VOORHEES, N.J. – A rather significant melee broke out at the end of overtime in Tuesday night’s game and some notable players got tossed – four from each side – including Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and, for the Flyers, major contributor Trevor Zegras.
Any fan at Xfinity Mobile Arena who wasn’t already standing jumped out of his or her seat when Zegras skated over and ripped the helmet off Pittsburgh’s Nick Acciari while the Penguin was sprawled on top of the Flyers’ Tyson Foerster as the two were prone on the ice surface.
Ultimately, just about everyone in the building went home happy as the Flyers took a 3-2 win and the fans saw their favorites stick up for one another.
From his comments after Wednesday’s practice at the Flyers Training Zone, it doesn’t sound like Zegras wants to make “pest” his number one role with the team.
But at the same time, this incident showed his willingness to stick up for his teammates.
“That rivalry might be, in my opinion, one of the better ones in the league,” Zegras said. “With the guys on Pittsburgh (Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Letang) it makes it that much more special.”
Zegras didn’t hesitate when he saw Foerster in dismay.
“I felt like we were just mixing it up,” Zegras said. “When your teammates are in there, you kind of have to jump in there.
“I just didn’t like that there were two of them on him. Not that I was going to go in there and try to fight them. It’s just that (pulling Acciari’s helmet off) was the best way to get him off of him.”
Zegras wasn’t exactly wearing a halo before the brawl. He took a late shot with the puck at the Pittsburgh net as time ran out and that didn’t sit well with the Penguins either.
The Flyer denied he was intentionally trying to stir up trouble.
“Not really,” he said. “Emotions are high on the ice. It’s a division game for us. I don’t know if I heard the buzzer. It’s Pittsburgh-Flyers.”
From a team perspective, Zegras’ actions were a positive thing.
“I think anyone of us would jump in for the other guy,” Zegras said. “I just see ‘Foery’. . .the guys threw a couple punches at him. I mean you have to be right in there. Just sticking up for teammates.”
Coach Rick Tocchet sounded upbeat about the whole situation, including the loud crowd cheers for Zegras’ actions.
“Well, the fans can’t stand the Penguins,” Tocchet said. “They can’t stand losing and they can’t stand no effort. If you’re giving effort hopefully you’re beating the Penguins.
“If they see you’re making progress, they will back you. Trevor’s endeared himself with the fan base, I think, because he’s got some pizzazz to his game but he also knows he has to play a winning brand. You watch him, he’s getting inside, got involved in the scrums, helping his teammates. Fans are going to love that.”
Captain Sean Couturier expressed optimism about this example of esprit de corps.
“It goes back to the last couple years, I think we built that foundation of being there for one another, having that team toughness,” he said. “Yesterday I guess was another example of that. It’s nice to see everyone sticking up for each other.”
Added Foerster with a laugh: “He (Zegras) is a louder guy. He fits in on this team. It’s good to see for sure.”
Owen Tippett was one of the Flyers who received a misconduct penalty after the dust settled. He said something like this can bring a team closer together.
“It’s not something you think about on the ice, you just jump in,” Tippett said. “With a high energy guy (Zegras) like that, you know he’s going to do something to poke the bear. Even off the ice, if he can be the leader of chaos, he’s going to do it.”
Who knows? Zegras might turn out to be another Keith Jones or Mike Richards, a shift disturber who can get under another team’s skin. That’s an element that might have been missing from the Philadelphia lineup in recent years.
>Short shots
Goaltender Samuel Ersson, who played exceptionally well in the Pittsburgh game, did not practice on Wednesday. Tocchet said Ersson “tweaked” something and the netminder is listed as day-to-day. “Nothing major,” Tocchet said.
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