The Philadelphia Flyers rallied from a three-goal deficit last night to take a one-goal lead against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Then they watched captain Mike Richards turn the puck over late in the game, leading to Sidney Crosby's game-tying goal.
The frustration and disappointment were palpable for the visiting Flyers. And unfortunately, they manifested in forward Scott Hartnell during the shootout, just as the television cameras hit the Flyers bench. Of course, the save of the night from goalie Dany Sabourin was quite a catalyst:
C'mon, Scott, act like you've been there. And since you're a Flyer, you've certainly been there ...
So good to see a goaltender make a stop on what has suddenly become the most tiresome move in the shootout. One of the primary reasons the skills competition stinks is the way it actually stifles creativity and sucks out the spontaneity from hockey. There are only so many ways a shooter can approach a goalie on a defenseless breakaway.
Unless you're Scott Hartnell, of course. He followed his bench tantrum with, perhaps, the worst shootout attempt of the season thus far in the sixth round at the Igloo: Losing the puck once, faking a shot, completely losing the puck in front of Sabourin and then plowing into the goalie, grabbing the back of Sabourin's head as he fell. (It's at the 5:35 mark.)
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Hartnell appears to say something to Sabourin after he fell. Perhaps an apology. Or perhaps, "Hey, whaaaa happened?"
