Flyers Fight for Each Other Literally and Figuratively in Frantic Comeback Victory over Washington

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If you wanted retaliation, you got it. Two games after
Claude Giroux was splattered all over the boards like insect on windshield to
no recourse from his teammates, Jakub Voracek stood up for his captain
immediately after a huge open-ice collision on Sunday. The result: four minutes
of 5-on-4 hockey for Washington, and a pair of power-play goals to put the
Capitals ahead 4-2 with 13 minutes remaining in the third period.

But just as Voracek went to bat for Giroux, G and the rest
of his Flyers teammates would do the same for Jake, in the process redefining what it can mean
to retaliate. The Bullies kept on retaliating until they tied
the score with 10 seconds left, kept on retaliating in overtime until they landed
the knockout blow in a rousing 5-4 win.

[ Video and more on Jake Voracek's first NHL fight ]

And as great a comeback as it was, this victory may have
meant more than the standard two points in the standings for a desperate team.
This felt like something of a defining performance from Giroux – not so much as
a player necessarily, but as a leader.

While the Flyers were saddled with Voracek’s (questionable) double-minor
for instigating and fighting with a visor, it was Giroux who was actually
responsible for the turnover that gave the Caps a 3-2 lead in the first place.
He got a little too cute with the puck during the penalty kill, skating it deep
into his own zone before attempting to clear. Alex Ovechkin nullified Giroux’s
stick, essentially gift-wrapping a goal for Marcus Johansson who took the play
to the wide-open slot and snapped the disc past Ilya Bryzgalov.

Less than a minute later the score was 4-2. Washington won an
offensive draw and cycled the puck to the opposite faceoff dot where Ovechkin
was all alone for the one-timer.

Giroux was visibly frustrated with himself. Bryz was visibly
frustrated by everything, throwing his Gatorade bottle toward the benches. Moments
later Scott Hartnell took out his frustrations with a slashing penalty. Voracek
had to take his out in the dressing room, serving a 10-minute misconduct for
instigating. The game was spiraling out of control.

The captain pulled it back together. The Flyers went on the
power play with seven minutes to play, where Kimmo Timonen set Giroux up for a
wicked slapper from his customary spot, a shot that seemed to bend time and
space as it whizzed into Washington netminder Braden Holtby’s top shelf. You
better believe Giroux was fired up for that Doop.

By the final shift in regulation, the momentum was squarely
in Philadelphia’s corner. Bryzgalov went to the bench, and for about 80 seconds
the orange sweaters were attacking the Capitals in waves. The Flyers were able
to sustain the pressure, the puck moving back and forth through Giroux throughout,
until finally Timonen found twine on his shot from the point. The Wells Fargo
Center came unglued.

The Caps were not long for this world. In overtime Ruslan
Fedotenko ran a sweet give and go with Timonen, with Feds slipping the puck
underneath a lunging Holtby for the winner.

It was the type of effort followers had been waiting to see
all season, the Flyers finally overcoming adversity with the hopes of it jump-starting
their campaign. Every time we keep thinking it’s going to be too little too
late for that, they pull us back in. Believe it or not, Philly surprisingly is a
mere two points out of the eighth seed after picking up five points out of a possible
six over the last three.

With the Pittsburgh Penguins suffering multiple injuries
recently – including to Sidney Crosby (broken jaw) – a potential postseason opponent
suddenly looks a bit vulnerable.

Perhaps more important though, this was what we’ve been
waiting to see out of Giroux. He finished with one goal, two assists, seven
shots, three blocked shots and two hits, yet his night almost transcended
that of an all-star performance. Giroux practically willed his team to victory,
picking up Voracek, and for that matter himself, too. Maybe that’s the best
sign to date for a club that has looked uninspired far too often this year.
Maybe there is still a pulse there after all.

Notes

Max Talbot
left the game with an apparent left knee injury late in the second
period after attempting to check Mike Green. Talbot missed everything
except the defenseman's leg, his knee taking the brunt of hit collision,
and he was either unable or unwilling to put any weight on it from
there. Once Talbot made it back to the bench, he would have to be
carried to the back from there, though he did contribute a goal to the
win.

Oliver Lauridsen made his second NHL
start, while veteran Kent Huskins – acquired from the Detroit Red Wings
over the weekend for a conditional draft pick – played his first game in
Orange & Black. None of the goals scored were particularly a result
of defensive breakdowns, so no complaints there for a change.

Timonen led Flyers' scorers with four points. Matt Read lit the lamp for the second consecutive game after going over a month without a tally. Zac Rinaldo had seven hits in eight minutes of ice time. Bryzgalov stopped 25 of 29 shots.

>> BOX SCORE [Yahoo!]

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