First period
Okay, the game started, let’s see how they look oh hey Giroux in a breaka … never mind then I think. Things were a little disorganized at the beginning of this year, with runs and scoring chances coming in groups. The Flyers dominated the first four minutes, but the Devils controlled the game for most of the next three minutes. Damon Severson dropped his wing and took a simple wrist shot shouldn’t be a problem for – oh no.
Severson beat Carter Hart with an admittedly good shot, but this is a defense you would like your goalkeeper to make. So how would the Flyers respond? Was James van Riemsdyk continuing his streak of success? Shayne Gostisbehere? Maybe a strong goal from a deep player like NAK, oh wait, I’m just getting the word that a strong goal from a deep player was scored just waiting for who it was.
(Narrator: It’s Nate Prosser.)
There you are, Nate Pross … excuse me, who is it now? Yes, Nate Prosser, in his first NHL game in over two years, found himself on the front lines to pocket a fat goal to tie the game for the Flyers. We can laugh because of the absurdity of it, but my God, what a pleasant story this is. I absolutely have to be happy for the guy who just scored his 11th NHL goal in his career.
After all the insanity, that period came down to 20 confused and sloppy hockey minutes. The attempted shots favored the Devils along with the expected goals, but the score remained tied at one going into the second.
Second period
The next period started much like the first, with both teams making time in the offensive zone and without a ton of whistles, which was not always a good thing. There seemed to be at least some missed calls to the Devils, and then, when a penalty was finally applied, it went to Nolan Patrick for “cut”.
As they did in the first, the Devils began to take advantage as the period passed, until finally one of the referees decided that it was indeed legal to take a penalty for the team in red. Nothing would come out of this, however, and the Demons surely got a power game for the infraction of the man he loved too just minutes later. The two teams would go again for the next period tied, this time for the final 20 minutes.
Third period
Okay, maybe this time the Flyers can start well and continue like this? Well, they sure understood the first part. Michael Raffl scored after burying the rebound in a Connor Bunnaman shot, and gave the Flyers the lead in the final frame. There weren’t many beautiful plays in this game, with the ice being harder than the life of those hedge fund guys, right? Stonks? I don’t know what the hell is going on, someone tell me if I’m doing this right.
The question became: whether the Flyers could keep it and keep the lead, especially after dropping one in the first game against New Jersey. Well, the captain put his mark on the game to answer that question. After his club was stolen, Giroux recovered in time to redirect a shot by Erik Gustafsson from Scott Wedgewood, giving orange and black a two-goal advantage.
They continued to play a much better game in the third period, after a very strong effort from the fourth row. They were very defensive and provided an intimidating check that kept the Demons on their heels for much of the night. It may not have been the most beautiful winning pair, but they are two big wins anyway.