Flyers Fall 3-2 to Sabres in Double Overtime
The Flyers almost took in early lead in Game 1 when Peter Forsberg had an essentially open net 1 minute to the game but his shot was deflected by a Sabres’ stick. After that, the Flyers were on their heels and went down 1-0 when Peter Forsberg was stripped off the puck right in front of Esche. Tim Connolly stole the puck and deked left and shot to the far side under Esche to give the Sabres the lead. The Sabres put the Flyers down 2-0 in the 2nd period when Jay McKee shot from the point and it managed to get through alot of traffic and went right over Esche’s head without him even seeing it.
The Flyers countered when Mike Knuble got a rebound goal past Ryan Miller. Knuble has played very well as of late and has been a force in front of the net. And he has been capitalizing on most of his rebound opportunities (He even scored another goal last night but it was ruled as being hit with a high stick). With the game 1-1, the Flyers continued to put themselves at the disadvantage by taking careless penalties. In all, the Flyers took 14 penalties which is simply way too much against a very talented Sabres power play unit. Surprisingly, the Flyers PK was very good in killing off all those penalties but most of that credit goes to Robert Esche who was outstanding all night.
Down 2-1 with less than 3 minutes left, the Sabres took a careless delay of game penalty and the Flyers capitalized on the power play opportunity. Forsberg passed the puck down to Knuble who relayed it to Simon Gagne. Gagne took the puck to the outside and shelved it over top of Ryan Miller. Suddenly, the Flyers made this one hell of a game. The overtimes were great hockey and full of excitement. However there was a very scary moment in the 1st overtime when R.J. Umberger had his head down and was drilled by Brian Campbell. Umberger looked exactly like Lindros was hit by Scott Stevens as he sat up and was conscious but looked as if he couldn’t say a word. He was helped off the ice, and surprisingly was announced to be “good-to-go” by Ken Hitchcock for Game 2.
The game finally came to an end in the 2nd OT when Daniel Briere took a pass in front of Esche and elevated it over his pad into the net. It was a beautiful goal that pretty much couldn’t be stopped, which is the best way to end a game in overtime. It’s hard to be angry with a lose when it ends in that fashion instead of a weak, saveable goal. For the night Esche ended up with 55 saves in one of the best goaltending performances by a Flyers netminder in recent years. He made big save after big save and kept the Flyers in the game. His save on the wrap around attempt by Drury was incredible.
Game 2 is Monday night at 7:00 up in Buffalo
Sabres lead Series 1-0
About this Post
Posted on April 23, 2006 by Kyle Garis | Filed Under Flyers, Philadelphia
|
Print This Article | 2 Comments
Esche was phenomenal. Too bad goalies don’t score goals or control the puck.
flyers suck balls