TropicalFruitGirl26

@Alexandron Just now, yes...now THAT was a fantastic save by the Minnesota goalie. I'd rather see him do that than his impersonations of Martin Brodeur with the puck.

Staal and Engelland having an exchange...no surprise.

Staal sitting upright on the bench, drinking water, looks ready for his next shift... good to see.

And then the league wonders why players sometimes go bonkers out there and things spiral out of control... Classic example: stuff that needs to be called doesn't.

Small goalie + moving downward on the ice = More net for the shooter. Knights tie at 1

Staal being crosschecked on the ice....then pinned down with a stick by Engelland. Right in front of the official. No call on that right, zebra? Gotcha…..

Cowboy Alex doing Stalock things out there... One handed the puck away.....oh, to a Vegas player. He has made some good stops, but the puck slinging needs to stop.

And there we go... 5 on 3 PP goal. Wild almost HAD to score on that. Now they start the 2nd with almost a minute left of 5 on 4. They were smart to walk away from the nonsense Vegas was trying to bait them into as well.

5 on 3 for the Wild....doesn't get much better than that.... Gotta do something with it though.

That McNabb on Vegas...one nasty piece of work. But he isn't your typical "hitter"...he can play. Working over some Wild forwards along the walls.

Vegas giving Minnesota chances, but for some reason, Wild players are taking the puck TOWARDS the perimeter instead of taking prime real estate ice to take better shots.

Well I hope this teaches that goon Farabee about fair play in the league. Tellin ya.... Farabee makes Gudas look like an annual Lady Byng candidate!!

Looking at this from the point of view of New Jersey, and according to the terms of the trade, the Devils will be rooting real hard for the Yotes to not only win a round in the playoffs, but for Taylor Hall to re-sign with them, as those two things happening upgrades their 3rd rounder in 2021 all the way to a 1st round pick. As for the forwards Jersey is getting, a 22 yr old (Merkley) and a 20 yr old (Schnarr) who are putting up decent numbers in the minors (Schnarr did really well in Juniors and is just now starting his AHL career)….. they've got a combined 1 NHL game between them, but doesn't mean that with a bit more time in the minors, they can't become useful players to compliment the likes of Hischier, Hughes, Bratt, and Boqvist in a couple seasons. I am guessing the REAL hook for NJ was acquiring the pterodactyl-like Kevin Bahl on defense. At 19 yrs old, already 6'7 and 235 pounds or so....what is he gonna be like when he is "filled out"? Will he be another Zdeno Chara? In which case, by himself he would have been worth Hall and the other guys and picks are bonuses.... Or will he be another Andrej Sustr and find himself on the German circuit in about 5 or 6 years?

@JR Ewing My dig at Klima wasn't at all personal. After seeing players like Robin Lehner fight with and overcome personal demons, I fully understand that what you see on the ice isn't always the entire story. So that's just what I stuck with...what I saw on the ice and what was being said about him in the local media. And that's why I compared Kovalchuk to him at this stage. The version of Klima the Lightning got in the mid 90's was near the end of his career...he actually put up a decent season or two if I recall, but again, like Kovalchuk, his 'half game only' was tolerated as long as he was producing. He was, as you know, otherwise putrid in his own end (if he could ever be found there), and once the offense dried up, so did the appeal of having him on the team. Kovalchuk would probably see the same if he ended up in Philly...albeit with a much more rabid fanbase chomping at his heels.

Or I could just track down some of the know-all "insiders" we have on this site. They got sources and have the inside track on everything.... don't believe me? Just ask them. (Bad TFG...bad, bad, BAD, TFG.... ok, ok she is going to her room without her cheese curds....)

Chance he ends up back in Western Canada then (Van, Edm, Cgy), or maybe Vegas as I posted earlier?

Kovalchuk? On the Flyers? I wouldn't. Actually, he shouldn't have been on an NHL team upon his return to North America. He has become the Petr Klima of the modern era... that is to say, a guy who teams and some fans HOPE he still has something left, but the fact that he only plays half of the game is really showing through more than ever now because the half that he DID play, is no longer anywhere near acceptable. And to continue the Klima comparison, way back when I was a kid, and some Lightning studio analysts were talking about what the Botls had on their roster, the phrase, "That Klima...he's a dog isn't he?" had come up on more than one occasion. When the HOMER announcers say things like that, well, you know there are some issues. I imagine Kovalchuk has gotten that same sort of "review" even within the LA market...and THEY were probably nice about it. Philly media won't be. Neither will the fans. He brings nothing at this stage of his career and even though the Flyers are hurt, beat up and generally in trouble, they need to stay the course, continue to look at the big picture and do what is best for the organization when they should REALLY be ready to compete in about another season or two. They are not ready this year, I felt that even before the season started, and adding a Klima'esque forward to their ranks does nothing but eat up a roster spot.

Now for the interesting part: Can they convince Hall to stay past this season? And if so, how much is this gonna cost and for how long? Looking at capfriendly, seems the Yotes are set to make a run this season and next, before a boatload of UFA/RFA's come due. On top of that, right now, after this trade, their draft board looks a little bare as well

See...that's why Hart shouldn't be in there. This was Elliot's game to suffer through/win if his team could. Dropping Hart in the middle of a massacre like this, ridiculous. I expect better from Alain Vignault.

Flyers getting a week's worth of penalty minutes this game....

Carter Hart in? Really? I am no Elliot fan, but can he really be blamed for the glut of goals scored by the Jets? The defense was dicey at best for Philadelphia and the major didn't help. I wouldn't have thrown Hart in the middle of this mess, even though the Flyers looked like they had a little something towards the end of the 1st. I would have let Elliot "take one for the team" and if the team rebounds, then he can benefit from that as well.

LOL @ Jets announcers... "Mathieu Perreault...devastating hit, and he never goes down easily...." Lies, lies, all lies!

Yea, I didn't understand that. I thought maybe there was some rule I didn't know about. Late hit...interference, two minutes...sure. Perrault's head wasn't hit....looked like he took it straight to the chest. Major for that though? Why? Because Butter Perreault was shaken up? And I call him that because it seems at least 3 or 4 times a year, Perreault gets rocked by some hit (legal usually), and he looks like he just barely survived Hiroshima. Guy plays with his head down a lot, looking the wrong way.... guy has an "unawares" issue...and one of these days, its gonna be the end of him. Reminds me of Kris Letang.

This game got ugly quick. However, Flyers don't seem to be folding the tents. Scored their second with under 30 ticks left in the period. They still have 40 minutes to come up with 4 more. The Jets defense has looked sloppy this game.... if the Flyers stay tenacious, they still have a shot.

With all these injuries, the Flyers are REALLY gonna find out what they have in short order. And the spotlight will shine even brighter on the team vets..... if they don't perform, Philly might want to re-evaluate who the leaders on this team should be moving forward.