By the end of regulation against the Nashville Predators on Monday, the Philadelphia Flyers were just trying to hang on until overtime.
By the end of overtime, they were just trying to hold on for a shootout. And they almost didn’t, if not for the most picture-perfect poke check you’ll see by a defenseman this season.
Thanks to a bad line change, Mike Ribeiro led a 2-on-1 scoring chance for the Predators. He tried to toe-drag around the lone Flyers defender, Michael Del Zotto, but he was flatly denied.
Look at how pretty this is. It has all the elements:
Hang-time. The block. And then the forceful shove away into the boards. Like time froze. Philadelphia lost in the shootout, but this should be worth at least half a point in the standings. Someone call Gary Bettman.