Kings at Flyers: Carter Showing Philly What They’re Missing

I was nervous about this game, but damn if it wasn’t awesome.

In case you missed the roughly 837545 tweets, articles and mentions of it, yesterday’s game marked the first time that Jeff Carter would revisit the Wells Fargo Center after being traded in 2012. So of course, the game wouldn’t be complete without Flyers fans booing every time Carter or Richards touched the puck.

But no matter because Jeff Carter returned with a vengeance, guns blazing, and it’s only fitting that he snags the first goal of the game amidst the sea of boos. Carter was able to corral Emery’s rebound from an Alec Martinez shot and rifle it right into the back of the net.

Not gonna lie, I smiled big every time the Flyers faithful booed, and I smiled even bigger when he scored.

Then comes the infuriating part. After an excellent first period, blocking shots and getting an assist on the Carter goal, Martinez continues his hot streak and scores a goal on a Kings power play.

Well, scored and then disallowed because of an apparent Jeff Carter “cross check.”  And by cross check, I mean a fairly gentle push that shouldn’t have caused anyone to even look twice.

We were displeased to say the least.

“Don’t you know Martinez goes to college classes in the summer?! He’s a scholar and a good defenseman!” – me hollering at the game feed

— THX BUD (@thxbud) March 25, 2014

It’s been minutes and I’m still offended by Martinez’s denied goal. Not even for the call, but because how could you do that to Martinez? — THX BUD (@thxbud) March 25, 2014

It’s the next day, and we’re still angry about it. How dare you do this to Martinez.

The Kings took offense to this slight, and set things right as Rebound Ray strikes again, and another ex-Flyer, Justin Williams was able to get a goal (that counts) past Emery.

Unfortunately, momentum shifted, and the beginning of the third period wasn’t so hot for the Kings. 30 seconds into the period, Braydon Coburn takes a shot, and it bounces around and off of a few players, including the Kings’ very own Jake Muzzin. That wasn’t it for the Flyers, and they continued to put pressure on the Kings. A handful of minutes later, Slava Voynov (very poorly) attempts to clear the puck from the Kings’ zone, the Flyers capitalize, and Voracek is able to tip-in a shot from the blue line to tie the game up.

The Kings were being Kings and letting the Flyers tie it up, so the rest of the period could be played in dramatic fashion. The score wasn’t tied for long though, as 2 minutes later, Slava Voynov hustled to stay with the puck and fed it to Dwight King for the game-winning goal.

The pace of the game picked up even more, feeling more and more like a playoff game as the game progressed. While the Flyers put some excellent pressure on the Kings and Jonathan Quick until the final buzzer, the Kings held up beautifully, and Jeff Carter and the Kings dominated and snagged a win on the first game of this road trip.