By Joseph Turkos
Flyers fans may have wanted to ask for their hats back after prematurely celebrating an apparent hat trick by Jeff Carter in the third period of the Flyers’ 7-1 thrashing of the Washington Capitals Saturday at the Wachovia Center.
It turns out that all they had to do was wait another eight minutes until Scott Hartnell’s goal, his 13th of the season and third of the game, prompted a second shower of hats.
When Carter appeared to bat in a floating puck in the third period of Saturday’s game, the sellout crowd began throwing their hats on the ice. It turned out that the goal was actually scored by Hartnell.
In addition to the five goals scored by Carter (24) and Hartnell, the Flyers also received goals from Joffrey Lupul (11) and Simon Gagne (17), as the Flyers dismissed the Southeast-leading Capitals.
Saturday’s game possessed every component of an exciting hockey game: scoring, great goalie play and fighting. And boy, was there ever fighting.
At times the game had the feel of the movie Slap Shot, just without the Hansen Brothers. But then again, Donald Brashear may be the next best thing.
Brasher, the former Flyer, was involved in six on-ice altercations Saturday, including two fights, two roughing penalties, an unsportsmanlike conduct and a game misconduct.
The third fight of the game (between the Flyers’ recent call up, Josh Gratton, and the Caps Matt Bradley) exemplified the frustration of Washington. That frustration was no doubt the lingering effect of last year’s first-round loss to the Flyers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season. The Capitals may have been looking to prove something on Saturday. A fact that was not lost on Flyers head coach John Stevens.
“We ended their season last year. There was a lot of motivation for them,” Stevens said. “They felt like we stole something from them and they wanted to make amends.”
And as for the Capitals All-Star winger Alexander Ovechkin, he may as well have spent Saturday in Cuba, welcoming his countrymen as Russian warships entered Havana Bay.
Ovechkin, the league’s third leading scorer (43), was held to one shot on the day. And of his three hits, he ended up on his backside twice.
But the true star of the game was Flyers goaltender Antero Niittymaki. Niittymaki, starting his second game in a row after Marty Biron missed the game with the flu, faced down 48 shots. Washington shot on goal 25 times in the first period alone, breaking the record Flyers’ home record for allowing shots on goal, 22, which was sent Dec. 28, 1975 against Boston.
“I have seen him good but he was great,” Stevens said of Niittymaki.
With the Flyers leading 1-0 in the first period, Washington went on the power play three times, but Niittymaki kept the Flyers in the game, turning away shot after shot.
“He was sensational and when your goalie plays that well early and he allows your team to regroup, he was the reason we won,” Stevens said.
After yielding five goals in the Flyers’ 5-2 loss to Montreal Thursday night, snapping the Flyers’ five-game winning streak, Niittymaki’s strong start on Saturday allowed him to leave Thursday behind.
“You just have to go save-by-save and I looked up and it was twenty-something saves, so I actually think it was good for me after the Montreal game.” Niittymaki said. “And I got a few good saves to start feeling better.’’
A short memory is a valuable asset for a goalie to have. It’s even more valuable if he’s your backup.
Comments can also be mailed to jturkos@ingnews.com
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