Ivan Provorov
On Monday, reports circulated that Flyers defenseman Matt Niskanen was announcing his retirement. The defenseman confirmed in a statement through Flyers PR and GM Chuck Fletcher offered his thoughts on a conference call.
Alain Vigneault addressed the media on Monday for the first time since the Flyers lost Game 7 to the Islanders nine days ago. His comments focused on a bright future ahead. “I believe that we’re on the right track as far as moving forward to win a Stanley Cup,” Vigneault said.
This is what is so hard about this Flyers loss. It’s not that it’s the end of the season. This happens for 15 other teams in the playoffs without a reward. Only one team comes away with the Stanley Cup. What’s so hard is having to once again hear “there’s always next year,”… and not knowing when next year really is.
The Flyers never had the answers. They could never counter the Islanders desire to finish this series. So it goes in the playoffs sometimes. Make no mistake, it’s disappointing, and this loss stings knowing the season is over, but there is a lot to take from this season. For now, let’s take a closer look at the game that did the Flyers in.
The Islanders struck for two goals in the first period and never looked back, holding the Flyers at bay all game and finishing off the series, as the Flyers season came to an end with a 4-0 loss to the Islanders in Game 7 on Saturday night.
It all comes down to this. Game 7 to decide who goes to the Eastern Conference Final and who goes home. If it’s anything like the other games in this series, you can expect a close, hard-fought battle to the finish where only one thing is certain: this game will end with handshakes at center ice.
In a wild, back-and-forth tilt, both teams showed the qualities and identity that they have established. This series has been as hard-fought as they come. Neither team quits. Ever. And it showed in Game 6 as both sides assumed control at different points and as the game drug on into the night.
Ivan Provorov scored the goal that forced a deciding Game 7 at 15:03 of the second overtime, giving the Flyers a 5-4 double-overtime win over the Islanders in Game 6.
Just like in Game 2, when the Flyers let another 3-1 lead in the third period get away, they had the answer in overtime. It took over 12 minutes, but the Flyers remain alive in the series with a deflection goal by Scott Laughton. 5 takeaways from Game 5.
The Flyers are not dead yet. A point shot by Ivan Provorov was deflected by Scott Laughton and beat Semyon Varlamov to give the Flyers a 4-3 overtime win in Game 5 that keeps their season alive.
