Anyone else seen enough of Petr Mrazek?

Remember, the Red Wings, yep, the team who snapped a 10-game losing streak by beating the Flyers last night, were willing to eat 50% of his remaining salary just to trade him – and they did that in order to get the draft pick they wanted – a third rounder – but still had to accept it with conditions attached, conditions that still haven’t been secured.

So, they had seen enough of the enigmatic goalie, who has displayed some very Cechmanekian tendencies when things don’t go well.

And after getting pulled for the second time in three starts, Mrazek was seen saying something to Hakstol, or one of the assistant coaches, on the bench before stomping off to the locker room for a cool down.

Frankly, I never understood this. This isn’t something that is unique to Mrazek, but is part of every goalie’s ritual. Whenever they get pulled from the game, they don’t just sit on the bench right away. They have to go back into the locker room to clear their head before they return to the bench. Seriously? Why? Dude, you got pulled. It sucks, but big deal. Just sit on your stool and try and help the team by opening and closing the bench door. The whole “cool down” thing is so petulant. But, I digress…

After the game, Mrazek told reporters he wasn’t angry with the coaches about being pulled, but rather was questioning if there was goaltender interference on the third Detroit goal, you know, the one that got him pulled.

That sounds a little fishy to me.

Because, does it look like there’s any Red Wings interfering with him as he’s flopping around out there?

Maybe…. MAYBE as Dylan Larkin skates past Mrazek there is incidental contact between Larkin’s stick and Mrazek’s pad, which causes Mrazek to stumble for a second, but he gets back to his feet and is able to get back across to go down to save Martin Frk’s shot, but it never gets through as it hits Radko Gudas and goes right to Evgeny Svechnikov for an easy goal into a yawning net.

Ergo, there was no interference that prevented him from being able to make a save.

Not only that, Mrazek doesn’t say anything to an official, as goalies often do when they think they have been interfered with, and instead grabs the water bottle until he is lifted for Alex Lyon.

Only then does he have something to say? And only to his coaches?

Sorry. I’m not buying it.

And listen to Red Wings analyst Mickey Redmond talking about how Mrazek is way out of position on the goal. He’s absolutely right.

This is an issue. The rebounds are an issue. The tough angle shots are an issue. Detroit’s second goal was an issue:

That’s a shorthanded wrister on a 1-on-2 (almost a 1-on-3). That shot has to be stopped.

In his last eight starts for the Flyers, Mrazek is 2-5-1 with a 3.72 goals against average and an .860 save percentage.

Alex Lyon can do that. Hell, he can do better than that. Michael Neuvirth has been practicing with the team, so he’s got to be close to being ready (although, he’s a different sort of enigma himself). And Brian Elliott has started skating, so he’s got to be getting closer.

At this point, anyone is a better option than Mrazek. He is proving to be the wrong investment for the Flyers.

And the Flyers goaltending woes extend another year.

What else happened in Detroit?

Well, not a whole heck of a lot in the first period. Detroit outshot the Flyers and Mrazek was actually OK for 20 minutes.

However the Flyers just can’t score in the first period. They are one of the worst teams in first period scoring, yet are the third-best goal scoring team in the NHL in the second period. How does that happen?

Not being ready to play games is a damning thing to occur for a professional sports team. And maybe they took the Red Wings lightly. Detroit is in full tank mode. They were 0-9-1 in the previous 10 games. They are plummeting to the bottom of the standings playing in front of a half-empty, state of the art arena.

They are a terrible defensive team with an aging goalie who ages more like beer than wine.

They should have been easy picking for a Flyers team trying to cling to a playoff spot. Instead, they were allowed to hang around, and in the second period, the Mrazek meltdown (and other defensive lapses) resulted in a 3-1 deficit.

The Flyers finally woke up in the third period, buzzing all around Detroit, getting goals from Matt Read (I was watching the game with my Dad, who is a casual Flyers fan these days, who said to me, “I thought they got rid of Matt Read last year.” Yeah, it’s been that long since he scored.) and Shayne Gostisbehere to tie the score.

The Red Wings went back on top and things looked bleak for the Flyers until TK saved the day again:

OK, so it wasn’t a pretty goal. (Neither was Read’s as it hit off his knee pad). But the fact that Travis Konecny was skating hard to the net made the play happen. Some guys will stop and hope for a rebound. Konecny wasn’t stopping. That net was coming off its moorings whether Sean Couturier’s pass got through or not.

But it’s that brand of breakneck hockey that makes Konecny such a talented player. Sure he’s going to make mistakes. Yes, he’s going to miss the net with his shot sometimes because it’s hard to account for the top-end speed he is traveling. But, when you consider he’s now posted a 20-goal season, with most of his production coming since Christmas, the Flyers would be best served by letting TK fly. Hold him accountable, sure, but remember when it all evens out, he’s dynamic enough of a player that he’s going to make far more good plays than bad ones.

This goal got the Flyers to overtime, and eventually a shootout, where they are the worst team in the NHL historically since the shootout began in 2005-06.

Detroit got the lone goal in the shootout and the Flyers lost. They fell from third place in the Metropolitan Division back down into the top Wild Card spot, but it was still an important point to earn. They should have had two against a doormat like Detroit, but with the way they played, they were fortunate to get one point.

It  keeps them four points ahead of the Devils, who now have a game in hand, and five points ahead of the Panthers, who have won back-to-back road games and still have three games in hand on the Flyers.

And Thursday is a big night of opportunity for the Flyers.

They host the New York Rangers, who are not going to be in the playoffs this season.

However, since selling off some big names at the deadline, the Rangers haven’t exactly gone in the tank. They are 5-3-2 in the 10 games since, and have been uber-competitive in games against playoff teams or teams fighting for a playoff spot.

Despite losing all three games, they hung tough with Tampa Bay, Florida and Columbus (the loss to the Panthers was in a shootout) and they played a whale of a game to beat Pittsburgh in overtime.

So they won’t just roll over, despite the Flyers being the better team.

Meanwhile the Panthers are in Columbus, which means somebody has to lose, which could help the Flyers (or not, especially if the game goes past regulation, guaranteeing both teams points).

In the end, if things break right, the Flyers could emerge from Thursday’s game with a six-point cushion between them and New Jersey and a seven-point spread between themselves and Florida.

If things go wrong, those gaps can be three points against Florida and four against New Jersey with both teams having multiple games in hand.

There will be no time for slow starts.

There will be no time for unreliable goaltenders.

There will be no time for bad mistakes.

Because this will be the most important game of the season to date. And the Flyers desperately need it to go their way.

In milestone news:

The goal was Couturier’s 30th this season and 100th of his career. It also ended a 15-game goalless drought for the Flyers’ top line center.

Oh and then there’s the captain:

Giroux had three assists last night. He’s fifth in the NHL with 87 points. He tied Jake Voracek for second in the NHL in assists with 61. It’s almost as if he is single-handedly willing the Flyers into the playoffs.

He should be a Hart Trophy finalist. He won’t be, and it’s a shame, because there is a formulaic voting approach that permeates through the entire voting bloc of the Professional Hockey Writers Association that often misses deserving candidates for certain awards, but the people in Philadelphia know and realize just how good and important Giroux has been to the Flyers this season.