Fight Night: Philadelphia Flyers Vs. Washington Capitals

Have you ever heard that old joke ‘I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out’? Well, that isn’t a joke when the Flyers and Capitals face off. These two teams have a long, nasty, fight filled history, and to top it off, they just plain don’t like each other.

In their latest go round, the two teams combined for over fifty minutes in penalties. Flyer Vincent Lecavalier, not normally known as a brawler, mixed it up with John Erskine. Both players received game misconduct penalties, and were tossed out of the game. They were thrown out because there was a fight in progress between Flyers defender Luke Schenn and Cap Tom Wilson. The motivation for that fight? A vicious hit that Wilson threw on Luke’s brother and Flyers team-mate, Brayden Schenn. Philadelphia is, after all, the City of Brotherly Love.

http://youtu.be/89Ldu2k0oKU

To further infuriate the Flyers and their fans, Capitals Coach Adam Oates thought the hit was clean. In an interview after the game, Oates had this to say to The Washington Post:

“I thought it was a clean hit. I really do, I watched it live, saw it on the Jumbotron, watched it again between periods,” Oates said. “He had changed. He went across the ice, he slowed down, he saw Schenn come out of the pile with the puck, took two quick strides. Schenn saw him at the last second and [Wilson] hit him in the arm. He’s a big strong guy, he hit him hard, yeah. To me, it’s a clean hit. I don’t even think it’s a penalty at all.”

While there is a long history between the Flyers and their DC rivals, you don’t have to look back any further than this season to see the animosity. During the Flyers franchise worst twelve game start, the low point may well have been a 7-0 loss to the Capitals. With less than fifteen minutes left, with the home town fans booing them, the Flyers frustration boiled over. Four separate fights broke out, including a pounding of Capitals goalie Braden Holtby by Flyers goalie Ray Emery. Emery is not the first Flyers goaltender to drop the gloves; former goalie and current Flyers Assistant General Manager Ron Hextall was famous for his temper and was not afraid to mix it up. Hextall and Emery may have been fighters, but Holtby was not, and could barely defend himself.

The Flyers got the best type of revenge in the last two games of the season series. Wednesday’s game was the second half of a home and home. On Sunday, at home, the Capitals held a 4-2 lead in the third period. The Flyers scored twice in the waning moments, to tie the game, and then stunned the Capitals with an overtime goal to win the game. The Capitals stormed off, smashing sticks, as the Flyers rejoiced on the ice. The second half of the home and home was last nights game, won by the Flyers, 6-4. Yes, the Flyers won the fights, AND the war.