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Fresh off a somewhat embarrassing loss to the Lightning the Flyers traveled to Washington tonight for another faceoff with the Eastern conference leading Capitals. Last time around the Flyers fell in overtime thanks to some questionable officiating. This time around the outcome was different but not by much. For the most part the Flyer defense was sound in this one, controlling the tempo and rhythm of the game, and frustrating Alexander Ovechkin all night long. All told Oveckin had just 3 shots on goal and never got one past the goalie, not exactly a winning formula for Washington. Brian Boucher, who started in goal in place of Sergei Bobrovsky, also had a solid night with 33 saves and only 1 goal allowed at even strength. He and the Flyer's penalty kill did let in 3 late scores, but none of those were Boucher's fault. The Flyer's power play continued to struggle, but they were at least successful 1 out of 9 times on the night to break an 0 for 15 slump. At even strength however, the Orange and Black continued to play at a high level, with Mike Richards picking up a goal and an assist and Chris Pronger picking up 2 key assists.
Early on the Flyers did come out a little sloppy, but they got lucky as Washingtotn found the crossbar and the post instead of the back of the net. Finally about halfway through the 1st period Marcus Johannson slipped one by Boucher for a 1-0 Capitals lead. While the Flyers were not able to answer in the 1st period, they did pick it up after that. Late in the 2nd period the hard work finally paid off as Claude Giroux redirected a Pronger blast for a power play tally to knot it up at 1. Richards followed a few minutes later slapping in the rebound off a Hartnell slap shot and the Orange and Black had the 2-1 lead and seeming total control, heading into the 3rd period. Halfway through the 3rd period Pronger fed Jeff Carter from the defensive zone and he took it rest away before firing a high wrister into the net for a 3-1 lead. That should have been the game there, but back to back questionable penalties on the Flyers led 2 quick Washington power play goals to tie it up at 3. Finally with just over 6 minutes to play Andreas Nodl a beautiful spinning backhand to put the Flyers back ahead 4-3. Again that should have been the game there as Flyers went on the power play a few minutes later.
The Orange and Black couldn't cash in though as Danny Briere ended the power play with a just under a minute left in the game by committing a foolish but obvious high sticking penalty. That led eventually to another Washington power play and yes another power play goal to tie things up at 4 with only 39 seconds left in the game to send it into overtime. Neither team scored in overtime. Although the Flyers did a have a power play to finish to the final 2 minutes of OT they again failed to cash in. So it came down to a shootout which usually means bad things for the Flyers but not tonight. Boucher stopped all 3 Capitals' attempts, including a brilliant glove save on Ovechkin, while Briere beat Washington goalie, Michal Neuvirth, through the 5 hole lift the Orange and Black to a huge 5-4 shootout win.
There is nothing new to report
There is nothing new to report
There is nothing new to report
Having lost 5 in a row coming into tonight, their last home game before another road trip, thanks NBA scheduling people, the Sixers were desperate for a win. With Brandon Jennings and the MilWaukee Bucks in town, the chances of the Sixers getting that win seemed slim, but that's why they play the games. The Sixers played some incredible defense in this one, holding Milwaukee to just 33% shooting from the field and 0, yes 0% shooting from beyond, as well as out rebounding them 43-42 and forcing 14 turnovers, 8 of them steals. In fact, Milwaukee's 0 for 12 performance from beyond the arc, marks the first time since 2007 that the Sixers have held a team without a 3pt field goal, quite an achievement for a team that isn't known for its defense. Still turnovers and Andre Iguodala's absence nearly outdid the Sixers down the stretch, but the firepower off the bench of Lou Williams who scored 19 and Thad Young who scored 23, was ultimately just enough to hold off Milwaukee in the end.
Early on Milwaukee actually had the lead as Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings came out strong and Elton Brand got into foul trouble. Down the 5 heading into the 2nd quarter the Sixers wouldn't quit. Spurred on by their bench the Sixers rallied back and took a 6 point lead into the half. Despite Brand's continued foul trouble, they kept it up in the 3rd quarter and extended their to 13 heading into the 4th quarter. At one point in the 4th thanks to Young and Williams the lead was up as high 19 and the Sixers seemed primed to cruise to their 3rd victory of the season. Then the turnovers creeped in again and by the 2 minute mark of the 4th Milwaukee had sliced the lead all the way down to 8. Just it when it seemed they might have another let down, Lou Williams drilled a 3 to push the lead back to 11, prompting Doug Collins to literally look to the heavens and say thank you. A bunch of missed shots later and the Sixers had held on for a 90-79 win. Despite the win the Sixers remain last in the Atlantic division at 3-10 overall, but hopefully this win over a decent team is just the start of something bigger.
The Phils prepared themselves for spring training today. They added 5 players to their 40 man roster, including top 1st base prospect Matt Rizzoti who tore up Reading and Lehigh Valley last season. They also sent out spring training invites to 12 non roster players, including Catcher Dane Sardinha who made his major league debut with the Phils last season, after Carlos Ruiz, Brian Schneider, and Paul Hoover all went down with injuries. Sardinha homered in that game to help the Phils get the much needed win and with Hoover gone now, he could very well wind up as at least the Phils #3 catcher, guaranteeing himself a September call up.
There is nothing new to report
There is nothing new to report
The Flyers got roped into an old west shootout at the Wells Fargo center tonight, as they combined with the Tampa Bay Lightning for 15 goals. Not once, not twice, but 4 times, the Flyers had a lead and 4 times they failed to hold it, and 3 of those 4 times they were up by 2 goals. It's easy to blame the goaltending on a night like this. After all Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled after after allowing 4 goals on just 11 shots in 1 period of play and Brian Boucher did no better allowing another 4 goals on 22 shots. They pretty good excuses though. Having not rested in 11 games now, Bobrovsky was obviously tired, and having not played in 11 games, Boucher was obviously rusty. Both were also hung out to dry by their defense. While the Flyers only allowed 33 shots on goal, which isn't terrible, far too many were from point blank range. Moroever, the vaunted Flyer penalty kill disappeared, allowing 3 goals out of a whopping 9 power play opportunities. The Orange and Black meanwhile were 0 for 4 on the power play which probably cost them a chance to outduel Tampa in this one.
Early in the first period Nikolay Zherdev and Andreas Nodl scored goals within seconds of another to put the Flyers up 2-0. Their lead lasted just over 3 minutes as Steve Stamkos and Martin St. Louis teamed up for a power play tally, and Adam Hall slipped one by Bobrovsky to tie it at 2. James Van Reimsdyk picked up the assist as Jeff Carter briefly put the Orange and Black back ahead 3-2. Again it didn't last St. Louis setup Ryan Malone on the power play to tie it at 3 just 4 minutes later. With help from Matt Carle and Ville Leino Braydon Coburn registered his 100th career point to put the Flyers back up 4-3. Then Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell combined to make it 5-3 just a few minutes later. Again the breathing room didn't last. Brett Clark scored just seconds after Briere to cut it to 5-4. Then Stamkos and St. Louis teamed up again early in the 2nd period to tie it up at 5.
From there Daroll Powe setup Nikolay Zherdev for his 2nd goal of the night to make it 6-5, less than a minute later. 5 minutes after that JVR picked up his 2nd assist, as Andrej Mezjaros scored for a 7-5 lead. Again though it didn't last. Stamkos and St. Louis teamed up to assist ex-Flyer Steve Downie to cut it to 7-6. Then Stamkos and St.Louis teamed up on the power play again to tie it at 7. Finally, 5 minutes into the 3rd period Nate Thompson scored to give Tampa its first lead of the night, at 8-7. That was finally too much for the Orange and Black to overcome as they dropped their 2nd in a row 8-7.
There is nothing new to report
There is nothing new to report
There is nothing new to report.
The Sixers finally returned home tonight, as they looked to snap a 4 game losing streak against the lowly Toronto Raptors. The two teams came in tied for last in the Atlantic division as expected it wasn't pretty night, particularly for the Sixers whose shooting touch and bench didn't show up. Overall the Sixers shot just 36% from the field and 12% from beyond. It's just hard to win when you can't consistently make shots. The Sixer's bench coudn't consistently do anything tonight, as it contributed just 14 points, 10 by Thad Young. It's even harder to win when you get that little from your bench. Sure Elton Brand had 27, and Jrue Holiday had 17 and 7 assists, and Evan Turner had 11 and 12 rebounds, but those numbers only go so far when there's nothing to back them up from the bench. Defensively, the Sixers were solid out rebounding Toronto 48-44, and forcing them into 13 turnovers, but they just couldn't stop Andrea Bargnani who dropped 30, or Sonny Weems who fastbreaked his way to a career high 25. Finally when you put all those shortcomings together with a costly turnovers in the final minutes, you get a 5th straight loss.
Early on despite their poor shooting, the Sixers actually had the lead and seemingly control of the game. They lead by 1 after a quarter and 1 at the half, then extended to a 7 point lead in the 3rd quarter. Unfortunately, with Andre Iguodala still on the sidelines nursing a strained achilles, the Sixers didn't have the fire power to pull away from the Raptors. Instead they found themselves still ahead by just 1 heading into the 4th quarter. For most of the 4th quarter the two teams were pretty even. In fact with just under 3 minutes to play they were tied at 85. Then the turnovers creeped in for the Sixers and Toronto used them to pull ahead and then away to a 94-86 victory. With the loss the Sixers fall to 2-10 on the season and last place in the Atlantic division all by themselves. What a team.
The Phils have signed left reliever and ex-Marlin Dan Meyer to a minor league contract. As a lefty he immediately becomes another candidate to fill the void left by J.C Romero's departure. The Phils will still probably try to add more lefties though.
There is nothing new to report
There is nothing new to report
The Flyers came into tonight, in a matchup against the Montreal Canadiens, having a earned at least a point in 10 straight games and they had little trouble doing so. Even the tough Ottawa Senators couldn't keep the Flyers from blowing them away 5-1 last night. Unfortunately, it seems that effort against Ottawa and the long over night travel from Philly all the way to Montreal might have taken it's tole on the Orange and Black in this one. Well that, and the dazzling play of Carey Price. He was just too good tonight. Tired or not, the Flyers still managed to slap 41 shots at him and he stopped them all. The Orange and Black also went 0 for 6 on the power play, mostly thanks to Price, and that didn't help matters either. Moreover, Danny Briere and Claude Giroux, usually more enthused in front of their home crowd, combined for just 4 shots on goal and considering how the Flyers have relied on those 2 this season that was probably the difference.
For their part Montreal was not impressive necessarily,but they were solid and they did what they had to. Mike Cammalleri had the only goal in the first period for a 1-0 Habs lead. Tomas Plekanec followed with the only goal in the 2nd period for a 2-0 Habs lead. Finally, Brian Gionta put the Flyers away with the only goal in the 3rd period for a 3-0 Habs. Price basically did the rest as the Canadiens went on to win by that score. Considering how hot they were coming, the Flyers were due for a night like this and it's not all that surprising. You just have to tip your cat Price in this one and move on.
The Sixers finished their road trip with a less than satisfying stop in Cleveland tonight. Andre Iguodala sat out again with his strained achilles which didn't help matters. Still, Jrue Holiday had 11 and 10 assists, Evan Turner had a career high 16 and 9 rebounds, Elton Brand had 13 and 11 rebounds, Andres Nocioni had 12, Thad Young 17 and 8 rebounds off the bench, as Lou Williams was big off the bench as well with 10 and 7 assists, so there was plenty of scoring and defense to go around even without Iggy. The Sixers also outrebounded the Cavs 45-38, and shot better than them at the line and from beyond. Finally the Sixers had the lead after the 1st quarter for one of the few times all season. Yet, despite all of that they still came out on the short end of things. Although they were better than Cleveland for several stretches of time, they just couldn't carry it all the way through the game from start to finish. They also turned the ball over 15 times to Cleveland's 7 and that's probably where this one really got away from them.
Thanks to a hot start from the floor the Sixers did actually have a 4 point lead after 1 quarter. They cooled off a little in the 2nd quarter but still managed to go into the half with the score tied and seemed to be on the right track foe their 3rd win. Unfortunately the turnovers creeped in the 3rd quarter as the Sixers fell behind by 10. They had chances to get back in it, in the 4th quarter and even outscored the Cavs 23-21, but just like the last time these two teams met in Philly, Cleveland had just enough to hold off the Sixers, 101-93. The loss is the Sixers 4th in a row. Fortunately they now host the equally inept Toronto Raptors tomorrow night which is definitely an excellent opportunity for them to get a 3rd win finally.
Roy Halladay was named the NL CY Young award winner today, making him just 5th pitcher in history to win a CY Young in both leagues, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, and Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry. Here's to adding a world series ring to that CY Young trophy.
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It was truly a night for the history books as the Eagles traveled to Fedex field and exacted total revenge on the Washington Redskins for the sloppy early season loss the Birds suffered the last time these two teams met in Philly. Mike Vick became the first the QB in NFL history to throw for 300+ yards and 4 TDs and rush for 50 + yards and 2 TDs in the same game as the Eagles racked up 592 yards offense and a Monday night football record, 59 points. It's not as though the Redskins defense was that poor either, the Eagles were just that good and it wasn't all Vick. Desean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Jason Avant all had over 70 yards receiving and a TD. Lesean McCoy had a combined 97 yards and a TD. Finally, newly acquired Jerome Harrison had his best night as an Eagle by far, with 11 carries for 109 and a TD. The Eagles defense also wasn't too shabby, picking off Donovan Mcnabb, 3 times, two by Dmitri Patterson, and sacking him twice. Washington did have over 300 yards of offense but it did little to help their cause.
The night started with a bang as Vick fired an 88 yard TD pass to Jackson on the first play from scrimmage, stunning the home crowd. After a 3 and out by the Skins ,the next Eagle's drive went 63 yards before Vick scrambled in from 7 yards out for a 14-0 lead. After Donovan's 1st interception of the night, McCoy took a screen pass 11 yards to pay dirt for a 21-0 lead. Finally Harrison finished off the 1st quarter by rumbling 50 yards for a TD, to give the Birds and NFL record tying 28-0 lead after 1 quarter of play. The 2nd quarter also started with a bang as Vick hit Maclin with a beautiful 48 yard bomb to make it 35-0. After a couple Mcnabb TD passes briefly restored Redskin hopes, Vick answered with his 2nd TD run night, this time from 6 yards out on a designed play, to make it 42-14.
Later in the final seconds of the half David Akers booted a 45 yard field goal for a 45-14 halftime lead. They weren't done yet though. After Washington opened the 2nd half with a TD drive, Vick lead a 71 yard drive, capped off a by perfectly patient 3 yard TD pass to Avant for 52-21 lead. A minute Patterson picked off Mcnabb for the 3rd time of the night and raced 40 yards for another score and 59-21 lead. That was all she wrote as Mcnabb and the Skins added a late TD to make the final score a still embarrassing 59-28. At the 6-3 the Eagles are now once again tied for 1st in the NFC East as they welcome the New York Giants to the Linc next week in a showdown for division supremacy. Bring em on.
The Flyers came in tonight red hot, and looking to stay perfect against Eastern conference teams. This particular night though was supposed to be a much sterner test, than what the Orange and Black had faced before. Ultimately, thanks to a rash of foolish penalties by the Ottawa Senators it really wasn't all that tough at all. Offensively they generated 46 shots on goal and had a 4 different guys score at least 1 goal, with Daroll Powe, Mike Richards, Claude Giroux and Danny Briere all getting in on the act. Meanwhile the Flyer defense was solid again allowing just 29 shots on goal and no power play tallies. Still the stalwart for the D continued be Sergei Obrovsky who collected another 27 saves. He's impenetrable right now.
Danny Briere got things going about midway through the 1st period, with Andrej Meszaros assisting on the contest's first score. Just a few minutes later Claude Giroux and Kimmo Timonen teamed up to setup Powe for a 2-1 lead. Late in the 2nd period Giroux blasted one home off a broken play to make it 3-1 Orange and Black. Early in the 3rd period Richards scored shorthanded for a 4-1 lead. Just a minute later Giroux and Braydon Coburn teamed up to assist Richards as he made it 5-1. Mercilessly for Ottawa the Flyers eased off after that and cruised to the 5-1 win. Next up the Eastern conference's current #3 seed, the Montreal Canadiens. Bring em on.
It was busy day for the Phils. First they hired, hall of fame 2nd basemen, Ryne Sandberg to manage the AAA Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. This is not the first team SandBerg has donned the Phils red pinstripes. He actually began his major league with the Phillies in 1991. Unfortunately, at the time, the Phils thought he was only a 3rd basemen and would be perpetually blocked from joining the big club by Hall of Fame 3rd baseman Mike Schmidt. They were wrong on both accounts. Sandberg was traded to the Chicago Cubs where he shifted to 2B and played out a hall of fame career. Meanwhile, Schmidt retired just 7 years after the trade that sent Sandberg away. Not that's he back, Sandberg is immediately a candidate to succeed Charlie Manuel as the Phils manager, when the time comes for old Charlie to retire.
After locking up Sandberg, the Phils agreed with Jose Contreras on a 2 year contract extension worth $5.5 million plus bonuses. Contreras made up a big 3 along with Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson at the back of the Phils bullpen last season. Thus, it's a good thing he's locked up for another 2 years. The Phils will just need to figure out what to do with their middle relief now.
There is nothing new to report
There is nothing new to report
There is nothing new to report
There is nothing new to report
There is nothing new to report
