Flyers Blow Lead Late, but Rebound in Overtime for Win Published on 12/2/2009 8:06:00 PM
After dropping a back and forth affair in a shootout to Long Beach just two days prior in Lakewood, the Flyers returned home Tuesday night to welcome in the same Long Beach Bombers for the back end of a home at home affair. Coach Bill Muckalt was not pleased with his team’s play late in the previous contest and was prompted to make a couple big lineup changes.
Out were familiar faces; defenseman and Captain Cameron Noland, and forwards Smbat Defterderian, Edy Keshishian and Artur Ketchedjian. In was the newest addition to the Flyers; defenseman and Valencia native Jake Ryan, and also forwards Jimmy Velasquez and Thomas Regan. Early on in the game the roster swaps looked to spark some competiveness amongst Coach Muckalt’s squad as the Flyers came out hitting hard to begin the contest. Defenseman Casey Dennis would get the Flyers on the board first, scoring his first of the season and first as a Flyer with 16:59 left in the first period. Dennis took a pass at the point from good friend Bryan Fiol and wristed a shot thru traffic over the glove of Long Beach goaltender JP Fecteau. Another new addition, Tyler McGreevy would extend the Flyers lead to two with his second goal of the year after burying a cross ice pass from David Knowles with 9:33 left in the opening period. Alex Stephens would also add an assist on the goal. The Flyers did not allow one scoring chance in the opening period and Steven Estep did his job in stopping all 11 shots he faced, as the home team headed in after one period of play up 2-0.
The Flyers kept the pressure up to begin the second period but JP Fecteau made a few big saves to keep his squad within two. The Bombers found a way to stick around and weather the storm and with 15:10 left in the period, Timmy Linehan took an ill-advised clearing attempt by Jake Ryan and found an open net for his 8th goal of the year, with assists going to his brother Johnny Linehan and defenseman Curtis Fisher. Back within one the Bombers turned the table on the Flyers and began to carry play half way thru the second period. With Casey Dennis off for a slash, Johnny Linehan would score a power play goal to knot the game up at two with 9:54 left in the middle stanza. Linehan’s 13th goal of the season was assisted by Elvis Suquette and Curtis Fisher also notched his second assist of the game. The Bombers outshot Valencia 13-11 in the period and had seven scoring chances to the Flyers three, as a big period for Long Beach assured yet another game between these two teams going down to the wire.
The Flyers came out in the third much like they did in the first; flying. Coach Muckalt must have said something right, because his boys were all over the ice for the first ten minutes of the period and sure enough it paid off. With 10:10 left in regulation, Bryan Fiol banged in a rebound for his 10th of the season to help the Flyers regain a one-goal lead. Casey Dennis and Alex Stephens both got their second point of the game with the assists on the goal. With the goal scorer Fiol off for charging, the Long Beach power play went back to work and Johnny Linehan struck again for his second of the game and team-leading 14th of the season. Linehan found a loose puck in the slot and beat Steven Estep with a wrister over the blocker to tie the game up at three. Timmy Linehan and Patrick Salmas garnered the assists on the game-tying goal. Just 12 seconds later a tough game for the rookie Jake Ryan continued as he was called for a roughing minor. A power play that was two for four on the night went back to work for a chance to give the Bombers their first lead of the game. With the power play unit on the ice the lamp was lit, but it was not the Bombers who would score on this power play. Stephen Stoll picked up a loose puck at the Flyers’ blue line and broke in on a two-on-one with Alex Stephens on the other wing. Stoll faked a shot and chipped a pass to Stephens who beat a sliding JP Fecteau low to the blocker side to once again give the Flyers a one-goal lead. Alex Descheneaux also gained an assist on the goal, which seemed to be a back-breaker with just 5:12 remaining in the third. Long Beach failed to score on the remaining power play time and the Flyers continued to press, even with the lead. Nearing the end of the game the Flyers held the puck in the Long Beach zone for nearly two minutes as the clock dripped below a minute remaining. As the puck came back behind Estep, defensemen Alex Descheneaux and Nick Miner almost had too much time on their hands, as they played catch in order to kill time behind the Valencia net. A miscommunication between the two led to the puck squirting right in front of Estep and sure enough a Linehan brother was standing around waiting to bury it as Timmy scored his second of the game and 9th of the season with just 43 seconds left on the clock to tie the game up at four. Johnny Linehan once again assisted on his brother’s goal; as the Linehan brothers combined for seven points on the night; Jimmy had a hand in every goal with two goals and two assists and Timmy finished with two goals and an assist.
As the buzzer sounded to end regulation, the Flyers must have been worried after blowing a lead late in a game twice in two games to the team across the way. The Flyers dominated the third on the stat sheet; outshooting Long Beach 24-8, out- chancing them 7-2 and even besting the Bombers in hitting 10-8, but none of it mattered as these two teams needed extra time once more to decide a winner. Kyle Schwartz played the hero in overtime for the Flyers, saving what would have been another tough loss with his fourth goal of the year, just about two minutes in. Tyler McGreevy skated hard all night and pick-pocketed Bombers’ defenseman Nathan Bloomfield behind the Long Beach net and sent a pass to the slot to Schwartz. Schwartz was able to out-wait JP Fecteau and lift the puck top-shelf over the sprawled-out netminder for a thrilling 5-4 overtime victory.
The win moves the Flyers to 10-12-3 overall, good for 23 points as they jump ahead of Phoenix into fourth place, one point ahead of the Polar Bears for the final playoff spot. It should be noted however, that Phoenix has seven games in hand on the Flyers as it stands today. The overtime loss drops the Bombers to 9-12-3, their 21 points more than enough to keep them alone in sixth place, 12 points ahead of seventh place Bakersfield. The Flyers had four players enjoy multi-point nights; Alex Stephens led the way with a goal and two assists, and Casey Dennis, Bryan Fiol and Tyler McGreevy each had a goal and an assist in the victory. Steven Estep got the win in net and moved his record to 7-8-2 overall. Long Beach’s JP Fecteau played well but took the tough overtime loss and dropped to 8-6-1. Overall the Flyers outshot Long Beach by a wide margin of 50-33, while having more scoring chances by a line of 14-8. The Flyers also led in hits 42-28, but drew a blank of the power play, not scoring a goal over three chances. Long Beach finished 2 for 6 with the man advantage.
The Flyers have a while until they next play on Friday December 11th, when they begin a three-game weekend homestand when they host the Bakersfield Jr. Condors at7:45 p.m. They continue the weekend set on Saturday night and Sunday morning against the San Diego Gulls, who are in third place in the division but the Flyers have beaten twice while losing only once.
