Fool Me Twice

So there were some ugly incidents this weekend in Pens-Bruins game.  I have no love lost for either team.  Boston have several guys that rub me the wrong way; Marchand is a irritating douche (pardon my language), Lucic takes liberties, and no one ever accused Chara of being an angel.  On the other side, while Matt Cooke has departed (a favorite of mine), for my money, Malkin is one of the biggest weasels in the league, and Neal seems to be willing to stoop quite low.

When 2 jerks meet, bad things happen.

Orpik started things out with a hit that seems borderline to me.

It needs to be said Orpik didn't leave his feet or commit charging, and that the hit was basically shoulder-to-shoulder.  What makes it borderline is the Eriksson never really played the puck, but Orpik had him lined up and he looked like an EASHL player who says "screw it, I've got him lined up, I'm laying him out anyway."  Immediately after, Thornton, tried to start something with Orpik, but got nowhere with that effort.

Later, Crosby tripped up Marchand, and Neal delivered a fly-by knee to the head.

The video is pretty damning, with Neal clearly leaning the shin and shoulder out when he could've easily avoided him, and then not looking back after, which is what you do after an accident.  After the game, Neal made some half-hearted denials that it wasn't intentional, and said "I guess [I need] to get my knee out of the way."

Lastly, Thornton ran down Orpik from across the ice, threw him down to ice, and got in 2 quick shots to the jaw.  The punches knocked Orpik out.  Thornton will be suspended, as there's little defense for his dogged pursuit of instigating with Orpik.  I am surprised the quick punch knocked out Orpik so completely, but the whole thing feels a little bit like Marty McSorley lite, chasing down an opposing player and dangerously trying to start a scrap.

But getting back to the Neal hit, this isn't the first time Neal has been in the same position.  Flyers fans should remember this one (specifically the Couturier part);

At the time, the NHL was "willing to accept Neal's assertion" that it was an "unintended collision" (@0:30 of the video).  It struck me as a ludicrous defense, and I wrote at the time he should've been suspended.

Now can we be clear about Neal's tricks?  Suspend this guy.

Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice...

Couturier Back on Track

Forgive me, but I started a new job 6 weeks ago, so this blog has been down on my priority list.   Given this big group of time between posts, I will not even bother to touch on all the things that have happened with the Flyers since.

The one thing I will talk about here is Sean Couturier's improved play, and that the Cooter-Read-Downie line has been the Flyers only good line the last few weeks.

Go back to November 19, the Flyers were still in their winning streak, and Cooter got what was simply a lucky goal.  Afterwards, Berube made the requisite comment about how that goal should increase his confidence and maybe start him on a roll.  *eyeroll*

The thing is, it has done exactly that.  As the Flyers saw their winning streak end, and resumed their awful offensive form that we saw in October, the even strength offense completely vanished.  Look at the numbers from the go-to offensive guys:
-Giroux, 3 ES points, +3
-Voracek, 1 ES point, -1
-Lecavalier, 2 ES points, -1
-Hartnell, 3 ES points, +1
-Schenn, 2 ES points, -1

Now look at the Cooter line since November 19:
Couturier, 8 ES points, +10
Downie, 6 ES points, +7
Read, 7 ES points, +8

During the Flyers current cold streak, the Cooter line really has indeed been the only line performing most nights.  Having only one line playing well is bad news by itself, but it is really positive for the big picture to see this line playing so well.

For one, Couturier showing some offensive ability is massive.  I have been pretty disappointed with his development since his rookie year, and I was beginning to resign myself to adjusting my career expectations for him downwards from my previously lofty expectations.

Two, Downie has become a very productive player for this team.  Coincidentally, my last post was about how I liked the Downie trade, and while his niche has not been on the Giroux line, the trade looks very good today.  (I'm not sure why so many Flyers fans had a reflexive negative reaction about trading away a 4th liner, anyway).