Everybody who expected the Flyers to win Game 7 in Washington, D.C., raise your hands? Thought so.
And the confidence level when the game rumbled into overtime? Pretty much the same.
Give the Flyers credit. They easily could have folded their tent when the Caps took an early 1-0 led in the first period. They didn’t. Instead they made like Hillary Clinton, performing a little “Comeback Kid” routine of their own.
OK, they probably got a break on their second goal to tie the game, when Flyer Patrick Thoresen shoved a Capital into goalie Cristobal Huet. Sammy Kapanen was left staring at a vacant net and promptly deposited the puck to tie the score at 2.
The third period belonged to the goaltenders. Martin Biron answered all the critics who doubted he was a big-time netminder. Biron put the Flyers on his back in the third stanza, making one bell-ringing save after another.
You also have to feel a bit for Huet, who was equal to Biron the entire game, then simply looked the wrong way for an instant in overtime, only to see the puck deposited behind him by Joffrey Lupul.
The Flyers share something else with Hillary Clinton this morning. They’re both still alive.
For their reward the orange and black get a date with the No. 1 seed Montreal Canadiens. And they don’t get much in the way of rest. The series opens Thursday night north of the border.
Regardless, the Flyers showed what they were made of last night.
And the confidence level when the game rumbled into overtime? Pretty much the same.
Give the Flyers credit. They easily could have folded their tent when the Caps took an early 1-0 led in the first period. They didn’t. Instead they made like Hillary Clinton, performing a little “Comeback Kid” routine of their own.
OK, they probably got a break on their second goal to tie the game, when Flyer Patrick Thoresen shoved a Capital into goalie Cristobal Huet. Sammy Kapanen was left staring at a vacant net and promptly deposited the puck to tie the score at 2.
The third period belonged to the goaltenders. Martin Biron answered all the critics who doubted he was a big-time netminder. Biron put the Flyers on his back in the third stanza, making one bell-ringing save after another.
You also have to feel a bit for Huet, who was equal to Biron the entire game, then simply looked the wrong way for an instant in overtime, only to see the puck deposited behind him by Joffrey Lupul.
The Flyers share something else with Hillary Clinton this morning. They’re both still alive.
For their reward the orange and black get a date with the No. 1 seed Montreal Canadiens. And they don’t get much in the way of rest. The series opens Thursday night north of the border.
Regardless, the Flyers showed what they were made of last night.
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