Flyers, Kings Take Big Leads in Wild Day

Claude Giroux, left, holds on to Sidney Crosby as Kimmo Timonen, right, lands a punch to Crosby's jaw. AP Photo/Tom Mihalek

Flyers, Kings Take Big Leads in Wild Day

Apr 16, 2012 2:31 AM David M Singer

2 Comments

The Penguins and Flyers had a mess of a game Sunday afternoon. En route to putting up another eight goals against the Pens, the Flyers had a game against their rivals that looked more like the last couple of regular season games than a typical playoff game.

Peter Laviolette: "That's playoff hockey"

Mid-way through the first period, after a scrum is just about settled, Sidney Crosby knocked away Jakub Voracek's glove as he went to pick it up, re-igniting everyone on the ice. Crosby wound up pairing off with Claude Giroux and the two quickly went to the ice as Crosby threw a couple of punches with a linesman stepping in.

Kris Letang squared off with Kimmo Timonen. This bout was all Letang, who landed some decent shots as Timonen got tangled up in his own jersey. Letang had eight NHL fights, including the preseason, in his NHL career, but this was the first NHL fighting major for Timonen. Giroux had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

Philadelphia head coach Laviolette said he'd rather see Giroux keep his gloves on, but "that's playoff hockey." He added, "I love it... Two of the worlds best players dropping the gloves." You can see Laviolette's comments in full below. They come at about the 3:20 mark in the video.

There was another dual-scrum situation towards the end of the game. With a little under five to play, and the Flyers up 7-4, players started tangling up and it appeared as though some minors were going to be handed out and that was the end of it, but some more jawing and pushing set everything off again.

James Neal was the focus of the Flyers' attention. Wayne Simmonds started yapping at him, again, on the way to the box and as Neal was turned around and led off the ice Scott Hartnell started skating over. Crosby grabbed Hartnell and then Craig Adams came in fists-first to protect his captain. After landing some shots they broke away from each other, squared off, then grappled near the Pierre McGuire containment unit. Ray Ferraro was spotted inside the unit with McGuire. Someone apparently designed a penalty box for silence.

Kings dethroning Western Champs

Over in Los Angeles, the Canucks were once again without Daniel Sedin. When Dustin Brown leveled Henrik Sedin and play stopped shortly after, Kevin Bieksa let Brown know he wasn't fond of the hit. Players gathered and somehow Alexandre Burrows came out of it with Anze Kopitar and the gloves off. They mostly grappled before falling to the ice. It was Kopitar's first NHL fighting major.

Both the Kings and Flyers now have 3-0 leads in their series.

Laviolette's post-game comments

Videos added

Alexandre Burrows vs Anze Kopitar Apr 15, 2012
Craig Adams vs Scott Hartnell Apr 15, 2012
Kris Letang vs Kimmo Timonen Apr 15, 2012
Sidney Crosby vs Claude Giroux Apr 15, 2012

Comments

I refuse to watch any game further than the first head shot or fight. Instigators should be fined $100,000 for first offence, doubling with each add'l, Coaches $200,000 and doubling, and teams $500,000. All payable within 48 hours or team is benched until paid. These are fines, and therefore NOT deductible. Try that method on for size. Olympic hockey is FAR better than NHL due to NO FIGHTING. Proceeds from above go to a trustee to pay out to injured parties and head injury research and affected needy families. If you don't like it, take up knitting!
Al Bickerton

Posted by alan bickerton on 2012-04-22 07:58:03

Well that was certainly a fun match-up yesterday between Philly and Pitt! Loved how the Flyers, who are usually the bad guys in these types of games, were actually the good guys and that it was Pittsburgh who was going bananas.