Ghost gets mad, so Flyers can’t dim Flames
PHILADELPHIA » The words came easy to the Flyers after their latest train wreck of a game, yet another loss that could have, and certainly should have gone the other way.
Buoyed by a stretch of undisciplined play by the Flyers and taking advantage of the referee Tim Peel’s renowned thin skin, Calgary scored three power play goals in the second period to catch up, then earned a bonus via Michael Frolik’s goal 1:18 into overtime that gave the Flames a 5-4 victory Saturday at Wells Fargo Center.
While disappointment was shared about the way the Flyers failed to take advantage of a twominute power play that had been gifted to them with 2:01 left in regulation — and a first full minute of 3-on-3 overtime in which they possessed the puck, but ultimately for no reason — much of the post-game talk instead centered on a second period in which the Flyers let their frustrations boil over.
Or maybe it just looked that way from everywhere except behind the bench...
“I didn’t feel any frustration on our team’s part,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “If there was frustration over a couple of calls, that is something within a hockey game that we have to build a process and handle it.” Yes, it’s all about The Process. “That’s all within our control,” Hakstol added. “We came back out and ... finished the second period pretty well (and) played a pretty good third period. So, I think that speaks to it right there.” Oh. As for direct answers to a seriously unspeakable lack of discipline on this day, however, they would eventually come from two of Hakstol’s players who happened to be two of the perps, Shayne Gostisbehere and Brandon Manning.
“The Ghost” turned red when he was apparently hit on a play that went ignored by the refs, especially by Mr. Peel.
Gostisbehere was checked out on the bench, but decided to say something from there which Peel did hear. That’s all it took for him to call a “two-minute bench minor” ... without announcing what the penalty was.
Even later, the word from the referees’ room was that it was a two-minute bench minor, and all explanations would end there. But the scoresheet had revealed it to be an unsportsmanlike conduct call, and was the third of four minor penalties within a stretch of a little more than nine minutes of the second period for the Flyers.
On three of them, Calgary’s Sean Monahan would score power play goals, helping to turn a 3-1 Flyers lead after one period into a 4-4 tie after two.
Hakstol did have something to say about that.
“It’s not deflating,” he said, “it pisses you off when things are a little bit within our control at that point in time.”
Despite losing in overtime, they would rightly feel they lost this game because they had lost their collective cool in the second period, with their Ghost leading the way.
“I just wasn’t a good team player in that sense on that play,” Gostisbehere said. “Heat of the moment. Obviously, there’s no excuses for something like that to happen. I wasn’t thinking about my team there. I really let my team down.”
Asked whether he was upset about calls he felt should have been made against the Flames, Gostisbehere added, “I think I was just upset overall, and I took it out on the wrong guy.”
That would be Peel, the 51-yearold referee with a reputation that precedes him. But it likely wasn’t only Gostisbehere’s, um, sharply worded complaint that ended up putting him in Mr. Peel’s penalty box.
“I think it varies from ref to ref. I think in Ghost’s case, it was just that was a point where (Peel) was fed up,” said Manning, who shortly before Gostisbehere’s unsportsmanlike call was tagged for a badly timed slash. “I don’t think it was what Ghost said directly and I don’t think it was directed at Ghost. It was just a matter of things building up, the timing situation of it. There were a few other guys saying a few things. I’m not sure what those were, but I think he just kind of had enough and made a statement.
“I think he just had enough and his tolerance was over.”
Peel’s statement helped the Flames draw back even, but Monahan (three power play goals and an assist) and South Jersey native Johnny Gaudreau (goal, two assists) did their part, too.
Yet the Flyers (8-8-4), skidding as they approach the season quarter-pole mark with their fourth consecutive loss, weren’t about to voice many Calgary compliments when they knew this was a game given away.
“We kind of just lost our heads there, groaning and moaning at the refs,” Wayne Simmonds said. “But those penalties are penalties. We have to be better, we have to keep our heads and we have to focus on the play, because we had the game and then we let it go.”
*** Defenseman Radko Gudas will find out Sunday how long he’ll be out of the Flyers’ lineup. Gudas was a healthy scratch Saturday against the Flames, two days after he put a stick to the back of Mathieu Perreault’s neck during a loss in Winnipeg.
Gudas declined an offer from the league for an in-office hearing at its New York headquarters. That alone indicates this pending suspension will be a severe one, as do Gudas’ two past transgressions with high hits in Dec. 2015 and Oct. 2016 which earned him suspensions of three and six games, respectively.
This one, done with a stick, seems much worse. Suffice to say the Flyers are prepared to lose Gudas for a significant period of time. Flyers general manager Ron Hextall declined to speak about this or any other matter until after he learns of Gudas’ fate.
*** NOTES » Forward Jordan Weal sat out this game with an unspecified injury . ... While the Flyers were frustrated over their penalties and lack of calls they thought should have been made, they have other concerns. One is Wayne Simmonds, who hasn’t scored in his last 12 games after getting six goals in his first eight. Of course, any talk of him playing hurt right now is shrugged off. ... Shayne Gostisbehere on losing his cool: “It’s unacceptable for my team. I’ve got to be a better team player in that fashion.”