Flyers Lose in OT, Look to Rebound Tonight

March 12th, 2008 by James

The Flyers squandered a 3-0 lead to the Toronto Maple Leafs last night and eventually lost in overtime. The Leafs came out strong, but the Flyers were able to hold them off and eventually built a 3 goal lead behind tallies from Scottie Upshall, Braydon Coburn, and Danny Briere.

Going into the game last night, the Maple Leafs were in 13th in the Eastern Conference and 8 points behind the Flyers and the final playoff spot. For any playoff hockey to take place in Toronto this season, the Maple Leafs would have to pretty much run the table in their final 12 games.

The Maple Leafs desperation was obvious, but for 2 periods the Flyers prevented them from scoring. After scoring their third goal in the beginning of the third period, Philadelphia began to sit back, and the Leafs noticed. Toronto began to dictate the style of play and put serious pressure on the Flyers, which led to 3 unanswered goals in the third period.

Martin Biron was sharp in goal, facing 55 shots and stopping 51 of them. He deserved a much better fate.

The Flyers were also not aided by the officials, who showed incompetence. They allowed Toronto to hook and hold their way back into the game. This included Mats Sundin’s fist full of Jason Smith’s jersey 5 feet away from one official and Scottie Upshall being dragged to the ice as he came over the Toronto blueline. And I guess the NHLOA has lowered it standards and the referees are no longer required to display a mastery of counting. Twice during this game the Maple Leafs should have been called for too many men on the ice, but weren’t.

With the suspensions the Flyers have been handed this year the Canadian media has made a huge deal about how dirty the Flyers play, but completely ignores any actions by teams north of the US-Canadian border. About midway through the second period there was a vicious hit from behind on RJ Umberger by Bryan McCabe. It only got him 2 minutes for roughing. But since the NHL is cracking down on hits from behind, I would think a 3 game suspension for McCabe would be coming. But I won’t hold my breath.

The second game in the home and home series is tonight at the Wachovia Center. Here is the PhiladelphiaFlyers.com game preview.

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