Simmonds incident overshadows near win for Flyers
In recent games, the Flyers have received a boost on the penalty kill by killing off lengthy penalties. On Saturday, a match penalty may have potentially cost them the game.
In a game that was marred by Wayne Simmonds exit at 10:46 after taking a match penalty that will certainly be a big discussion topic in the next 24 hours, the Flyers came within 12 seconds of surviving the loss of their hottest forward of late and squeezing out a fourth straight win.
A one-timer by Keith Yandle changed all that.
The Flyers earned a hard-fought point, no question about it, but in the end, they find themselves having to once again dig deep to show their true colors and it will come against the East's best team on Sunday afternoon.
"You've just got to battle through adversity," Shayne Gostisbehere said. "Losing Simmer in the first was definitely a loss. He's been one of our best players all season. You just have to take everything in stride. It's the next guy in line, who's up to bat and who can step up to the plate."
The incident itself leaves a lot to be determined. Simmonds and Ryan McDonagh were jousting in front of the Rangers bench. McDonagh managed to land a cross check on Simmonds. Simmonds responded with a jab to the head of McDonagh. Simmonds got the penalty, McDonagh did not return due to injury.
"To be honest with you, I was just happy that Simmer was still standing after the cross check that he took across the side of the head," head coach Dave Hakstol said. "I don't have a comment on any of it other than that I'm happy that Simmer wasn't injured."
The Flyers actually played a very solid two periods without Simmonds. Gostisbehere scored a power-play goal in the second to give the Flyers the lead and the Rangers were held to just 15 shots through two periods.
2:30 after the Rangers had tied the game in the third, the Flyers retook the lead on a goal by Ryan White at 5:46. It was their only shot of the third period and the overtime that would follow.
"That's probably the one thing we'd like to change in the hockey game," Hakstol said. "That's not effort, our effort was outstanding. We didn't stay on pucks as well in the third period. By nature, we ended up spending too much time in our zone."
"We definitely knew they were going to have a push," White said. "I thought we did a good job getting pucks out and taking care of it getting into our zone. We just didn't really get much going offensively. We would have liked to have a little more zone time."
The Rangers had chances to tie it earlier than the final 12 seconds of regulation. Scott Laughton saved a goal as Mats Zuccarello faced a wide open net. There were several other moments of scrambly play as the Rangers pressed to even things up.
The shame of it all is that the Flyers came within 15 seconds of claiming another huge two points. So close, and yet so far.
"It's hockey, 6-on-5, a shot went through from the blue line," Jake Voracek said. "It happens. I think overall we played a good game."
"We couldn't get a line change so we had a couple tired guys out there," Hakstol said. "One of them was a winger. We just got caught a little bit deep on the one-timer shot. They made some good plays, they kept pucks alive. The only thing I'd like to change is if we could have found a way to get all three forwards changed on the fly, which we weren't able to do."
The Flyers were rapidly closing in on a playoff spot last season when a late goal in Boston seemed to be when everything unraveled. The Flyers lost that game in overtime. It was March 5.
The Flyers were playing back-to-back games that weekend too. They lost to the Devils the next day, 5-2, in convincing fashion.
The Flyers have a lot more games remaining over the course of February and March to make up the now three-point deficit — the Flyers actually gained a point with the Islanders regulation loss. But as it was last season, their response will really say it all.
"The guys battled hard and we were a few seconds away from getting two points," White said. "It's a tough one to lose for sure."
"It's definitely tough. It's how we respond," Gostisbehere said. "We know we have a big game tomorrow and we knew it before the game. It's one game at a time for us. We're just going to take everything in stride and be ready for Washington."
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
