The Philadelphia Flyers made it into the playoffs because they beat the Rangers in the last game of the season in a post game breakaway competition. Claude Giroux managed to score on New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist to put his team up 2-1 in the shootout. Olli Jokinen then failed to score on Flyer goalie Brian Boucher Boucher.
So a moment that has as little to do with winning a hockey game as winning one particular face-off resulted in the Flyers winning a game and getting into the Stanley Cup playoffs. In the unlikely event that the Flyers win the Stanley Cup it could be said that they don’t deserve to be there. The playoff revenue they’re about to reap is just a lucky bonus.
The institution of first overtime and then the shootout to decide tied games in the NHL is another of many factors that have helped trivialize the NHL regular season. The point of playing t ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Scott Weldon