Sweet Revenge

By: Patrice L. Leonard

On Thursday, January 5, 2006, the Philadelphia Flyers arrived in New York City for a date with the Rangers. They had one thing on their minds. They wanted, and needed, to mete out some revenge on the Rangers for the opening night loss they handed the Flyers. A game against this long-time rival is always one for the books, but this time it felt more personal. Philadelphia is being touted as one of the best in the NHL, a favorite to win Lord Stanley’s Cup. So, a loss to start the season was intolerable for the team and it’s fans. But, alas they were sent packing with a 5-3 defeat. So, it was time to make up for past shortcomings and show why they are one of the NHL’s elite teams.

Going into the game the Flyers had a 8 point advantage over the Rangers in the Atlantic Division and planned to extend that by 2 more. Philadelphia was in the middle of a successful road trip with a record of 7-0-1, and had no intention of losing on this night. And, what better team to go up against than the Rangers who were holding a record of 2-4-2 in the last 8 games. That can always be dangerous, though. A desperate team is a dangerous team.

The Flyers had the first power play of the game and it didn’t take long for them to capitalize on the Rangers’ penalty. Freddy Meyer scored, with assists from Handzus and Johnsson, on the man-advantage at 2:42 of the first period to make it 1-0. The Flyers had to fend off some heavy hitting by the Rangers, especially by Darius Kasparaitus, early in the game. Forsberg was having marked trouble with Kasparaitus. Chris Therien was issued a holding penalty at 6:14, giving the Rangers their first power play of the game. But, the Flyers penalty killers were up to the challenge and held off the Ranger attack. Martin Straaka scored his 9 th goal of the year, with assists from Jagr and Nylander, at 11:01 to tie it up.

Niittymaki faced only 9 shots, two went in, in the first period. While Weekes faced 18 from the Flyers, only allowing one to get past him. The Rangers’ second goal came from Prucha at 17:16, on a pass from Rozsival. The Flyers went into the locker room between periods down by a goal, and looking fairly tired and out-played by the Rangers. Not even a first period fight between Eager and Hollweg seemed to be able to lift the Flyers out of an apparent funk.

The Flyers appeared to have gotten the rest they needed between periods. They came out hitting, hard and they looked quicker and had a jump in their collective step. Although, Peter Forsberg still looked as if he was struggling. He looked slow and was having trouble along the boards. This is something that has been ongoing over the past few games. He looks tired out there, which is unlike him. There were a lot of no-calls, the officials were letting them play the game, allowing some things to go.

At 10:53 into the period, Kim Johnsson did his best Bobby Orr impression and took the puck end-to-end and scored on Steve Weekes. Somehow, Sami Kapanen received an assist on the goal. The Flyers spent most of the second period crashing the net, and trying to make the most of the many rebounds they were generating. One of those rebounds resulting in a power play goal by Brian Savage at 14:06. A few minutes later, many thought that their eyes were deceiving them. We were treated to a break-away by Donald Brashear and Derian Hatcher, something you won’t see every game. No goal was scored, but it was entertaining none the less. The highlight of the game came when Mike Richards laid a beautiful open ice hit on Jaromir Jagr that ended with Richards skating away with his dignity in tact, and Jagr laid out on the ice. With that statement made, the Flyers went off the ice between periods with a 3-2 lead.

At the start of the 3 rd period, we saw a slow start from both teams. Eventually, the Rangers became more physical in their play, the Flyers did their best to keep up by taking the body whenever they had the chance. Mike Rathje played Jagr well and Antero Niittymaki was phenomenal fending off shot after shot from in close, offering meager rebounds. There was a lot of grinding in the corners as both teams fought for the puck, neither wanting to lose this game.

At 14:53, Hatcher was beat out of the corner when Strakka scored with assists from Jagr and Tyutin. R.J. Umberger left his man alone out in front of Niittymaki, causing the game to become tied at 3-3. At 17:10, Peter Forsberg had the opportunity to break the tie and win it for the Flyers when he went in one-on-one against Weekes. Weekes came up big and closed the door on Forsberg. When the final horn sounded, we were heading to overtime. What better setting for a Clash of Titans in the Atlantic Division?

The overtime started with Forsberg winning the face-off. Simone Gagne came up with the puck. After a burst of lightning speed, and a great fake, the lamp was lit, and he was awarded his then league leading 28 th goal. It was the second fasted goal scored in a overtime period. That didn’t matter to the Flyers as they exited the bench and piled on top of him in sheer joy. The mission at hand was accomplished. They extended their division lead by defeating a hated rival. The opening night loss was all but forgotten.

Operation Revenge was complete.