TORONTO – No fans were there to cheer, so the players filled in.
It was one thing for members of the Philadelphia Flyers to stand up on the bench and greet Oskar Lindblom with a hearty ovation of stick taps as he glided to centre ice for his first shift in nine months.
It was quite another for the New York Islanders to join their opponents’ clattering display of respect and do the same, considering mere moments prior they had been scored upon by one of Lindblom’s teammates in a critical Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinal.
That adjective, critical, should be treated as an overstatement in this case.
The Flyers winning 5-4 in double overtime to force a Game 7 Saturday was important. But only the way work is important, or entertainment is important. Not critical. Not really.
Critical is getting diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma at age 23, two months into the best season of your NHL career.
Critical is suffering from a rare form of cancer that tires you ragged for no reason and aches your bones. That drains your weight and tries to do the same to your will.
Critical is worrying about a tumour spreading through your body, to your lungs, and enduring the vicious side effects of the aggressive chemotherapy treatments needed to control Ewing sarcoma.
Beautiful is seeing Lindblom, who celebrated his 24th birthday practising in the bubble, finally fit to play. Beautiful is learning the forward chatted with coach Alain Vigneault in the morning and volunteered to help with Sean Couturier and Joel Farabee injured.
“I knew I would play one day, but I didn't know when,” Lindblom said. “Today was the day.”
“For the team, it means everything,” said GM Chuck Fletcher, noting that Lindblom’s return to practice in mid-August left the coaches’ room in tears.
From living rooms all over North America — and certainly in Lindblom’s native Gavle, Sweden — the hockey world set up shop in Lindblom’s corner as he made his return to the game just 265 days after diagnosis and two months after finishing chemo and ringing the bell.
After the Masterton finalist led the Flyers out on to the Scotiabank Arena ice, he doffed his white helmet for pre-game anthems. Lindblom’s head, so recently shaven clean for treatments, has only grown back but soft wisps of hockey flow.
Tap, tap, tap! (Wipes tear.) Tap, tap, tap.
“Never thought I would say this, but I’m a Flyers fan tonight!!!” tweeted longtime Eastern Conference rival Ryan Callahan. “Happy to see him back on the ice doing what he loves!”
What a moment.
Stick taps from both teams for @oskarlindblom on the face off. #NHLonSN pic.twitter.com/PVG8UQBNRh— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 3, 2020
Captain Claude Giroux believes Lindblom’s insertion into the lineup gave the more desperate side a “huge boost.”
Pouncing on a sloppy D-zone clear and poor line change by New York, Kevin Hayes roofed a Travis Konecny feed past Semyon Varlamov — the goal that led to Lindblom’s graphite ovation.
“Oskar brings a smile to everyone’s face. I had chills watching him skate around the ice,” Hayes said. “It’s inspiring. Puts a lot of things in perspective for us. It’s a pretty easy ask, when you see Oskar, to try your hardest.”
James van Riemsdyk hammered a top-of-the-circle slapshot off the rush clean through Varlamov, giving the recently snake-bitten scorer goals in consecutive games and increasing Philly’s lead to 2-0.
The Islanders chopped the lead in half when Devon Toews delivered shot-pass so hard that it snapped Derick Brassard’s blade clean off as he tipped it home before the end of Period 1.
“We’ve had a few of these games where we’ve gotten down, and the attitude on the bench is so positive,” Toews said. “For us, it’s just our belief in each other.”
Things appeared to be unravelling for the Flyers early in the second frame.
Matt Martin’s tying goal was incorrectly challenged by Vigneault, who suspected goaltender interference. That ill-advised challenge dropped the Flyers coach’s record of questioning the refs to 0-for-3 in this series and 1-for-5 in these playoffs. Not good.
Worse: Isles captain Anders Lee scored on the ensuing delay-of-game penalty, and New York used that 102-second span to wrangle momentum in their direction, if only temporarily.
Michael Raffl responded for Philly, only to see Mathew Barzal — sporting a stitched-up cut above his right eye — snipe right back.
The Flyers, heavily outshot and out-chanced, knotted the game yet again when Scott Laughton deked Varlamov on a breakaway. And for the fourth time in the series, the game would be decided by a single goal.
The seesaw kept swinging, rookie goalie Carter Hart holding the thing together with a hectic performance in which he made a career-best 49 saves.
“Two very close teams going at it. Going into this series, I wouldn’t expect anything different,” said Isles coach Barry Trotz. “Nothing is ever given. Adversity allows you to grow.”
So, when Ivan Provorov finally potted the winner through a crowd, best believe the resounding joy did not come free of adversity.
“We can’t start thinking about this as a Game 7,” said Lindblom, already thinking about his next shift. “It’s been a Game 7 for us for a long time.”
Perspective is a powerful tool.
As thrilling as must be for the resilient Flyers to slam back-to-back OT winners and keep their Cup dreams alive, Lindblom’s return to the ice (two hits, one block, 17:30 ice time) will surely be remembered as the night’s greatest victory.
“This kid has so much courage,” Giroux said. “It's been a long battle. And this guy’s heart, you have to see it to believe it.”
