PHILADELPHIA – Back in the days of the old Spectrum, the place could get really loud.
There was the first Stanley Cup-clinching goal on May 19, 1974, the J.J. Daigneault goal in Game 6 of the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals and the game in which the Flyers toppled the mighty Soviet Red Army in 1976.
After five years without playoff hockey, the Xfinity Mobile Arena was ready to cut loose on Wednesday night.
And it did.
The noise level was deafening. Every time the Flyers scored, the soldout crowd of almost 20,000 went bonkers.
When you play in an environment like that, you can’t help but get jacked up.
Coach Rick Tocchet remembers those bygone years at the Spectrum. He played there in the mid-‘80s to early ‘90s and again around the turn of the century. It was an environment he’ll never forget.
In other words, Philly fans can get really loud. And Philly athletes often respond.
“I could sit here with a bunch of beers and tell you a bunch of stories from back in the day,” said Tocchet with a grin after Wednesday night’s 5-2 win over the Penguins gave his team a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven opening round series.
“For me, it’s like I’ve lived it, I’ve seen it. For me, to see the young guys and ‘Coots’ (veteran Sean Couturier) and those guys. . .seeing that crowd, it’s been a while. I’m really happy for those guys.
“Listen, we’ve got a long way to go. The hardest one is winning the next one. I don’t want to get too nostalgic but the crowd was great. I’m happy for the guys. But it’s back to business tomorrow.”
Garnet Hathaway felt pretty much the same way. He’s one of the few Flyers who has had playoff experience (with other teams) and believes that sort of fan support helps.
“I mean the crowd is unbelievable,” he said. “You can hit the glass and the crowd is cheering for us. You feel the passion and you feel the excitement.”
When Hathaway, Sean Couturier and Luke Glendening are on the ice, the crowd seems to get worked up just a bit more. This fourth line finds all kinds of ways to get it done.
“We talk about it,” Hathaway disclosed. “You have to keep your emotions in check. I would say it’s more veteran players, especially compared to the other guys. We’ve been through a little bit of it. ‘Coots’ has been going around the room and reminding everyone no matter how loud it is, no matter how much they’re screaming, we’ve got to focus on the game.”
Veteran defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen came up with a big goal which put the Flyers ahead for good in the second period. He doesn’t score a lot so this was a nice reward for all the work he puts in.
“Great play by (Noah) Juulsen,” Ristolainen explained, mindful that Juulsen finished with two assists for the game. “I just tried to hit the net and it went in. So it felt pretty good.”
Ristolainen and Travis Sanheim form a pretty impressive defense pairing and do a good job keeping Pittsburgh shooters out of dangerous areas. For example, Sidney Crosby was once again held to one harmless assist. The future Hall of Famer has no goals in the three games.
“We’ve been playing pretty well defensively,” Ristolainen said. “We play hard, we take their time and space away pretty well.”
The Finn liked the way the crowd responded to some of the Flyers’ bold plays, including the second period scrum which seemed to change the momentum of the game after Philly fell behind by a 1-0 score.
“It fired the crowd up,” Ristolainen said. “It fired us up, too. I feel like that was one of the turning points there. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was unbelievable. ”
>This and that
For the second straight game, the Flyers amassed a huge margin in hits. The final tally: Flyers 45, Pittsburgh 27. Philadelphia also had a 33-22 edge in faceoff wins (60 percent).
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