So It Turns Out That Scoring Zero Goals In A Game 7 Is A Less Than Ideal Way To Keep Your Season Alive
Chase Agnello-Dean. Getty Images.So it turns out that actually happened. Maybe you tried to drink enough last night to forget it happened but when the sun rose this morning, it still happened. The Philadelphia Flyers tried the ol' "let's not score any goals in game 7" strategy. It hasn't worked out well for anybody before in the past but the Flyers tried to see if they could be the exception. Turns out they were not and that entire night was just absolutely fucking miserable.
Saturday night game 7. There is so much build up to that puck drop. All day you're going through the game shift by shift in your head. You're thinking matchups. You're thinking about what kind of lucky breaks your team will catch. You've got the entire game mapped out in your brain. Then the puck drops and that's the shit we were left with? Again.
I'll still need some time to really reflect on the season but that performance last night was just downright pathetic. I mean you look at what was working so well for the Flyers in game 6. They were flying around playing "fuck you" hockey in that 1st period. Kevin Hayes was bullying people around. The Flyers were making a point to be all over Barzal's shit. They made the Isles uncomfortable and looked exactly how a hungry team should look. And then for some godforsaken reason they just didn't have any of that last night. No real sense of urgency. No real sense that the season was on the line and they had to get something going.
6 shots in the 1st period. 3 (THREE!!!!) shots in the 2nd period. 7 shots in the 3rd. That shit just ain't going to cut it. 3 shots in the 2nd period is absolutely fucking pathetic. Makes me want to puke just thinking about it again. Just an all around horrible effort. And I don't even feel comfortable calling it a horrible effort because for most of that game, it looked like there wasn't any effort at all.
I know guys were playing hurt. I know the bubble life was probably getting to some of these guys with families back home. I know it's been a bizarre season. But there's still no excuse for it.
There are 2 certainties in life. The first is that you can't win in 7 if you don't lose 3. Unfortunately the other is that you can't win a hockey game if you don't score a single goal. The Islanders proved both of those points last night and now those assholes will be playing for a shot to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final while the Flyers season is officially cuncelled.
Pain. Pain. Pain.