Hartnell's hat trick not enough
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Hartnell's hat trick not enough
One bone-rattling hit.
Two bitter rivals.
Three fights.
Four lead changes.
Five goals for the Flyers. One less than the Bruins.
Despite two soft goals in which the Flyers blew yet another lead, the Flyers overcame a 5-4 deficit in the final frame thanks to Max Talbot’s redirection with less than 10 minutes to play before falling, 6-5, in a shootout in one of the most entertaining games of the NHL season.
The Bruins are now 24-0-0 when leading by two or more goals in a game.
It was Scott Hartnell, though, who did his best to put a dent in that record. Hartnell scored three consecutive goals - all in the second period, to tie a team record for the most in one period of play - to record the Flyers’ first natural hat trick since Jeff Carter did it on Nov. 11, 2010. Hartnell singlehandedly took the Flyers from down 3-1 to leading 4-3 in a span of 16 minutes.
Hundreds of hats littered the ice at the Wells Fargo Center, as the 19,851 applauded Hartnell's incredible weekend with 5 goals in back-to-back games. Claude Giroux had the primary assist on all 3 of Hartnell's goals.
Sunday’s insanity started in the first 10 seconds, when Boston’s Chris Kelly was sprung on a breakaway off the opening draw.
Patrice Bergeron scored 40 seconds later on the next shift, as the Bruins - who are now 27-6-2 since Nov. 1 - implanted images of their last visit to Philadelphia, a 6-0 drubbing on Dec. 17, in the Flyers’ heads.
Then, Tom Sestito and Milan Lucic dropped the gloves to set the tone for what would be a Bloody Sunday. Brayden Schenn followed that by railroading Bruins defenseman Steven Kampfer just 9:37 into the game, when he caught Kampfer rushing the puck up the ice with his head down.
Schenn answered for his clean hit - with his hands and elbows down, and his skates grounded on the ice - by squaring off with Kelly near the benches.
Kampfer never returned to the ice, playing just 2:45 before leaving with an apparent concussion.
Before Schenn’s monstrous, Talbot importantly answered on the scoresheet for the Flyers just 41 seconds after Sestito’s fight. Unlike Dec. 17, the Flyers weren't going down without a fight.
Somehow, despite spending 4:24 of the first 9:01 of the first period down at least one man, the Flyers escaped the initial frame trailing just 2-1. And that’s when Hartnell took over.
Overall, the Flyers and Bruins combined for 68 minutes in penalties and countless blood lost. Old Time Hockey on a Sunday afternoon.
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers
Couldn't have said it better, Sidewinder7.— NYFlyersFan- If after 9.5 years of playing in the NHL if soft bryz isnt ready then he shouldnt be playing at all!! Pressure?? Pressure?? If soft bryz reminds me of anything while playing net it is of a man who doesnt have a care in the world. Footloose and francy free almost come to mind watching him play. But pressure, nop. Its time for soft bryz to join Blair Bletts as players no longer part of the Flyers daily operations. There just arent enough excuses for old softy anymore. Its not the defense, nor the deflections. At what point is this man forced to be accountable for his actions (or lack there of ). Saddly it is evident that Bryz well never be held to account for any of actionss while Philly. Lavy well Fiddle as Flyers Burn!!— coreym1945
- If after 9.5 years of playing in the NHL if soft bryz isnt ready then he shouldnt be playing at all!! Pressure?? Pressure?? If soft bryz reminds me of anything while playing net it is of a man who doesnt have a care in the world. Footloose and francy free almost come to mind watching him play. But pressure, nop. Its time for soft bryz to join Blair Bletts as players no longer part of the Flyers daily operations. There just arent enough excuses for old softy anymore. Its not the defense, nor the deflections. At what point is this man forced to be accountable for his actions (or lack there of ). Saddly it is evident that Bryz well never be held to account for any of actionss while Philly. Lavy well Fiddle as Flyers Burn!!— coreym1945
- first let me say that unfortunetly an nhl coach will never put the backup goalie in for the shootout unless the starter is injured, it's just another one of those respect codes. but also let me say, it is clear that bryzgolov is not the answer. i don't know if homer scouted him much or not, i didn't see him play often in the other conference. but this guy is not quick down low, gives up huge rebounds more often than not, and just doesn't look like a goalie that can get hot through a playoff run. i hate to say it, but without pronger, and jagr getting injury prone with age i don't see a cup this year either.— deatheater
- Didn't their scouts even watch this guy play? How can a supposed top 5 goalie the last couple years just all of a sudden suck? I've never seen anything like it. He plays with no emotion or intensity, which translates to lazy and slow movements, always is out of position, goes down way to much and on breakaways he's already back in the net before the guy shoots.. Come out and challenge the shooter, maybe a poke check? What the hell are our coaches doing?...Nothing!!
— kchaz - Great game aside from 2 horrible goals and the unwinnable shootout. At this point, they should just sign the fatest guy in philly...there's certainly plenty to choose from, and stuff him between the pipes...he's gotta make at least 1 save in a shootout or from a deflection. And stop playing Bryz back to back. Not even good goalies are good in those situations. Keep Sestito up. Schenn finally his first good game. And unfortunatley, we ain't going anywhere again with these goalies...shame— philly thug
- If Bryz keep starting we might not even make the playoffs...but at least we got a $51 million dollar goalie. FAIL. Please start Bob so we at least have a chance at winning these games.— Kanayd
- Why does it seem that Jim Jackson and crew always cover for Bryz? They say oh it was deflected, screened or he didn't have a chance. Its never because hmmm maybe he sucks? And you can't blame the defense all the time. Big time goalies are paid big time money to make save the butts of lousy defense on occasion. Bob seems to be able to handle more deflections, screens and whatever comes his way better than Bryz. Bob needs to make more starts and against playoff caliber teams like Boston/Jersey/Rangers so he's better suited against them come playoff time.— Fir_Na_Tine
- Homer needs to find out what it will cost to obtain Ryan Miller. Put Bryz on waivers then send him to the AHL after he clears waivers. Miller needs a change of scenery and Flyers aren't going anywhere with Bryz. Flyers have a really good team and could go far in the playoffs but won't go anywhere with this wacko that Lavy is being forced to play. Make the call Homer.— BobbyD
- Great effort by everyone. Space ghost was into the game and it showed. Bailed out the D on many occasions. Keep working on it. May want to work on those shoot-outs. Good news is you can only get better at them! Bryz is the man, must ride this one out. If I owned the team and paid ya 50 mil I would ride you right into the playoffs or the ground.— NYPHILLYPHAN
- I agree Dfirst, got the point, they were better than last time against these B's! Even with all the misfortune this year, we have a playoff team - all we need is Somebody consistant in net! Love all Philly! - V.H— Van Halen
- never gonna happen bobby, 50 mill committed to him, we are stuck with this guy, and lavy does have to play him.— deatheater
- bryz one good game( devils) one bad game, bruibs. why not play bob against the bruins? this was back to back!— wlgj
- Shootout Losses don't mean anything to me. This game was a tie, and the Flyers stood up to the Bruins in what was the most exciting hickey game of the season so far. Sestito, Schenn, Shelley and Hartnell all made this a memorable game. Old Time Hockey lives and games like this should happen more frequently.— Ferrell31
