Way back in October, when the Philadelphia Flyers were off to their franchise worst 1 and 7 start, Claude Giroux , the young Captain of the then last place team told the media that the team would make the playoffs. Members of the Philadelphia media scoffed, preferring to discuss who the Flyers would take with the first pick they would be getting after finishing out of the playoff picture for the second year in a row.
The Flyers did make the playoffs, and Claude Giroux had some fun with the media when they finally did nail down a spot in the post season dance. The Flyers are battling it out with the New York Rangers in the first round of the new look Stanley Cup Playoffs, and have been the underdogs from the first drop of the puck. They went into tonight’s Game 4 down 2 games to 1, after a less than stellar performance in Game 3. After the loss, nearly every media outlet called out Giroux, who still has not scored a goal. Giroux in turn, guaranteed a win in Game 4 .
“We’ll be ready for Game 4. We’re going to tie up this series and go back to New York. We just have to stay confident…. We’re going to come off even better in Game 4.”
Again, the media scoffed at Claude Giroux’s guarantee of a Flyers win, but win they did. The Flyers ensured that they will play in front of their home fans one more time with a 2-1 win that will force the series to at least 6 games. It looked bleak for the boys in orange and black early on, with the Rangers jumping out to a 1-0 lead early, when Dominic Moore scored on Steve Mason, Mason was making his first appearance in the series after being injured in the next to last game of the regular season. The Rangers were out shooting the Flyers 16-6 in the first period, and were taking over the game. Matt Read managed to tie the game up on a beauty of a play from rookie Jason Akeson, and the first period would end with the score even at one goal apiece.
The Flyers have had a horrible time on the power play in the post season, but when none other than the Captain, Claude Giroux, drew a cross checking penalty on Ranger’s goal scorer Dominic Moore, the power play finally clicked. Jacob Voacek, who has become a driving force in the series, deflected a shot past Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, much to the delight of the orange and black clad crowd at the Wells Fargo Center. After that goal, Steve Mason put the Rangers on lock down, turning away the final 37 shots sent his way.
The series now returns to Madison Square Garden for Game 5 on Sunday, with the series tied at 2-2. While the media is still stuck on the fact that Claude Giroux has yet to score a goal, Philadelphia Flyers fans are just waiting to see what he has to say about game 5.
[Photo courtesy thenewyorkpost.com]