with a backhand-forehand move that caught Pavelec going the other way. Still, that kind of energy lacked consistently until the third period.
The effort was more there and the desperation as guys really wanted to win the game, Giroux said of the third period. If we play a game 60 minutes like that, were going to be successful.
Now, the middle period began with Carcillo being pounded by Mark Stuart in a fight. That seemed to ignite the Thrashers as Bryan Little snapped a 17-game goal drought at 4:35.
Boucher made a nice save on Hainseys point shot, but failed to handle the rebound. He was going down as Little flipped the puck over him, making it 2-1.
The Thrashers outworked the Flyers that period much as they did in their comeback 5-4 overtime win last weekend in South Philly.
Bad as that was, Briere got it back before the period ended. Pavelec went behind the net and tried to rim a clearing pass around the boards. He completely botched it to Carter, who fed Briere for an unexpected wraparound goal at 14:30.
Boucher, however, gave up a bad goal in the final 2:08 of the period when Thorburn centered the puck from behind the Flyers net and Nik Antropov shot it through his pads from the slot.
Whereas the Thrashers trailed 3-0 going into the third period last Saturday against the Flyers, this time, they led 3-2.
Several Flyers said that so many opponents are playing as if the playoffs have begun while the Flyers are still in cruise mode.
Its frustrating for everybody, Laviolette said. The days off have also been smothered in a lot of work, as well. If we werent battling the flu we probably would have cancelled one or two of those.
Well go out and practice Friday. Theres lots of practice time coming up here and a chance to work on things.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net
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