With their season on the brink, and their whole club struggling to score goals, the Philadelphia Flyers leaned on their No. 1 goal-scorer.
Claude Giroux may be the captain and No. 1 centre, Jaukub Voracek is the top-line winger, and Vincent Lecavalier the team’s highest career scorer, but no Flyer netted more than Wayne Simmonds’s 29 goals this year. And with the Flyers facing elimination, Simmonds came through yet again, scoring three goals in Philadelphia’s season-saving 5-2 win on Tuesday at Wells Fargo Center.
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In a series devoid of snarl and star power, Simmonds delivered both. His hat trick launched Simmonds to the top of the Flyers’ series scoring list, and his energy — a fan-favourite — carried them to a winner-take-all Game 7 on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
“I think we just take the positives from this game and keep it rolling,” Simmonds said during a post-game press conference. “It’s great that we’re having a back-to-back … now we’ve got the momentum and we’ve got to keep our foot on the pedal and keep pushing forward.”
Simmonds has never been known as a score-first player. He’s been an energetic and gritty forward with agitator-type tendencies since breaking in with the Los Angeles Kings. He finished second on a notoriously tough team in Philadelphia in penalty minutes this year, and this was his third 100-plus PIM season of his six-year career.
Simmonds even unveiled some of that snarl late in the second period when he took on Ryan McDonagh and picked up a roughing minor, then pushed Mats Zuccarello around after the Ranger forward’s late goal.
“It’s something we definitely discussed as a team,” Simmonds said of the added intensity. “I think we were kind of, I don’t want to say scared, but we’re used to getting a lot of penalties, and sometimes when you’re over aggressive … you shy away from physical play.”
Simmonds has also picked up an offensive game that may be less offensive but no less intense. While playing second- and third-line minutes all season, Simmonds became the poster child for Philadelphia’s goal-scoring depth, falling just shy of his first career 30-goal campaign.
And as the Flyers weathered a slew of giveaways and chances in the first period, it was Simmonds who put them on the board first on the power play at 7:08. It wasn’t the only goal the Flyers would need, but it certainly took the heat off and allowed them to find their game.
Then in the second, Philadelphia dominated, potting three goals. Simmonds’s nifty reflexes around the net allowed him to stash his second and third goals, as the third came on a redirection of Voracek’s shot-pass, and the hats rained down from the exuberant crowd. Simmonds led all Flyers with six shots in just 12:50.
“We knew the situation, and you’ve got to get pumped up for games like this,” Simmonds said. “It played out well for us. We continued our aggressiveness and took it with us the rest of the game.”
It’s easy to forget he is only 25 years old, but save an empty-net goal in Game 2, Simmonds had been largely absent, registering just two points in five games. And while the heat has been squarely on Giroux, Simmonds’s silent play was certainly a reason Philadelphia faced elimination entering Tuesday night.
Yet, one fast game later, he’s the reason why the Flyers are one win from the Eastern Conference’s final four.
