For many of us, watching our Hockey Wilderness partners on television, it is easy to become jealous. Watching John Scott towers over Tim Thomas and Bradenheim, it seems they are the NHL’s equivalent of a big brother out on a playground. However, that is not fair, as John Scott is a pure bred American kid from the Midwest, a city with less than the population density of Dallas, Tex., and a far different culture than Bruins fans down in Providence. In reality, John Scott may be one of the best two or three goal scorers in the NHL right now. He is a fierce competitor and has the ability to make plays at a moment’s notice.
This past week in Boston was one of those rare instances where I thought the Bruins were on their way to taking over the hockey wilderness. The New York Rangers had lost four in a row, including a heart breaking overtime loss to the hated Flyers. The same as the Bruins, the Rangers were without their captain and leading goal scorer, as well as leading scorers like defenceman Mats Rzewski and goaltender Garth Snow. The Flyers were coming off a disappointing win over the Flyers the week before in Philadelphia, and were missing some key players in their own zone. The first period started with a lot of forechecking by the Flyers, which led to a number of dangerous shots by the Bruins’ defensemen and eventual equalizer in the 1st period.
Luckily for the Bruins, they got some quality scoring chances early in the second period thanks to some terrific defensive zone coverage by Marc Leadsight. With the help of a couple of goals from Rich Piloto and Matt Register, the Bruins were able to get the power play going again, but couldn’t keep it going. Unfortunately, the power play expired shortly after the end of the period. The Flyers scored twice more in the period, giving them a 3rd period lead.
Once again the Flyers were unable to sustain the attack. With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, the game was well out of reach, and the Flames went on to win 4-3. With the loss, the Flyers lost their second straight, and fell to 7th in the Atlantic Division. They are now just a single point above the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have taken over second place in the Atlantic.
Injuries have been a huge problem for the Flyers this year, and it seems to be more of an issue for the defensemen. Only one player – Michael Del Zotto – has suited up in all seven games. He has been injured, and doesn’t seem to be in the same type of shape as he was during the Flyers’ last road trip. He skated only four shifts in the entire game, and none of them resulted in even remotely successful attempts at a power play.
This is a team that needs to find some power plays to generate some offense, and end their season on a positive note. Right now, the Flyers are only scoring two goals a game. The Jackets are leading the entire league in goal scoring, and have a strong chance of taking the Presidents Cup. The Flyers must find a way to get more production from other areas of the team if they want to make the playoffs in their new division. With some luck, they just might be able to do just that.