All three games saw an opening-minute goal, a Flyers institution was honoured after his passing and a certain fan base was penalized for throwing wristbands on the ice in an ugly night in Philadelphia.
Here are five things we learned in the NHL Monday.
Flyers pay tribute to Ed Snider
The stage was set for an emotional night in Philadelphia.
In the first home played in Philly after Flyers owner Ed Snider passed away, the organization and fans were primed to claw back into the series after a stirring video tribute to the late Flyers founder.
Sportsnet’s John Shannon shared his thoughts on Snider here.
The team gave away these cool shirts to every fan in the building:
The heartfelt tribute gave one pause when considering the Flyers’ chances of getting back into a series in which they’d fallen behind 2-0. Fifty-seven seconds into the game, it seemed possible when Michael Raffl scored to give Philly a 1-0 lead.
As you may already know, that hope fizzled shortly after in an eventual 6-1 Capitals win.
Ovechkin sets Caps record
Amid all the scoring from Washington — including five power-play goals, a Caps record — Alex Ovechkin reached another peak in the organization’s history, becoming the team’s all-time leading scorer in the playoffs.
Just look at that list (from before the start of Game 3):
Ovi finished with two goals and one assist, scoring two points on the man-advantage.
Refs penalize second crowd of 2015-16 season
Florida Panthers fans and their rats are no longer alone.
Prior to the Caps-Flyers game, fans received light-up wristbands that gave a darkened arena a Christmas-like feel.
Until it all went to hell.
The Flyers were penalized late in the game when a number of said wristbands were thrown on the ice. Fans were either upset at their team being down by a handful of goals or were protesting the five-minute major assessed to Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. The Flyers forward hit Caps defenceman Dmitry Orlov from behind in a very dangerous looking play.
Orlov appeared to be OK as he finished the game and took questions from reporters afterward.
The Flyers took two more penalties after the hit, including the delay of game infraction due to the crowd’s throwing of wristbands, and the Caps scored three times to end the game.
Not a good look for Philadelphia on a night meant to be in tribute to their beloved owner.
Wild boost scoring total by 500%
It’s been a rough go for the Minnesota Wild in their series with the Dallas Stars. Two convincing defeats produced just one goal — from a defenceman, mind you — and a sense that a series sweep was just a matter of time.
Game 3 began Monday with Patrick Sharp of Dallas scoring 26 seconds into the game and then again three minutes later. The obituaries were being written.
But Minny scored one before the end of the first period and went on to score four straight to eventually win 5-3, giving them life in a now 2-1 series. Jason Pominville led the charge with two goals and one assist.
Finally, this is a series.
Quick Starts
Monday night saw some quick goals to start each of the three games.
In addition to Raffl’s marker 57 seconds in, Sharp potted one 26 seconds in to the Stars-Wild game, while Joe Thornton got the San Jose Sharks on the board 30 seconds in to Kings-Sharks.
Who wouldn’t be fired up after this?
They didn’t produce the expected result, however. The Flyers and Stars lost while the Sharks lost in overtime thanks to Tanner Pearson’s overtime winner.
BONUS THING
