SB Nation - Dan Carcillo

Betts and Richards score two; Flyers actually win at hockey

Travis Hughes — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:38:04 -0000

More photos » by Steve Nesius - AP

Final - 12.23.2009	1	2	3	Total
Philadelphia Flyers	2	0	3	5
Tampa Bay Lightning	0	2	0	2

Complete Coverage >

They may have taken the second period off, but two goals a piece from Blair Betts and Mike Richards were enough for the Flyers to overcome it, as they beat the Lightning 5-2 tonight. Simon Gagne also added an empty netter, just his second goal of the season.

Philadelphia carried all the momentum into the second period, entering it with a 2-0 lead. But a few early penalties by the Flyers allowed Tampa to get their offense in sync a little more, and while they didn't score with the man advantage, it was clear that it gave them some jump. They would wind up scoring two goals while the orange and black sat back and let it happen.

Give the Flyers credit for taking the game back in the third period, though. Peter Laviolette said after the game that he thought the third period was even better than the first for the Flyers, and that despite a lull in the work ethic department in the second, they really turned it on in the third.

A lot of fans seem to be dwelling on the negatives of the second period, but for the majority of the game, the Flyers played much better than they have in any recent game. Was it perfect? Far from it, but you have to start somewhere.

After the jump, a few more thoughts on this one, questions with answers, and the comment of the night on an evening where it seemed like most people were out doing last minute Christmas shopping.

Some more assorted thoughts...

Michael Leighton wasn't brilliant, but he did the job he's supposed to do. He's a backup to the backup goalie, and guys like that aren't supposed to win you hockey games. He allowed the Flyers to win, however, and that's just swell.
Tampa got a lot of pucks on him -- 33 shots, to be exact -- but most of them were rather weak, or rather Flyer-like, if you'd prefer that phrasing.
Mike Richards was all over the ice tonight and looked extremely determined. Always a good thing.
Peter Laviolette called timeout halfway through the second period as you could kind of sense the momentum shift. It didn't work as Tampa went on to tie the score, but it's refreshing and nice to see a coach pull out all the stops.
The number one and number two penalty men in the league, Tampa's Zenon Konopka and Dan Carcillo, almost dropped the gloves in the first period. Instead, just a little hugging.
Blair Betts had the first two goal game of his career tonight.

Questions With Answers

The starting 18 are finally healthy. Can they begin forming chemistry, tonight? I thought so. Well, at least better than it has been. It goes back to what Laviolette has been preaching over the last few days. These guys know each other and they're all very talented. When they're able to just go out and play hockey, chemistry and ultimately success will come.
Does Michael Leighton play well enough to win tonight? Yes sir.
Can the team score more than 1 goal? Yes, they even scored the first goal, which they haven't done in quite some time.
The never-ending question: Can the PP get it going? It looked better than it has, and Richards scored his first goal with the man advantage. One for three on the night.

Comment of the Night

Does Richards know it’s legal to pass in a 2-on-1?

>> Ben Feldman, just before Richards scored without passing on a 2-on-1

Optimism vs Pessimism: Flyers play well, still lose to Pens in SO

Travis Hughes — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:28:07 -0000

[TSN Recap] - [Boxscore] - [Pittsburgh Reaction]

Final - 12.17.2009	1	2	3	OT	SO	Total
Pittsburgh Penguins	1	1	0	0	1	3
Philadelphia Flyers	1	1	0	0	0	2

Complete Coverage >

Well, at least they got a point.

Despite doing just about everything right, the Flyers still fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight in a shootout. They controlled five-on-five play, looked solid on the power play, and showed up to the arena tonight with a lot of heart, but still walked away without a point.

There are two schools of thought on this. You can be a pessimist and say that it's the same old Flyers, and no matter how well they played, they still lost the game and that's all that mattered. The penalty kill looked terrible. The shootout looked worse. Moral victories don't matter, right? This team is just bad, and they lost another game.

Or, you can be optimistic. The Flyers played well enough to win tonight, and in a lot of ways, they just didn't get the luck. Marc-Andre Fleury stole yet another game away from the orange and black, and you can't blame the home team for that..

In reality, it's a mixture of the two. There are reasons to be pessimistic. The Flyers still took a few terrible penalties. They looked the opposite of good on the penalty kill. There are reasons to be optimistic. In a lot of this game, played better than the Penguins. The chemistry between Scott Hartnell and Jeff Carter was fantastic, and the team received positive contributions from all four lines.

Regardless of which logic you subscribe to, you can make a solid argument.

After the jump, a few more thoughts, questions with answers, and the comment of the night.

Some more assorted thoughts...

Chris Pronger made a few bad plays on the PK, but none was worse than a clearing attempt in which he put it right on Crosby's stick about 10 feet from the goal. Crosby roofed it to tie the game.
In the first period, Crosby took a high stick to the face, but embellished like the world was ending. On the ensuing power play, the Penguins tied the game at one.
"We know we can play with them." - Jeff Carter
The penalties still need to stop. While Crosby embellished on the first one, it was still a penalty. Throughout the game, the lack of discipline still continues to haunt.
The Penguins practice shootouts, and Dan Bylsma makes it fun for them. Should the Flyers, a team that's historically been terrible at picking up the Bettman point, take up similar preparation?
Dan Carcillo looked quite good as well.
There were a few questionable calls in this one, including one on Carcillo in overtime and a no call on Evgeni Malkin in the third, but they were in no way the reason the Flyers lost the game.

Comment of the Night

Come On Boys! Go out there and bite someone if you have to, lets get this thing turned around tonight. ...

>> M from Pdaddy

Questions With Answers

60 minute effort? 65 minutes, actually.
Can Boosh turn in a solid performance? Continually is coming up huge for the Flyers.
Can the Flyers beef up on the power play and the PK, which both didn't look too great on Tuesday? We didn't get much of a look at the PP, but the PK was the reason they lost tonight.
How does Dan Carcillo play, one game after being arguably the Flyers best player? Looked good on the PP again, as weird as that sounds. All around hard work from Carbomb.
How's Betts look in his first game back? Played about 14 minutes, went 8 for 14 in the faceoff circle. Looked like Blair Betts.

Tales of the Tape: Beating on the Flyers in Three Parts

JDunman — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:00:46 -0000

When the Penguins meet the Flyers, be it in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, the chances of a fight breaking out are quite higher than most other games. Toss in the level of frustration that Philadelphia has to be feeling, and that high chance becomes an inevitability. So, with little surprise, the game featured three fights, all within the first six minutes of the game. We'll be taking a moment and checking out all three.

First up - the Noted One Mike Rupp taking on Arron Asham.

The two meet up and exchange pleasantries (and jabs) before Rupp begins going for Asham's helmet. Asham responds by grabbing for Rupp's jersey, but instead gets a handful of face. Rupp answers back with a nice shot, and gets the helmet off, with Asham slipping to the ice. Asham regains his footing and shifts Rupp off his balance, ending the fight. I could see this one being called a draw, but with the shot leading to the helmet removal, I'm thinking it's a win from Rupp. And I'm writing this, so that's how it will be.

Quickly after the first fight comes another (with another annoying 'Well, well, well' call from the announcer) which is not at all surprising once we learn that it's Eric Godard and Riley Cote (round 5).

Spinning and punching. That's what these two are good at, and that's what these two do. Godard gets Cote's helmet off and gets some shots in to the head. Also with these shots came Cote's helmet, which got stuck on Godard's arm and was also swinging towards Cote's head. As the two near the boards, it looks like they await the linesmens' intervention, but when the officials make no moves, they decide to swing a few more times at each other. A few more fist/helmet shots from Godard and the officials finally get in and break the two up. I'm calling this one for Godard - he got the better offense in, and hit the man with his own helmet.

So with Rupp and Godard both getting decent showings, when a fight breaks out between Craig Adams and Dan Carcillo, we're expecting good things, right?

Oh no. Well, Adams did manage to get Carcillo's helmet off...but he also managed to get punched. In the head. A lot. The less said here, the better. That's a loss for Adams...but 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

These matchups have something in common with each other. All three pairings have fought each other before. Godard and Cote is certainly nothing new - we saw it three times last season and the two even have an AHL bout against one another. Mike Rupp had a noted fight against Asham last season while he was playing for the Devils. Neat little tidbit about that one - Rupp also fought Riley Cote in that game. In fact, when Rupp was fighting Asham, Cote was fighting another Devil right next to him. Certainly nothing special about that - it's just kind of neat. As for Adams and Carcillo - they also fought last season, and Adams actually took a worse beating then.

With these three fights, the Pens are tied for 5th in fighting majors with the Sharks, only below the Flames, Lightning, Flyers and Maple Leafs. Next up will be the Flyers again, and do I really need to write a preview for that one? Of course someone's going to fight.

Poll

Overall, who came out on top of the fights?

Game 27, Preview and Open Thread: Se remettre sur les rails, Philadelphia Flyers at Montreal Canadiens

Travis Hughes — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:04:08 -0000

#12 Philadelphia Flyers (13-12-1, 27 pts) at #11 Montreal Canadiens (13-14-2, 28 pts)
Le Centre Bell - 7:30 PM ET - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
TV: The Comcast Network HD, RDS HD
Radio: 1210 AM WPHT, XM 206
This is the open game thread.
Behind Enemy Lines: Habs Eyes On The Prize

Broadcast Note: Take notice above. Thanks to the Allen Iverson show dominating Philadelphia sports media tonight, the Flyers have been relegated to secondary status on television, radio, and probably in the minds of most fans. On local TV, the game will be on The Comcast Network, while the radio broadcast can be found at 1210 AM WPHT.

The Flyers travel north of the border tonight to take on the Montreal Canadiens, another team that is struggling mightily as the season slowly shifts to "not so early anymore." They'll look to get their new coach his first Philadelphia win, but they'll of course be without Dan Carcillo as he serves game one of his four game suspension. Regardless of how you feel about the suspension, Carcillo has been one of the hardest working Flyers over this current stretch of pitiful hockey, and his absence in the lineup isn't good for the team.

Riley Cote will replace him. Enough said, I think.

Ray Emery's absence tonight, on the other hand, might be able to help the team. He's been playing pretty pitiful hockey himself, and after looking absolutely terrible against Washington on Saturday night, he'll give way to Brian Boucher tonight. I hate to say it, but are the words goalie controversy slowly creeping up? If the current trend continues, that could be the case.

Two players that will be in the lineup and should be able to help the Flyers tonight are Claude Giroux and Danny Briere. But since we're playing Montreal, they're looooove their French players and their ridiculous trade ideas for said French players to come "home."

Cue Habs Eyes on the Prize today, talking about better potential trading partners for Guillaume Latrendresse, who they recently shipped off to Minnesota. Now maybe I'm taking the out of context and maybe I'm making nothing about a simple passing idea from a Montreal hockey fan. But still, it seems worthy of a reference. After the jump, if you'd oblige.

How about the Philadelphia Flyers Claude Giroux, whose on a steady upward curve?

Latendresse would have fit in nicely with the Flyers, or would the John Leclair flashbacks have been too scary? Guillaume would have been their type of player, very much in the Tim Kerr mode.

The Flyers, who have been spinning their wheels of late, might have opted for such a shakeup rather than canning their coach.

Such a potential trade could have been sprinkled with a future consideration clause on both sides, based upon 2009 to 2011 production, with draft picks in the balance.

The Habs could also have gotten their mits on Daniel Briere as well, alleviating a million bucks a season over a five year term off the Flyers payroll in the process, by offering up Scott Gomez. I'm not a big Briere booster, but I see him as having more upside in a role with Montreal than Gomez at present.

I'll refrain comment and let you form an opinion on that one. Especially that first one. Latrendresse for Giroux. Yep.

Anyway, that's a tangent and there's a hockey game tonight. Montreal's a poor team, but the Flyers sit behind them in the standings. It's time for the orange and black to prove they aren't a poor team themselves, and that sentiment is going to grow if they can't turn this around as soon as possible.

Flyers Line Combinations - slight changes, Briere and Giroux swap spots; Cote in for Carcillo.

Hartnell – Richards – Giroux
JVR – Carter – Briere
Laperriere – Pyorala – Asham
Cote – Kalinski – Nodl

Questions To Answer

Elements of the slump bust: power play. Can they turn it around?
Element two: goaltending. How does Boucher perform?
Element three: lifeless hockey. The Flyers have looked lazy for weeks. Does that stop?
Element four: the system. Is it obvious that Laviolette has already put in some tweaks to the offense, and if said tweaks are obvious, do they seem to work?

Starting Goaltenders

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
PHI - Brian Boucher	7	357	2	4			15	2.52	170	155	.912	0

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
MTL - Carey Price	21	1234	8	10			57	2.77	653	596	.913	0

As mentioned above, the game tonight is on The Comcast Network (ch. 8 for most, ch. 201 in HD) and on the air at 1210 WPHT. Join us here for the discussion and LET'S GO FLYERS!

Monday Links: Getting good at shootouts edition

averagejoe — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:00:27 -0000

Monday is here again. Back to the grind.

Blues news

The Note take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight. Unfortunately, it's at home. [CBS Sports]
The Blues are getting confident in shootouts. That's nice, but how 'bout the team wins in regulation. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Hockey news

Red Wings and Senators won on Sunday. [Yahoo! Sports]
Lots of games on a Monday night. Way to go up against the NFL, Gary. [Yahoo! Sports]
Your standings for Monday. Although the Blues are still last in the Central, they have played two fewer games than just about everyone else. [NHL.com]
The NHL is considering renaming the post-season awards. That's a big fail. [Puck Daddy]
From CCR comes this article about Brendan Shanahan. Dude can hold a grudge. Do you think Craig Janney does? [NJ.com]
Teemu Selanne has a broken hand. [TSN]
Dan Carcillo will get four days to think about what he has done. [TSN]
Rick DiPietro allowed three goals in first action of the season in a rehab start. [ESPN]
The Thrashers future is now — and by that Scott Burnside means if they don't sign Ilya Kovalchuk, they have no future. [ESPN]
With Cam Ward coming back from injury, what happens to Manny Legace? [Canes Country]
A look at how the media views the same play. [Japers' Rink]

Other links

This is just funny. [Pic]
A year in Jesus sightings. [Buzzfeed]
If you take public transportation, you might appreciate this. [Holy Taco]

Video

It's always good when people fall down. And mess up. And are just morons.

Gametimelinks(at)gmail.com GDT tonight. Don't forget.

Dan Carcillo Suspended Four Games

Travis Hughes — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:04:27 -0000

The National Hockey League has suspended Dan Carcillo for four games as a result of his punch to the face of Washington's Matt Bradley last night. Paul Holmgren does not agree with the suspension. Here's what he said in a statement released by the team:

"Decisions come down from the league…do I agree with them all? No. I certainly do not agree with this one. We do not have a lot of recourse in this situation. Dan will serve his suspension, and we will move on."

Given the apparent reasoning behind other suspensions in the league, it's easy to understand their reasoning on this one. Bradley was injured on the play and Carcillo has a reputation. Is that fair? I'm sure there will be a ton of debate.

Personally, I'm not too upset with the suspension. Carcillo was dumb, the penalties hurt the team, and quite frankly, he needs to get it through his head that he can't do this stuff anymore. Yes, Bradley dropped his gloves. That doesn't change the fact that Carcillo never should have engaged him in the first place.

Most of the Flyers agree. Here's Peter Laviolette, Holmgren, Chris Pronger, and Mike Richards, in that order, discussing the hit last night.

“It never should’ve happened. We got hit and should’ve skated away.”

"He should have carried on playing the hockey game." ... “Danny gets hit, carries on and goes about his business, plays the game, and we’re not shorthanded for nine minutes.”

"... shoot ourselves in the foot with a nine minute penalty..."

“I’ll hold the team accountable for that...”

Feel free to disagree. I'm sure many of you will. The large problem I can see most Flyers fans having here is with the length of the suspension. Four games? Well, Carcillo's reputation coupled by the injury to Bradley are where you get four games from. If there's any debate about this suspension at all, it should revolve around that, as there are reasonable gripes there. But to say Carcillo didn't deserve a suspension at all would be pulling the orange wool over your eyes a bit too far.

Are You Sure About That, Mr. Carcillo?

J.P. — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:11:07 -0000

via a.espncdn.com

View full size photo »

When explaining why he sucker-punched Matt Bradley late in the first period of tonight's 8-2 Caps win, Dan Carcillo offered up the following:

“He kind of came at me the shift before. He was talking to me before. I thought we were going to fight."

Huh. That explains it, then - Bradley came at him the shift before. But if Bradley did indeed come at him, it must've been pretty quick, since the two had only been on the ice together for one second prior to the shift on which Carcillo clocked Brads (and that one second wasn't at a stoppage in play, either). Take a look:

(Click to enlarge)

Carcillo also said of the incident:

“Everything happened pretty quick, I saw him drop his gloves, so I started punching him." (Emphasis added.)

The facts beg to differ:

So the question is, as Corey Masisak asks it: "If Carcillo is that unrepentant and inaccurate/lying during his review, is the NHL going to be more willing to suspend him/add games to it?" I guess we'll see.

(H/t Ovechwin on the second screen grab and renhoak for the hi-res video of the incident)

From Chris to Oskars: Meet Your Philadelphia Flyers 2010 Olympic Hopefuls

Travis Hughes — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:40:04 -0000

Chris Pronger skates for Team Canada at the Salt Lake City games in 2002.

View full size photo »

If you ever poke around at the new SBNation.com (and if you don't, then what are you doing with your life?), you've no doubt noticed SBN Hockey's running feature over the last week or so. Each site on the network has taken a look at their respective team, noting which players are locks to make their national teams and which players have outside chances at traveling to Vancouver next month.

While most of the Flyers are Canadian -- seriously, it's absurd the number of Canadians on this roster -- and will have trouble cracking a stacked roster, there are some who will make it. Of course, there are also other players who will make the squad in other countries, and you might be surprised at who has a shot.

After the jump, we'll break down the Flyers roster and see who has a chance at representing their country in Vancouver this February.

Team Canada

The pressure is on for the host country. After a disappointing showing in 2006 at Turin that saw Canada come home without a medal, anything less than the gold will be unacceptable north of the border.

Chris Pronger: There's absolutely no doubt that Pronger will be representing Canada in Vancouver. He's an experienced Olympian, winning the gold with Canada at Salt Lake City in 2002. He also played for his country in the 2006 Turin games and the 1998 Nagano games, as well as in the 1997 World Championships and the 1993 World Junior Championships. Pronger, along with former Anaheim teammate Scott Niedermayer, will be expected to lead the Canadian blueline. Packing His Bags.
Mike Richards: It's hard to see how Canada could keep Richards off the roster. The captain of the Canadian team that won the World Junior Championship in 2005, Richards has played internationally on three different occasions. Packing His Bags.
Jeff Carter: While not as strong a lock as Richards, Carter still has a very strong shot at making the team this year. He's versatile, obviously proven in the NHL, and he's got international experience, winning the WJC gold with Richards in '05. A Solid Bet.
Simon Gagne: It appears that Gagne will be held out by injury. He was probably about as likely to make the team as Carter prior to sustaining his injury during the Flyers season, but considering he won't be playing hockey when Team Canada announces their roster this month, it's hard to imagine Gagne will get another chance to represent his country. It's a shame, too, considering he played for Canada in the 2006 and 2002 Games. Staying Home.
Also staying home: Arron Asham, Blair Betts, Danny Briere, Dan Carcillo, Riley Cote, Claude Giroux, Ray Emery, Scott Hartnell, Ian Laperriere, Jon Kalinski, Darroll Powe, Braydon Coburn, Ryan Parent

Team USA

USA is expected to ice a much younger team than they have in recent Olympic games. Only six players over the age of 30 were invited to their summer camp, and there's no guarantee that all of those players will make the team. Guys like Chris Chelios, Keith Tkachuk, and Brian Rolston were left out of camp as general manager Brian Burke tries to create a younger team that can bring USA Hockey back to the summit.

There are only three Americans on the Flyers roster. They'll announce the roster on NBC during the Winter Classic.

James van Riemsdyk: JVR wasn't invited to USA's summer camp and he wasn't even expected to make the Flyers this season. But to say the 19-year-old has been impressive in the early stages of his pro career is an understatement, and there's no doubt he's at least opened some eyes with the USA brass. Will that get him a roster spot, though? It's tough to say. It's true that the youth movement on the team is here to stay, but it might be a little too early for JVR. He's got a lot of other players to beat out, but he deserves consideration and he'll likely get it. 50/50.
Matt Carle: He wasn't invited to the summer orientation camp either, but when you lead NHL defenseman in plus/minus, you'll open some eyes as well. He'd be a dark horse candidate for sure, and he could be dismissed as a player padded by playing with Chris Pronger. But when you look at some of the other players that attended the summer camp -- Tom Gilbert, Ron Hainsey, Mike Komisarek, Paul Martin, Brooks Orpik, -- you could see Carle getting a spot over some of those guys. A Possibility.
Staying home: Brian Boucher

Team Finland

Led by goaltender Antero Niittymaki, Finland won the silver medal at Turin in 2006, beating Canada in the process. They aren't favorites to medal in Vancouver, but to say they couldn't surprise would be severely underestimating the Fins.

Kimmo Timonen: Kimmo is an absolute lock for Team Finland. He's their best defenseman, no doubt. There's really not much else to say. He's to Finland as he is to the Flyers -- a solid rock of a defenseman that can be counted on to play huge minutes. Packing His Bags.
Mika Pyorala: He made the preliminary roster over the summer, and making the Flyers certainly helps his chances to make the Olympic roster. He's not a lock at this point, but general manager Jari Kurri has been to Philadelphia to watch Pyorala play and has said good things about his play -- "he's a smart player at both ends of the ice," "you know what you are getting with him." Solid endorsements. Wouldn't Be Surprised.
Former Flyers To Watch: Antero Niittymaki, Joni Pitkanen, Ossi Vaananen, Sami Kapanen

Team Latvia

Probably the weakest team in the Olympics, NHL.com didn't even bother to preview them in their series over the summer. It's understandable, though. They have very little NHL talent on their roster, but one of those players does play for Philadelphia.

Oskars Bartulis: Even as an AHL player, Bartulis was one of the best Latvian players in North America. Now that he's in the NHL and playing solidly, it seems as though Bartulis will suit up for his country in February. He's played in pre-tournament games for Latvia, but didn't play in the World Championships. Things have changed now that he's made the jump to the NHL, and you can be sure that the Latvian brass won't let Bartulis go unnoticed. A Strong Bet.

Team Norway

They surprised by qualifying for Olympics, but could they stage an upset or two? There is only one Norwegian in the NHL. He plays in Philadelphia.

Ole-Kristian Tollefsen: Tollefsen has been injured for most of the season, but he is expected to be fine by February, so it would be an utter shock if he wasn't named to Team Norway. Packing His Bags.
Former Flyers To Watch: Patrick Thoresen

Team Sweden

Former Flyers To Watch: Peter Forsberg

Sunday links -- Matt Cooke to be suspended? Gonchar and Pens at odds? Bill Guerin's effort too low?

Hooks Orpik — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:50:44 -0000

Check out 2:35 of the youtube. "It's f-in hat night", the new "it's the f-in Catalina wine mixer"? [Three Rivers Blog]

TSN insider Bob McKenzie says that the league may review Matt Cooke's hit on Artem Anisimov last night for possible suspension or fine. [Twitter account]

Empty Netters takes a hard line on Cooke and says he deserves suspended. Given that the hit was away from the play, targeted the head and the offender's last name is Cooke, I have to agree that discipline could and probably should be on the way. [Empty Netters]

The Confluence takes a look at the fine line Cooke walks, and occasionally crosses. [Kuklas Korner]

Stats and details on the Penguins success in the first 25 game segment of the season. [Tribune Review]

The same clown from Ottawa who said the Penguins were preparing to trade Evgeni Malkin (two weeks before they re-signed him) says that the Penguins and Sergei Gonchar aren't agreeing on extension figures. [Ottawa Sun]

I'm guessing the odds you see an article on Puck Prospectus this week about Sidney Crosby hurting the Penguins is pretty low. [Puck Prospectus]

Faceoff Factor calls out Bill Guerin's effort. I don't see it, Guerin's got six points (3g, 3a) in the last eight games, including that last second buzzer beater. 39 year old players don't play like they're 19 or 29, gotta save a little in the tank for the long haul. [Faceoff Factor]

Craig Rivet and Max Talbot frienemy Dan Carcillo had quite the series of fights. [Puck Daddy]

Crosby v. Ovechkin was the fourth biggest hockey story of the decade. JP asked on his site if it'd be higher or lower next decade. I'm going to push and say it'll be about the 4th biggest story next decade too. The three bigger stories? NHL player involvement in the 2014 Olympics, the next CBA negotiations and the Penguins dynastic 11 straight Stanley Cups. [Puck Daddy]

Former Penguins prospect Angelo Esposito tore the same ACL again. Hard not to feel bad for someone who's career has seemingly peaked at age 15 or 16. [Bird Watchers Anonymous]

As a little aside, who would have guessed that Pascal Dupuis would have the more goals so far this season than everyone involved in that trade....Combined. The scoreboard (with NHL goals in parenthesis) is Pascal Dupuis (7) to everyone else (5). Marian Hossa (2) Colby Armstrong (3), Erik Christensen (0), Esposito (0) and a first round pick that was Daultan Leveille (0). Now that Hossa is back, figured I had to use that stat now.

Chicago's cap crunch might make defenseman Cam Barker the odd man out. Hear that, Mr. Shero? [Faceoff.com]

Hobbled Flyers drop another to Sabres 4-2

Travis Hughes — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:27:05 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

Browse more photos »

[TSN Recap] - [Boxscore] - [Buffalo Reaction]

Final - 11.27.2009	1	2	3	Total
Buffalo Sabres	1	1	2	4
Philadelphia Flyers	2	0	0	2

Complete Coverage >

It's become tradition to have a home game on Black Friday each season. But looking for relief from the crowds at the mall, fans have frequently found disappointment inside the halls of Wachovia Center, as the Flyers have lost on the day after Thanksgiving each year since 2006. Nothing changed today as the injury-riddled Flyers fell to the Buffalo Sabres 4-2. It's the second time in just under two weeks that the Sabres have come into Philadelphia and wrestled a win away from the home team.

After taking an early lead on a Drew Stafford first period goal, the orange and black fought back late in the period. Mike Richards tied the score at one late on a beautiful pass by James van Riemsdyk, and then with about 30 seconds left, a point shot from Braydon Coburn deflected off a Buffalo player and past goaltender Ryan Miller. The momentum was completely changed in the Flyers favor.

So, naturally, as the second period opened, Buffalo captain Craig Rivet decided to try to change that. He took on Dan Carcillo in a pretty evenly matched bout, but the Flyer tough guy was pretty heated afterward. It takes a lot to keep Carcillo down, so it was no surprise that the next time he and Rivet were united on the ice, a fight broke out. Carcillo beat him down this time, but a late strike by Rivet after the linesman had already jumped in ticked him off even more. He went off on the official for allowing it, a move that quickly earned him a 10 minute misconduct. He was asked to head to the dressing room for the remainder of the second period after jawing at Rivet from the penalty box.

Paul Gaustad tied the game in the second period, and it was the Tim Connolly show in the third as he added two goals to give the Sabres the victory.

Some more thoughts on this one...

Ian Laperriere is an absolute warrior. He took a Jason Pominville shot to the face in the second period and left the game to reportedly receive around 50 stitches in his upper lip. I've been hit with a puck in the lip and I needed eight stitches, and let me tell you -- that hurt. To return to the game after 50 stitches and a cut that looked like it completely severed his upper lip in two is unfathomable. But Lappy did it, taking three shifts in the third period with a cage on his helmet.
Jared Ross was slammed into the boards by Patrick Kaleta in the first period. He had already passed the puck away when Kaleta leaped and drilled his head into the boards. He didn't return, but neither did Kaleta. He was handed a boarding major and a game misconduct, and you can fully expect the NHL to come down on him for this one. The good news: Ross will travel with the team to Atlanta.
With Ross and Laperriere out and the Flyers bench slim at the forward position, Carcillo's 10 minute misconduct didn't help things. He was right in his argument to the official that led to the penalty, though, so it's hard to be too mad with him. I have a feeling Carcillo won't have a short memory about this one.
The power play laid an egg today, going 0 for 5 in 9:14 with the man advantage. Not allowed.
Mike Richards was an animal in the final few minutes. He had about six shots on goal with Ray Emery pulled from the Flyers net as the orange and black tried to tie the game. It was a futile effort, however, since Ryan Miller had an answer for everything the Flyers threw his way in the third.
Despite the loss, Philadelphia's fourth in five games, the same problems that plagued the Flyers during their West Coast road trip did not lead to the loss today. Instead, today was a lot more similar to the Flyers last loss to the Sabres in that they didn't get much luck and that they just couldn't finish their chances. Miller didn't help the equation, either.

After the jump, questions with answers and the comment of the day.

Questions With Answers

How much ice time does Riley Cote get today? Despite the Flyers short bench, Cote didn't see much ice, only played 5:38.
The Flyers are better than the Sabres at even-strength play, on the penalty kill, and the power play. Can they show that's true today? I thought the teams matched up pretty evenly at even strength, but the Flyers couldn't get anything going on the PP.
Do the Flyers show up today, or are they stuck between lazy off day and travel day? They certainly showed up. It just wasn't enough today. It happens.
Does Ray Emery rebound from a bad road trip with a strong game today? He allowed four goals on 25 shots, but he didn't have a terrible game. Then again, he needed to outduel Ryan Miller to win this one, and that didn't happen.

Comment Of The Day

My Goodness, HE IS MY F’ING HERO!

>> flyrsfrk05, on Lappy's return