Olde Time Hockey: The Flyers And Wild Managed To Play A Little Bit Of Hockey Between Fights Last Night
Sometimes you just need to give the people what they want. Folks can tune into any game across the NHL on any given night and see a brilliant display of speed and skill. Jaw dropping moments are a dime a dozen. Heck, they happen at least 82 times a year whenever Connor McDavid is on the ice.
But jaw breaking moments? Well we just don't get as many of those as we used to. And sometimes you're not in the mood to watch a guy silkily slice his way through a few defenders before pulling off some fantastic finish on the goalie. Sometimes you just want to see a bunch of meatheads bash each other's skulls in with their fists.
And last night the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota Wild happily obliged. First up we had the heavyweight title fight that everybody was anticipating heading into the night. 10 minutes into the game we got Nic Deslauriers vs Ryan Reaves. Two of the biggest heavyweights in the game. They can both throw bombs and neither of them go down easily.
Unfortunately these two mutants are so evenly matched that the fight ended up being on the underwhelming side. Not to worry, though. Because before you even had a chance to be disappointed in the outcome, 15 seconds later we had another fight with Wade Allison and Mason Shaw dropping the gloves.
A 1-punch take down for Allison. You kind of wish this one went a little longer since both guys are plenty scrappy. But that was as clean of a win as you could ask for if you're Wade Allison. And then on the very next faceoff…
Zack MacEwen and Marcus Foligno throw down for the fight of the night. That's 3 fights in the span of 17 seconds, with the 3rd fight being between a pair of beauties who each wear #17 on their sweater. Great tilt here with both guys getting in some solid shots, but Foligno picks up the points for the take down and gets the win. Either way, this right there is what olde time hockey looks like.
Look at all these beauties. The penalty box was the place to be last night. 56 total penalty minutes between the two teams last night. 3 fights in the 1st period. And then just a few minutes into the 2nd period we had the final tilt of the night. Patrick Brown vs Brandon Duhaime. A couple guys who don't find themselves on the scoresheet often but still wanted to step up and make an impact on the game. Gotta love it.
So for those keeping score at home we had Reaves vs Deslauriers as a draw, a win for Allison vs Shaw, a win for Foligno vs MacEwen, and another draw between Patrick Brown and Brandon Duhaime. The score on the fights is deadlocked at 2-2. Which also ended up being the score of the game at the end of regulation.
And in overtime, we got treated to some actual hockey when Mats Zuccarello decided to go sicko mode on this OT dagger.
Through Konecny's legs. Powers through DeAngelo's stick. Puts it right over Hart's shoulder. That was some spicy stuff from Zucc.