Flyers Comeback; Horford Game-Winner

Winnipeg Jets at Philadelphia Flyers
Feb 22, 2013 1 2 3 F WPG (7-9-1 15P) 1 2 0 3 PHI (9-10-1 19P) 1 1 3 5 Three Stars Brayden Schenn-{PHI-C) 2 Goals, 1 Assists Jakub Voracek- (PHI- RW) 3 Assists Wayne Simmonds (PHI- RW) 1 Goals, 1 Assists	Team Stats Comparison WPG PHI Shots on Goal 37 39 Hits 33 40 Faceoffs Won-Lost 37-63 26-63 Penalty Minutes 26 22 Power Plays Converted 0 3 Power Play Opportunities 4 6
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD WPG 4:48 Evander Kane (6) Assists: Nik Antropov, Dustin Byfuglien PHI 15:18 Brayden Schenn (5) Assists: Danny Briere, Wayne Simmonds SECOND PERIOD WPG 2:34 Olli Jokinen (3) Assists: Blake Wheeler WPG 11:13 Alex Burmistrov (3) Assists: Grant Clitsome, Dustin Byfuglien PHI 14:24 Claude Giroux (6) (Powerplay) Assists: Kimmo Timonen, Jakub Voracek THIRD PERIOD PHI 6:18 Brayden Schenn (6) (Powerplay) Assists: Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux PHI 8:57 Wayne Simmonds (7) (Powerplay) Assists: Brayden Schenn, Jakub Voracek PHI 19:59 Zac Rinaldo (2) (Empty Net; Douche Bag) Assist: Kimmo Timonen

Brayden Schenn had the game of his career yesterday scoring two goals and assisting on another during the Flyers 5-3 win. This game was odd for the fact that both teams were nailed for Too Many Men on the Ice penalties about 30 seconds apart from each other in the second period. The Jets got off to a quick start when Evander Kane scored 5 minutes into the game but "little Schenn" scored with 5 left in the first with help from Danny Briere and Wayne Simmonds to send the game 1-1 into the second period. The Second period started off rough for the Flyers as Olli Jokinen and Alex Burmistrov scored unanswered to give the Jets  a 3-1 win. Dustin Byfuglein's assist on Burmistrov's goal was his second of the game (also assisted on Kane's goal). Claude Giroux then scored his 6th goal of the year to cut the deficit down to one entering the third period. It took six minutes for anything to happen in the third period when Brayden Schenn scored assisted by Jakub Voracek and Claudge Giroux to tie the game 3-3. Schenn and Voracek got their name on the boxscore 2 and a half minutes later when they assited on Wayne Simmonds' 7th goal of the year as the Flyers broke into the lead. With one second left in the game Zac Rinaldo proved how cheap he is by netting an empty-net goal. Danny Briere got the most out of his 9 minutes of ice time getting an assist and firing 3 shots on goal. Braydon Coburn did not have any turnovers (somehow) but did finish with a disappointing -2 while Luke Schenn played one hell of a game beating Evander Kane in a fight and hitting 5 Jets. Scott Hartnell also returned from injury playing 15 minutes. 

NBA Recap

Monta Ellis though he was the hero last night scoring with 10 seconds to give the Milwaukee Bucks a 101-100 lead over the Hawks but it wasn't that simple. Al Horford responded on the next possession with a field goal of his own and the Hawks all of a sudden had their own one point lead. Monta Ellis then had another opportunity to be the savior but his midrange jumper just didn't go into the net as the Hawks won 103-102. Al Horford and Jeff Teague had 23 a piece for the Hawks (with Horford also grabbing 11 boards) and Milwaukee was led by Ersan Ilyasova who had 19 points and 9 rebounds. Larry Sanders had an incredible 19 rebounds.

Emeka Okafor's free throw with 5 seconds left was the deciding factor in the 105-103 Wizards' win over the Houston Rockets. The Wizards had trailed by 11 at halftime and as high as 17 during the game but came back for the win. Bradley Beal had 21 points for the Wizards and James Harden had 27 points and 6 assists. 

Javale McGee dominated the paint going 8-10 with 7 dunks in the Nuggets' 113-99 win over Charlotte. Ty Lawson led the Nuggets with 20 points while Andre Iguodala had 13 points and a game high 10 assists.

The Cavaliers absolutely destroyed the Magic 118-94 in Orlando thanks to Marrreese Speights' 18 points and 8 rebounds. 

The 76ers were able to stick with the Heat for the first half but Miami pulled away thanks to a huge night by Dwayne Wade featuring 33 points and 6 rebounds. Lebron recorded the triple double with 16 points and 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. Jrue Holiday scored 21 points and dished out 6 assists in the 114-90 loss.

The Pistons were held 9 points in the first point and were held to 72 overall as the Pacers cruised to a 90-72 victory. Paul George led the Pistons with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists. No one from the Pistons deserves to be mentioned. 

The Clippers had a strong third quarter which they beat the Jazz 36-20 to finish with a 107-94 victory. Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 23 points while Caron Butler scored 21 for the Clips.

February 23, 2012
Award	Player	Pos	Team
Most Valuable Player	Lebron James	SF	MIA- 7-12 FG, 16 P, 11 A, 10 R
Defensive Player of the Night	Emeka Okafor	C	3 Blocks, 2 Steals
All-NBA 1st Team
All-NBA 1st Team	Dwayne Wade	SG	MIA- 14-18 FG, 33 P, 5 R, 2 Steals
	Andre Iguodala	SG/SF	DEN- 5-7 FG, 13 P, 10 A, 2 Blocks, 2 Steals
	Trevor Ariza	SG/SF	WAS- 8-12 FG, 18 P, 6 A, 4 Steals
	Chandler Parsons	SF	HOU- 9-15 FG, 5-9 3PT, 24 P, 7 R
	Lebron James	SF	MIA- 16 P, 11 A, 10 R

NHL Recap

Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk both scored in the second period to set up a very important huge third period. Ovechkin broke the tie himself a minute into the third period and then completed the hat trick with 5 minutes left. Troy Brouwer scored his 8th goal of the year with 3 minutes left to seal the 5-1 win. 

Edmonton pulled out great comeback to down the Coyotes 3-2 in a shootout. Kyle Chipchura and Matthew Lombardi scored the first tow goals of the game as the Coyotes took a 2-0 lead. The Oilers did not score until four minutes left in the second period when Jordan Eberle scored his sixth goal of the year assisted by Nail Yakupov and Sam Gagner. The Coyotes held onto the lead for the rest of the second but Teemu Hartikainen scored on the powerplay for his first goal of the game. From there the game went to a shootout where Sam Gagner scored on the first attempt of the shootout followed by Mikkel Boedker failed attempt for the Coyotes. On the Oilers' second attempt, Jordan Eberle slid the puck pat Mike Smith. The game was then put on the shoulders of David Rundblad who failed to score on the last attempt of the shootout.

 Dustin Brown got the Kings off to a quick start with a goal less than a minute into the game. Jeff Carter then followed up about 15 minutes later with an assist from his former Flyer teammate Mike Richards to increase the lead to 2-0. Milan Hedjuk put a little bit of a break in the Kings' domination with a goal at the beginning of the second period. It wasn't enough however as Trevor Lewis scored a shorthanded goal a minute later. Anze Kopitar put the game out of reach at the end of the second at a score of 4-1.

The Red Wings made Pekka Rinne look life a living hell yesterday pouring in 4 goals. Jimmy Howard played a great game blocking 33 shots to help the Wings blank the Predators 4-0. The Red Wings got off to a fast start with Drew Miller's goal 5 minutes into it. The Pred's offense outshot the Wings' by 6 but they were not able to take care of the puck committing 7 giveaways.
In Carolina, the Lightning returned to their high scoring ways after a recent scoring drought with a 5-2 win over the Hurricanes. Steven Stamkos netted his 12th goal of the year last night.
The Rangers and Canadiens played a game at almost snails pace with only 35 shots between the teams. The sloppy play included a total 25 shots and the Canadiens beat the Rangers by 1 in each category. The Canadiens won the game 3-0 with all goals coming in the third period.
In an all-Ontario Matchup the Senators and Maple Leafs played a game that went down right to the wire. The game was tied 2-2 with only 40 seconds left on the clock when Colin Greening  scored on Ben Scrivens to give the Senators a 3-2 win.
In St. Louis, Chris Stewart of the Blues scored in the first and Matt Calvert scored in the second to set up an interesting third period. Things seemed to be heading towards overtime but David Perron's goal halfway through the final frame gave the Blues a 2-1 win. P.S. This is great there is a game between the BLUES and BLUE Jackets, that is all.

Matt Stajan

The Stars defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in a game that was closer than the score. The Sharks out shot the Stars and also did a better job controlling the puck limiting themselves to 5 turnovers and winning 34 of 67 faceoff draws.
In the last game of the night the Flames rode Matt Stajan's two third period goals to a 3-1 victory over the Wild. Alex Tanguay opened up the scoring two minutes into the game to give the Wild a 1-0 lead. Charlie Coyle scored his first goal of the year and the Wild's only of the night to tie it up in the second.

2/23/2013 All-NHLs
Pos	1st Team	Pos	2nd Team
LW	WAS- Alex Ovechkin- 3 G, 1 A, 4 P, 5 Hits	C	CGY- Matt Stajan- 2 G (game winner), +2
C	PHI- Zac Rinaldo (douche)- 1 G, 12 hits	C	OTT- Mika Zibanejad0 1 G, 1 A, 2 P, 5 Hits
C	EDM- Sam Gagner- 1 A, 6 SOG, 1 Hit, 1 TA	C	WPG- Alexander Burmistrov- 1 G, 4 Hits
D	DET- Niklas Kronwall- 1 G, 2 A, 3 P, +2, 3 Blocks	D	WPG- Dustin Byfuglien- 2 A, 2 Hits
D	TB- Eric Brewer- 1 A, 3 Blocks, 1 TA	D	PHI- Luke Schenn- Fight win, 5 H, 2 Blocks
G	NYI- Evgeni Nabokov- W, 35/35	G	DET- Jimmy Howard- W, 33/33

Flyers Route Islanders: End Streak; Best Defenders for the First Half of NBA Season

If I wasn't lazy I would crop out Schenn, he shouldn't be allowed near the awesomeness that is Giroux, Read, and Voracek

The Flyers entered last night's game on Long Island on a two game losing streak including a game where they blew a 3-1 lead in which came to be a 5-3 loss to the Devils and then a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. After giving starter Ilya Bryzgalov a break on Saturday against the Canadiens, he was back in net for the matchup with the New York Islanders. He only had to face 19 shots on the night as the Flyers played stellar defense. Well that really isn't the right term as Braydon Coburn had three turnovers on the night but did lose the crown as "best" giveaway man in the league to Ilya Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk had five turnovers in Montreal's 2-1 loss to the Senators. Coburn did finish with a +3 rating and fought Matt Martin to a draw at the end of the third period.
The Flyers got off to a hot start when Claude Giroux scored 26 seconds into the first frame with help from Matt Read and Jakub Voracek. The rest of the first period went very quietly with neither team scoring.

The Captain

Matt Read scored fifteen seconds into the second with assists by Giroux and Voracek. This is actually just the second of three goals on the night that all three were given a point. I believe that this is the first game that these guys have been on the same line and I like it. Nabokov may have had a bad night but the Flyers never let up. Wayne Simmonds and Matt Martin fought to a draw two mintues into the period in Martin's first fight of the night. Brayden Schenn then added a powerplay goal 8 minutes into the second thanks to another assist by Voracek who finished the game with four. Giroux scored with 5 minutes left and you can already guess who had the assists. The Third period featured two goals by Danny Briere and even a goal by Zac Rinaldo (who "only" had five hits in ten minutes of ice time).

Where will he fit in?

For me it is tough to decide who the player of the game was but I'd have to go with Claude Giroux. Voracek may have had four assists on the night but he really didn't do anything on the defensive side of things while Giroux had three hits, a block, and a takeaway. The play of the top line also raises the question of what will they do with Scott Hartnell. If the top three keep it off I feel that they will have to relegate Hartnell to the second line where he would be paired with Simmonds and either Giroux, Coururier, or little Schenn at center. That could be deadly to other teams as Simmonds is very versatile player and Schenn is having a fantastic career. [Edit: looking at the depth chart now he would be slid in to Knuble's spot which would have with Briere at center and Schenn on the opposite wing... not bad].

NBA Top Five Defenders

Paul George

We will be using a metric known as Defensive Wins Shares which is kept by Basketball-reference.com to give a feel for who are the top defenders in the league.
1. Paul George- Indiana 4.21 Only in his third year in the NBA, he is a main reason that the Pacers are tops in the Central Division. ON offense he is averaging 17.6 points per game but defense is where he really makes his mark. He is currently averaging 7.8 rebounds a game and limiting his opponents to 96 points per 100 possessions.
2. Joakim Noah- Chicago Bulls 3.72 The big man has helped keep the Bulls afloat without Derrick Rose. He is currently limiting opponents to 97 points per 100 possessions and is also blocking 2.0 shots a game and 11.4 rebounds.
3. David West- Indiana 3.4 George's teammate and 32 year old veteran he has only recently started to turn his defense up. He has a career average of 105 points per 100 possessions but this past season he has cut it down to 98. This could be due to switching from Hornets to Pacers and maybe even the change of NBA play, but there is no denying West's defensive impact of the game.
4. Roy Hibbert- Indiana 3.3 I know... another Indiana player on the list. Well that shouldn't be surprising considering they only let up 89 points a game, best in the league. Hibbert currently averages 2.7 blocks per game and 8.3 rebounds. The funny thing is that he actually has a negative offensive win share.
5. Marc Gasol- Memphis 3.3 The Younger Gasol is finally making a name for himself 5 years into his career and it seems that he might be better than Pau. He currenly limits the opposition to 99 points per 100 possessions while blocking 1.7 shots a game as well as a steal per.

6. Kevin Durant- OK City 3.24
7. Tim Duncan- San Antonio 3.18
8. Blake Griffin- LA Cliipers 3.1
9. Kevin Garnett- Boston 3.06
10. Josh Smith- Atlanta 3.03

NHL Recap
The Senators took the Devils to a shootout in New Jersey. Stephen Gionta scored early for the Devils which led until Daniel Alfredsson's third period goal tied it up. The game then went to shootout where Ottawa's Jakob Sifverberg scored the only shootout goal in the 2-1 win.
As mentioned earlier, the Flyers destroyed the Islanders 7-0. In fantasy I actually didn't play Nabakov in favor of Price and Anderson who both didn't play... it actually worked out in my advantage as Nabakov had -3.4 points.
There was a high scoring affair in Colorado where the Avalanche beat the Predators 6-5. Matt Duchene led the Avs with 1 goal and two assists.
The Canadiens pulled off their 4th straight win in an easy 3-0 defeat of the Carolina Hurricanes. Backup goalie Peter Budaj only faced 19 shots in the shutout win while Tomas Plekanec netted his 8th goal of the year.
Ben Scrivens played a great game saving 37 of 37 shots in his second straight shutout as the Leafs toppled the Panthers 3-0.
In another shutout Mike Smith made 30 saves for the Coyotes as they beat the Flames 4-0 in Phoenix. Boyd Gordon was player of the game with an assist and a 12-4 mark at the faceoff dot.
The Ducks won their 5th game in row with a 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Ducks now have a 7 point lead over the second place Coyotes in the Pacific Division.

All NHL
Forward- Matt Duchene- Colorado Scored a goal and had two assist in Colorado's offensive outburst. Also played good defense nailing six Predators (get it...) and recording two takeaways.
Forward- Claude Giroux- Philadelphia Finally the Flyers have a night to be proud of and Giroux was the main reason. He scored two goals and assisted on another in only 15 minutes of play.
Forward- Ryan Getzlaf- Anaheim His first period goal gave the Ducks a 2-1 lead and he also assisted on another. Played his part on defense blocking 4 shots but finished with an even +/-.
Forward- Daniel Alfredsson- Ottawa Scored the regular time goal for the Sens and boy was it good timing as he netted it with them down 1-0 with only 12 minutes left in the game.
Defense- Jan Heida- Colorado Assisted on one goal but played great defense. Finished with four hits and four blocked shots.
Defense- Shea Weber- Nashville I believe that this is his first time on the list and as usual he played stalwart minutes with 25. He scored a goal in the loss but also had an assist.
Defense- Oliver Ekman- Larsson Had two assists in the Coyotes' 4-0 shutout of the Flames. Finished the game with a +3 +/-.
Goalie- Ben Scrivens- Toronto He didn't screw it up with a turnover like he did two nights before as he earns goalie of the night recognition. Scrivens saved all 37 of the shots that came his way.
Goalie- Mike Smith- Ottawa Also recorded a shutout but faced 7 less shots than Scrivens.