Neuvirth’s performance one for the ages
Will hand GM Hextall a difficult decision this offseason
The Flyers’ postseason, as it will do, ended quietly Sunday, 14 victories from a Stanley Cup. All that remained was for the effort provided by Michal Neuvirth to find a spot in franchise lore.
PHILADELPHIA >> The Flyers’ postseason, as it will do, ended quietly Sunday, 14 victories from a Stanley Cup. All that remained was for the effort provided by Michal Neuvirth to find a spot in franchise lore.
“Unbelievable,” Wayne Simmonds said. “He’s played great all year long.”
For three games, including the Flyers’ 1-0 loss in Game 6 Sunday, Neuvirth was more than a goaltender. He was the Flyers’ only life vessel, twice allowing them to avoid elimination, then nearly helping them force a Game 7.
A game after his 44-save shutout made Flyers’ postseason history Friday, Neuvirth made 28 more saves Sunday, being beaten only by Nicklas Backstrom on a 3-on-2 rush in the second period.
After taking over for Steve Mason after a 6-1 loss in Game 3, Neuvirth surrendered just two goals in three games, seeing 105 shots … and stopping 103. His series goals-against average was 0.67, his save percentage .981. His value? Extreme. “He played really well,” said Capitals coach Barry Trotz. “He made some key saves in the last couple games and early, especially on our 5-on-3. He was outstanding in the end of the period. He played very, very well.”
That Neuvirth would sparkle in the postseason should not have been a shock, not after he had gone 18-8-4 in the regular season with a 2.27 ERA and a .924 saves percentage. The difference was, he was dominating the Capitals, who’d had the NHL’s best regular-season record, smothering some spectacular shots with his glove, casually deflecting others with his stick and allowing a minimum of rebounds.
After the series, the Flyers trended toward acceptance, stressing how hard they played. But without Neuvirth’s excellence, and given their own inability to score, they could have exited the postseason in humiliation.
“He’s the guy who gave us the fighting chance,” Shayne Gostisbehere said. “Mase did too. It’s tough. You want to get some goals for the guy, to give him some support. But it doesn’t happen sometimes.”
Neuvirth, 28, signed a two-year deal with the Flyers last summer, and made $1.5 million this season. He will earn $1.75 million next season … or substantially less than the roughly $4 million annual fee for Mason.
With that, Ron Hextall, who once won a Conn Smythe Trophy as a postseason MVP for his own goaltending stylings, will face an offseason decision: Should he trade Mason and commit longer-term to Neuvirth?
By Sunday, the hum in the room is that Mason was not to blame for what happened. And even in that 6-1 loss, he was victimized by five power-play goals.
“I think both of our goaltenders were our backbone this year,” Simmonds said. “They played unbelievable. There’s nothing else I can really say about both goalies.”
But even if Mason was satisfactory early in a sixgame series in which the Flyers scored six goals, one into an empty net, Neuvirth was special, joining Hextall, Keith Primeau, Danny Briere and few others who’d had such remarkable Flyers postseason success.
“I have been feeling good all series,” Neuvirth said. “It was just, Braden Holtby played unbelievable once again and we couldn’t get one past him.”
With that, there was the annual search for rationalizations.
“A lot of young guys on this team have never played in the playoffs before,” Neuvirth said. “So it is good experience for them. You know, we played the best team in the league after the regular season, and we gave our best.
“It wasn’t enough.”