Captain's Log No. 850: Thoughts after Flyers 4, Devils 3 (SO)
There was a hockey game in Philadelphia Sunday night.
Maybe it was on in the background while you ate dinner. Maybe it was something you checked in on for a couple minutes as you were watching all the red carpet stuff for the Oscars.
Maybe you saw that it was on, laughed, and kept scrolling through channels.
All were more likely than the notion of actually scheduling yourself to watch the game.
After all, it was between the wildly disappointing Flyers and the New Jersey Devils, who had lost nine straight coming in, as they are in full tank mode, rolling out the youngest roster in the NHL, shooting for the No. 1 pick in the draft for the third time in five years.
And to be honest, for 57 minutes, the game was as interesting as you thought it’d be. The Devils had built a two-goal lead, the Flyers were going to suffer another embarrassing loss, helping another bad team snap a long losing streak as they did with Buffalo a month ago.
But then something happened in those final minutes that actually resembled good Flyers hockey, and just like the game BEFORE that embarrassing defeat to Buffalo, the Flyers pulled a win out of thin air.
This time, it was a 4-3 shootout victory. That time it was a 4-3 overtime victory. But, they were very similar in tone. Because once again, it was a game where Claude Giroux decided he didn’t want to lose.
Just like in the Buffalo game where he scored a late goal, set up the tying goal and forced the turnover in overtime that resulted in the winning goal, Giroux wasn’t going to let the Devils off the mat that easy.
This time Giroux scored two goals just 22 seconds apart – both with the goaltender pulled, and then also scored in what would be a six-round shootout that ended with a Kevin Hayes tally and a Flyers win.
The tragic number remained at seven, since Boston lost in regulation, meaning the earliest the Flyers can be officially eliminated has now been pushed back to Thursday.
The win was meaningless of course. The Flyers are likely locked in to finishing in sixth place in the East and big changes are sure to come in the offseason, but for Giroux, this was a special night.
With those two goals, he moved past Brian Propp into third place on the Flyers all-time scoring list with 850 points, trailing only Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber.
Barring a major injury next season, Giroux ought to surpass Barber (he’s 33 points behind him) and should also reach 1,000 games played in the NHL, all with the Flyers. Both will be major accomplishments.
I’ve written it before and I’ll say it again, in my 47 years on Earth, Giroux is the most underappreciated player in this city’s history including the other major sports. It’s not close either:
Over the last 12 NHL seasons (since 2009-10), Claude Giroux ranks among the top 5 in points (823 — fourth) and games played (891 — tied for fifth).
He's the only NHL player to rank in the top 5 of both categories over that span.
(📷 by Flyers PR guru Zack Hill) pic.twitter.com/0qoxU0lG9q
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) April 26, 2021
Flyers coach Alain Vigneault had some really kind words to say about Giroux, who truly has had a very good season mussed up by the disaster that took place around him.
“There’s no doubt that for our team this year, it hasn’t gone the way we wanted. The one thing that we got from our captain, from G, was his 100% every game. He’s come to play. He’s come to compete. He worked on the areas in the summer that he had to work on or after the bubble, I mean. He’s been a real solid example for our group.
I know last year, we talked about a few things and coming into this year, we talked about a few things, which stay between a player and a coach. One thing that everybody who’s been around G, and you guys have been around him much more that I have, is his desire to win and his desire to compete. That’s what you need form your captain. That’s what you need from your driving force. He’s doing everything he can to steer the ship in the right direction.
G’s a smart, young man. He knows he only has so many ‘kicks at the can’ left. I think what he’s going to do is continue what he is doing now. Stay in the present and give the best of himself. In my estimation, that’s going to have an impact on all the players, especially the young players coming into this league and only a couple years in. At some point, for all his effort, he’s going to get rewarded. I’m confident of that.”
That’s a lot of effusive praise from a coach who, last August was demanding that Giroux, and others, put on their “big boy pants” to help the team win playoff games. The relationship between coach and player has come a long way.
Here are the Giroux goals, in order:
👏 Claude Giroux scores 2 goals only 22 seconds apart in the final minutes to tie the Devils pic.twitter.com/6WVq3HhOU8
— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) April 26, 2021
History for our Captain. #AnytimeAnywhere | @28CGiroux pic.twitter.com/aiManIjMvc
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 26, 2021
Those two goals were the fastest two goals scored by a player in the NHL since Jaromir Jagr scored two goals 18 seconds apart back in 2012.
As for the rest of the game, there’s not much else to say. It was kind of a snoozefest.
Big credit to Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim, who logged a ton of minutes on defense. With Shayne Gostisbehere on the shelf with a knee sprain, Sam Morin was re-inserted into the lineup and both he and Phil Myers had rough nights.
While Morin is doubtful to be back, at least not on an NHL contract, the Flyers are going to have to make a decision on what to do with Myers who has had arguably the greatest regression of any skater on the roster this season, and that after signing a three-year deal with a cap hit of $2.55 million prior to the season.
Wade Allison played his sixth game for the Flyers and Jackson Cates his second, although neither really stood out. Nolan Patrick was re-inserted into the lineup as a winger on the fourth line, replacing Nick Aube-Kubel, but also was invisible.
Sean Couturier scored the other Flyers goal and also scored in the shootout. Jake Voracek and James van Riemsdyk each picked up assists on both of Giroux’s goals, giving them both multi-point nights.
Brian Elliott made 29 saves for his 13th win of the season.
I got nothing else. Eight games to go.
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