Did playing in an elimination game bring out the best in Flyers captain Claude Giroux? | On the Fly

The postseason struggles, past and present, of Flyers captain Claude Giroux have been well documented. Giroux enjoyed some strong playoff series in past years, but the last few times in the postseason have not been kind. Yet when the Flyers faced a must-win situation, Giroux came up with his best playoff game this season during Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime win over the New York Islanders.

The Flyers trail this best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series, three games to two, entering Game 6 tonight. If they have designs on extending their season, the Giroux of Tuesday night will have to emerge.

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During his last three times in the playoffs, consisting of 26 games, Giroux has two goals, nine assists and a minus-11 rating.

Before that, in five seasons in the playoffs, he averaged more than a point per game: 23 goals, 38 assists, 61 points in 57 games. He was also a plus-15.

So Giroux has performed well in the postseason and he brought back those memories on Tuesday with a goal and an assist. The goal tied the score in the second period, an outstanding redirect of a Phil Myers shot from the point.

In the overtime, from behind the goal, Giroux fed Ivan Provorov, whose shot from the point was tipped in the slot by Scott Laughton for the game-winner.

Laughton was the hero, but there would have been no goal if Giroux hadn’t found Provorov.

Before the game, Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said that Giroux and James van Riemsdyk had to put their “big-boy pants” on. Both players did just that, scoring their first goals of this postseason.

After Tuesday’s win, Giroux talked about his desire to contribute.

“You want to produce,” Giroux said. “You want to be able to help the team.”

With his back against the wall, Giroux has been impressive.

According to NHL stats, Giroux, 32, has five goals and 13 assists in 18 elimination games. Only three Flyers in franchise history have more points when facing elimination: Brian Propp (13-11-24 in 21 games), Paul Holmgren (14-15-19 in 13 games) and Ken Linseman (4-15-19 in 10 games).

Giroux, 32, has heard the noise about his postseason struggles, but insists he isn’t paying attention.

“I think we stay focused on what the job is at hand,” he said.

On Wednesday, an off-day for the Flyers, Laughton lauded Giroux for all he brings to the team.

“He’s our leader,” Laughton said. “He brings people together. He’s pretty underappreciated in the league.”

Not by his teammates.

“He’s done a pretty good job with this franchise the last however many years he’s been here,” Laughton said. “The way he works on a nightly basis, in practice, the way he competes and how competitive he is, it’s contagious. You want to follow him.”

Laughton joined the top line with Giroux and Jake Voracek when Sean Couturier suffered an apparent knee injury after colliding with Mathew Barzal in the second period Tuesday.Couturier’s status is unknown for Game 6.

If Couturier isn’t able to go in Game 6, Sam Carchidi writes that the Flyers have that up-next mentality.

Carchidi has some great Flyers notes, leading off by talking about the daunting task they still face in winning the series.

Here are the always insightful observations from Ed Barkowitz on the Flyers’ 4-3 OT win over the Islanders in Game 5.

Barkowitz also writes about how Laughton went from being scratched in Game 2 to becoming the Game 5 hero.

Mike Sielski writes that Vigneault’s classic quote before Game 5 could go down in Philly sports history, if the Flyers win the series.

This is the Islanders’ third straight series in which they haven’t been able to close it out on their first try. The Islanders were up by 2-0 against Florida in the best-of-five qualifying round and lost Game 3. They won the series with a 5-1 victory in Game 4. The Islanders then had a 3-0 lead against coach Barry Trotz’s former Washington team in their best-of-seven first-round series. They lost Game 4 and clinched the series in Game 5 with a 4-0 win.

Then with a 3-1 lead against the Flyers, the Islanders weren’t able to seal the deal Tuesday.

Elimination games “are always the hardest games,” Trotz said in a Zoom interview after his team’s Game 5 loss. “… You want to close it out as quick as you can, but we weren’t about to do that so that is on us a little bit. We’ll have to regroup a little bit.”

Flyers vs. N.Y. Islanders / Islanders lead series, 3-2

Monday, Aug. 24: Game 1, N.Y. Islanders, 4-0 (Greene GWG)

Wednesday, Aug. 26: Game 2, Flyers, 4-3 (OT, Myers GWG)

Saturday, Aug. 29: Game 3, Islanders, 3-1 (Komorov GWG)

Sunday, Aug. 30: Game 4, Islanders, 3-2 (Nelson GWG)

Tuesday Sept. 1: Game 5, Flyers, 4-3 (OT, Laughton GWG)

Tonight: Game 6, at Islanders, 7 p.m. NBCSN.

*Saturday, Sept. 5: Game 7, at Flyers, time/TV TBD

*-If necessary. … All games in Toronto. … Listed home teams have last line change during stoppages. … NBC playoff schedule here.

Question: Do you think the refs are turning a blind eye to a lot (or all) of the infractions against Giroux? In particular last game, it seemed like the Isles D had a target on him and there appeared to be multiple incidents of interference, cross checking, slashing, outside of what they normally let go. Giroux reacted in disbelief several times at the non calls. Is it just “Playoff hockey” or are the refs letting the Isles take liberties with G? — David McLeod from Facebook

Answer: Thanks for the question, David. Giroux always will get extra defensive attention and take some tough hits, but in this series, I don’t think the officials have had a blind eye to him. That is not to say the officiating has been perfect, but the players on both teams have been allowed to play.