Martin Biron faced a fierce attack from Washington. Seldom having legitimate scoring opportunities, the Caps threw 16 shots in the 3rd to the Flyers 5. One of which off of Sergei Fedorov after Ovechkin passed up and open shot. Somehow, the Flyers made it through the third despite major trouble winning face offs and a few defensive-zone turnovers.

After doing a lot of things wrong, the Flyers finally did it right in overtime. After not calling John Erskine for his obviously intentional trip on Sami Kapanen, just a few moments later Tom Poti tripped R.J. Umberger and the Flyers got a golden opportunity with a power play. Kimmo Timonen’s shot was blocked, Cristobol Huet lost track of the puck and Joffrey Lupul potted the winning goal 6:06 in to overtime, and with just 9 seconds left on the power play. Martin Biron made 39 saves on 41 shots. The debate will rage on about the officiating in the game, but what’s done is done. The Flyers will play the Montreal Canadiens starting in just a few hours.

Suffice to say, there should not be more incentive to end this series when you can and get some rest. With a win today, the Flyers would have been off until at least Wednesday. If the Flyers would have played the entire game in Game 1, the series would have been over. Now, we have to play a game 6, and the Caps are stilling hanging around.

One other major issue is that Mike Knuble, who flanks Jeff Carter with Scottie Upshall, and was the Game 4 hero with the double-OT winner, caught a rut in the ice late in the second period. He will miss at least Games 6 and 7 with a “hamstring problem” as it was described on TV here in Philly. Speculation has ensued on who will take his place — grinder/fighter Riley Cote who played in games 1 and 2, or Steve Downie, who will bring the crazy, but has been a healthy scratch the entire series, and in 9 of 12 games to end the regular season.

The Comment
Click here to view the embedded video.

Following the Rangers 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark that gave the Rangers a 4-1 series win in the Battle of the Hudson, Devils Goalie Martin Brodeur skated past Rangers forward Sean Avery in the handshake line, without extending his hand.

When asked about the snub from Brodeur on MSG Network’s Rangers Postgame Show, Avery said, “everyone talks about how classless I am, but I guess Fatso there just forgot to shake my hand.”

Good for Avery. Brodeur’s constant flopping, diving and complaining was far more of a disgrace to the game than Avery’s faceguarding. And, the Hall-of-Fame whiner capped off the Devils’ series-long lack of class by not shaking Avery’s hand.

Devils President Lou Lamoriello should be embarassed by the example set by his Head Coach Brent Sutter and franchise goalie Brodeur. Sutter got it started with his childish stick-throwing in Game 2. It continued with his beyond hypocritical hissyfit about the Avery faceguarding. Then, after the Rangers spent Games 3 and 4 on the short end of the whistle, Sutter had the gall to continue his incessant whining about the contact with his goalie.

Throughout the series, Brodeur spent so much time worrying about Avery and other Rangers near the crease that he seemed to suffer nurmerous mental lapses, to the point that he allowed at least one soft goal in each game, and was badly outplayed by Henrik Lundqvist.

By tonight’s Game 5, the Devils were so consumed with Avery and the contact with Brodeur that they spent much of the first half of the game running around and chasing the Rangers’ agitator, causing them to dig a 4-1 hole that they simply couldn’t overcome.

The Devils, beginning with Sutter and Brodeur, allowed themselves to lose focus and discipline. That is not how the Devils won three stanley Cups.

It is not often you see Brodeur get taken off his game. It is just so sweet to see it happen, yet again, against the Rangers.

And, just one last time for this season, “MAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRTTTTYYYYYY!!! MAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRTTTTTTTYYYYYYY!!!”

Jeff Carter had two goals, and Danny Briere notched his 5th goal of the series, and tied the game with 9:59 to play.  It was pretty clear that the game would be headed to overtime. The Caps also put their best foot forward, somewhat, perhaps playing their best game of the series. Even as Alexander Ovechkin was shutdown once again, he had the game-winning goal on his stick with a wide open net and missed.

However, to be at such a game, is an experience that every hockey fan must take in. There’s nothing better in sports than hockey playoff overtime. As each play develops, there is a potential for not just the game to end, but for there to be such a huge swing in momentum. Had the Flyers finished the job in Game 1, they would have been going for the sweep. Instead, by the end of the game, the series could be tied and becomes a best-of-three series.

Each team traded 11 shots a piece in the first overtime without the game being decided, so another 15-minute intermission of near-anxiety attacks went by. Quaking in your seat. Checking your hand to see how furiously it is shaking due to the nerves. Stomach in knots.  A nervous/raucous Flyer crowd chanted “Let’s Go Flyers” as the second overtime began.

The Flyers dominated the second overtime, out-shooting Washington 7-1, the last being Knuble’s goal at 6:40 of the period, and around 11:00pm local time. Anxiety turned into euphoria, and then into exhaustion as we filed out of the building. Thank goodness the Flyers won or else not only would we be tired, but pissed off as well.

So I think I’ve written about Avery more than anything else, so I’m thinking I’m gonna become the Avery and Leafs writer from now on. Rangers bloggers, gtfo! Haha.

Anyway, here’s some footage that was caught of practice…he pretended to do what he did to Brodeur, and then gave the camera a certain finger when he realized they were there. On top of this, Henrik Lundqvist seems to have had it happening to him in practice now. Quite awesome in my opinion, Avery’s quickly become my #2 favourite player (step aside, Malkin).

From the Spawn.com forums (nerdy I know, but for your information I was linked there via digg on a different article regarding Seanny-boy)

“ok im a huge devils fan and of course i hate the ny rangers. But im sure all of you baseball fans remeber when shelly duncan signed a kids baseball sayin “red sox suck”. well i ran into pretty much the same thing. i friend of mine met Sean Avery through a steiner sports store in long island last week and he got a 16×20 signed by avery but he wrote ” Marty is a whinner” on the photo. please someone emial me and i will send you photo bc i dont know how to upload from my camera fone to comp. Now this is a great player but what a a-hole. the kid that got this photo signed was 13 years old. “

The photo can be found below. (Click for full size)

Now, we all know a hockey season isn’t judged on the regular season, unless, of course, you don’t make the playoffs.  The Rangers are in the playoffs, and they are expected to make a serious run through the Eastern Conference.  While the playoffs appeared to get off to a good start for the Blueshirts, as they won the first two games of their opening round playoff series on the road against the Devils, there was cause for concern.

And, when the Devils got on the board in the series by taking Game 3 at MSG in OT, it seemed easy enough to chalk the game up to the fact that the Devils won the game on a lucky-bounce OT goal by John Madden.

But, the fact of the matter is that the Devils have carried the play far more than the Rangers have throughout the first three games of this series.  The Devils have worked harder, initiated the physical play and done the little things that win hockey games.  The only reason the Devils didn’t have anything to show for their effort in the first two games, is that Henrik Lundqvist considerably outplayed Martin Brodeur.

Brodeur is a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer and, quite possibly, the greatest to ever play between the pipes, but he has not been close to his A game in this series.  King Henrik, on the other hand, was brilliant in the two games at The Rock.  Lundqvist, however was not at the same level in Game 3, and the Rangers suffered for it.

Heading into the series, it seemed obvious that Brodeur would have to steal games for the Devils to have a chance to win.  That the Rangers had enough other big-time playoff performers to overcome a hiccup here and there from The King, whereas the Devils didn’t. 

In hindsight, that line of thinking ignored everything we had seen from the Rangers all season long.  While the devils managed to win a game last night when Brodeur wasn’t on top of his game, the Rangers have not yet shown they can win a game in this series when King Henrik doesn’t win it for them.  It’s 85 games and counting for the Blueshirts this season, and for most of those 85 games, it’s been Henrik or bust for the Rangers.

The Rangers have gotten strong play from a few individuals.  The Captain, Jaromir Jagr, has been dominant in this series.  Sean Avery, faceguarding and all, has been tremendous.  And, rookies Brandon Dubinsky and Marc Staal have played far beyond their years.  But, not enough Rangers-certainly not enough of their big name players-have performed at an acceptable level. 

Scott Gomez and Chris Drury were brought to Broadway, because during last year’s playoffs, the Rangers couldn’t score enough goals when it counted to advance beyond the second round.  While Gomez got off to a fast start, torching his former team by dishing out 3 assists in Game 1, he has been rendered ineffective since.  Drury has struggle mightily in this series and Brendan Shanahan has not contributed offensively, since his bad-angle goal opened the scoring in Game 1.

It was ok when this happened during the course of the regular season, because there were nights when they looked every bit the the team to beat in the East.  It was a veteran team that knew how to pace itself.  A team that knew it wasn’t about finishing first in the Eastern Conference in April.  It was about finishing first in the Eastern Conference in June.  On nights when they played disinterested hockey, it was ok, because, once they reached the playoffs, where every game is critical, they would raise their game.

Well, here we are.  Game 4 of the playoffs and Game 86 of the season Wednesday night on Broadway.  They will be playing in front of a raucous crowd at The Garden in a game that will either give the Rangers a stranglehold on the series, or give control back to the Devils.  If the Rangers best players were waiting for a big game to step up, this is it.  There are no more excuses.  This is the time to step up and get the job done, and not wait for The King to steal the game for them.

***

The NHL’s directive, in the wake of the Sean Avery incident in Game 3, instructing officials to call unsportsmanlike conduct on players who attempt to distract the goalie while facing the goal, is another example that the league’s leadership is asleep at the wheel. 

There is nothing in the rule book that makes it illegal, thus this rule “interpretation” is nothing more than changing the rules in mid-season, which is supposed to require a 30-0 vote of the Board of Governors.  So, the NHL’s method of Law & Order is to violate its own rules to stop Avery from doing something that doesn’t violate any rules at all.  And, of course, if the player who did this wasn’t named Sean Avery, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. 

Suggesting that players in front of the net have to be there to make a play is a joke, and goes against all of hockey history.  Not that we should expect the current NHL leadership to know much about hockey history.  So, are we supposed to believe that when the Bruins park Zdeno Chara in front of the goal, he is there for his superior playmaking skills?  Yeah, the fact that he’s 6′9″, 251 LBS and the perfect size to completely obstruct the view of the goalie has nothing to do with it.

It is interesting, though, that the NHL had to invent a new addition to Rule 75, which governs unsportsmanlike conduct, when they failed to enforce a part of the rule already on the books in Game 2.  As the rule book states regarding Rule 75.3 section (i):

A bench minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct shall be assessed under this rule for the following infractions:

When a player, goalkeeper, Coach or non-playing Club personnel throws any object onto the ice from the players’ or penalty bench (or from any other off-ice location) during the progress of the game or during a stoppage of play.

Devils Head Coach Brent Sutter clearly threw a stick on the ice late in the game in frustration over shoddy officiating.  As if to prove his point, the referees allowed this to go unpenalized. 

Perhaps before Colin Campbell interprets new meaning to Rule 75, he should instruct his officials to read the parts that actually exist.

One more thing on this topic.  Many hockey pundits have reacted to Avery’s actions in such dramatic fashion, tossing around phrases like “embarrassing the sport” and “this is not how the game is supposed to be played.”  Spare me the hyperbole.  Let’s see one of these guys gets the courage to bash players (yes, that means you, Sidney Crosby) for feigning injury to draw high-sticking penalties, which actually is far more embarrassing to the game than finding a creative way to screen the goalie.

Good for you Sean!

As much of a dick as you are some times, its good to see innovative plays every now and then.

Discussion on FOB: http://faceoffboards.com/goalie-screening-t270.html

UPDATE: NHL CLARIFYS RULES
— MEDIA ADVISORY –

NEW YORK/TORONTO (April 14, 2008) — National Hockey League Senior
Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell
today issued the following advisory on the interpretation of Rule 75 -
Unsportsmanlike Conduct: “An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule
75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation
when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender
and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the
goaltender’s face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or
distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make
a play.”

UPDATE: He should be okay! Lucky :) 

Last night’s matchup of the Caps and Flyers had an interesting and painful twist when Patrick Thoresen blocked a Mike Green slapshot late in the 3rd period on the penalty kill as the Flyers were clinging to a one goal lead they would eventually blow (thanks to OVE!)

“a ruptured testicle” is what Tarik El-Bashir is saying over at the Washington Post

owwww, good luck buddy, this is one area where women are more fortunate than men.

Reactions around the blogosphere *usually the same idea for all of them*…

The game took a solemn moment when the Flyers left wing Patrick Thoresen, took a shot in the groin and had to be helped off the ice, taken to hospital for tests there is the possibility that one of his testicles will have to be removed, such was the force of the shot that he blocked with six minutes to go in the game.
-HockeyNation

Best wishes and get well soon to Flyer forward Patrick Thoresen, who gave new meaning to “taking one for the team” last night, when he blocked a Mike Green drive by taking the puck to the groin. This is a hard enough way to make a living without having to risk permanent injury. Whatever jersey a player wears, one has to respect the desire to make a play that would lead a player to give himself up in that fashion. Get well soon, Patrick.
-The Peerless Prognosticator

To us it looked as if Patrick Thoresen took the Green slapshot in the man region. If that’s the case, we tip our hat to the guy who is spending the night in the hospital. Sure, he plays for the other team but the Brotherhood does not like to see its members take blows like that in the man region.
-Bleatings from a Caps Nut

“Gentlemen, pray for Patrick Thoresen - Busted Nut”
(BBeR note: only getting a spot here because of the title, nicely done, haha)

Take it easy,
-BBeR