Overtime has not been kind to the Flyers this year. On 11/26/2010 Richards had an overtime goal called back against Calgary because of Unsportsmanlike Conduct on Chris Pronger. The game went to a shootout and the Flyers lost. On 12/08/2010 against the Sharks, Richards again scored a goal just as time was expiring. The puck was crossing the line as the clock hit 0.0 seconds. Since it had not completely crossed the line, the goal did not count. Another shootout and another loss for the Flyers. Of course blowing the 4-1 lead the Flyers had going into the third period and having a pitiful 32% win percentage on face offs did not help the Flyers cause in that game. Just so we are clear at this point - Richards 0, Refs 2.
This past Saturday the Flyers had a game against the Bruins, their first in Boston since Game 7 of the second round of the Playoffs in which the Bruins not only lost a 3-0 lead in the game but lost a 3-0 lead in the series. They won that game 4-3 and the series 4-3 and went on to win the Eastern Conference against the Canadiens. The first meeting between the the Bruins and the Flyers this season happened on 12/01/2010 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia where Tim Thomas (recreating his Venzina winning season) blanked the Flyers 3-0. The Flyers went into this game hungry, wanting to prove they could score on Thomas and win the game. JVR scored in the second and they held the lead into the third when Boston tied it up on a goal by Nathan Horton. The game went into overtime and with 3 seconds left Richards shot high glove side on Thomas. This time there was no question, the goal counted, overtime win for the Flyers. I guess it's true, third times a charm.
Completely off topic, today I was reading Puck Daddy on my iPhone at my sister's (Katie) house who graciously puts up with my obsession with the Flyers and everything hockey. There was a blog post about the greatest holiday video ever. It was a video of the Belfast Giants (a team from Northern Ireland, part of the Elite League) lip syncing to "All I Want for Christmas is You." I told my brother-in-law (Adam) to put the video on the computer screen so we could all watch it. After watching the video which was very clever and very funny, Katie and I started talking about who funny it was to watch a bunch of hockey players dancing around looking like elves. I look over at the computer and my brother-in-law had brought up the Belfast Giants website and was looking at pricing for the hockey jerseys. Then Katie and Adam start having a intense discussion on which jersey each of them should buy and which player should be on it, Peacock or Cook. So within 10 minutes of learning of this teams existence, they not only want jerseys but actually know the names of some of the team members! Chuckling to myself, I leave and go home to do some work. I check my email and there is a Christmas list from Adam and the second item on the list is a Belfast Giants Away Jersey! Not sure if I want to buy the Belfast Jersey or just be contrary and get a Flyers Jersey for Adam (who happens to be a Tampa Bay fan). Decisions, decisions . . .
