I agree with Brink.

I think what made the interference call easy and clear was that not only did sanheim not try to avoid the contact, he took a whack with his stock into goalies right pad. The puck is three feet behind him at that point, but he whacks the right pad. There is nothing controversial or unclear about the call. Good game though and happy to see team hang tough in their first two games.

Charlie, thoughts on Juulsen, thought he looked pretty good to my eye. Standouts for me were Cates line (dominant), Zegras, Tippett, Grebenkin, Sanheim, Juulsen and Ersson.

You are exactly correct, Charlie. It is the letter of the rule, not the spirit. They want skaters out of the creaseso using plays like this to get that result. Overall, we have acquitted ourselves pretty well. Undernanned on D, and Zamula should be in LHV, but positives from tge Goatending, the Cates line, Grebenkin and signs of the skill level Zegras has. So, positives. Do we need more high level talent? Without question.

I disagree with your assertion that Michkov needs to get ice time regardless of whether he earns it or not.

He is not a finished product. Yes, he is primarily a scorer but there is no great value to scoring a lot of points if you are giving up even more on the other end of the product – and at this point, his development takes priority over raw production. Lastly, you cannot say “players have to earn their ice time” and then just gift him ice time regardless of whether he has earned it or not. When two experienced hockey coaches (and regardless of what you think of Torts’ style, his knowledge is not in question) are limiting his ice time, perhaps they know something that us average fans dont, maybe?

And I dont think Michkov minds – he was very vocal in how much he liked playing for Torts, b/c he realized that Torts did want him to become the best player he could be. He’s not averse to tough coaching if it makes him better.

He doesnt have to become a Selke candidate, but learning to be a little more careful about puck protection or backchecking will help in the long run, IMO.

By the letter of the law, if you skate into the crease, the goalie can punch you in the chest and you’ll get called for interference.

That’s when you know the law should be changed.

Was the third pair bad enough that Andrae actually plays today? Fingers crossed! Maybe Juulsen will miss the game so he can get some treatment for his puck handling allergy!

Great coverage of Game 2, I especially appreciate all of the details surrounding the overturned OT goal by Brink. Personally, I believe it was a good goal as the Canes goalie took himself out of the play more than Sanheim did and he shouldn’t have been saved from the loss by a shaky call. Overturns should be reserved for blatant miscalls not a call that can go either way. Such a shame that the Flyers always seem to be unfavored by the league. The metrics that you listed point to this game being as close as it was so they were a worthy inclusion.