John Tortorella should have told the media he intentionally pulled Sam Ersson to screw the Penguins and Red Wings from making the NHL Playoffs
John Tortorella and the Philadelphia Flyers saw their playoff hopes come to an end last night thanks to Washington’s TJ Oshie’s empty-net goal with 3 minutes left in the game to lift the Capitals over the Flyers 2-1.
The score was tied 1-1 when John Tortorella pulled Sam Ersson for an extra attacker. The Flyers needed a regulation win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Meanwhile…the Detroit Red Wings had back-to-back games against the Montreal Canadiens to end the regular season – both of which they needed to win to secure the second and final wild card.
On Monday night, Detroit was trailing the Canadiens 4-3 with just over a minute left in the third period. Lucas Raymond tied it to force overtime, then scored again in OT to earn a massive 2 points for the Red Wings.
Last night, in the dying moments of the third quarter, the Red Wings were again, trailing 4-3 with less than five seconds left in the game. David Perron scored to tie the game and send it to overtime. That goal with seconds remaining on the clock eliminated the Flyers from playoff contention.
Around the exact time that Perron scored the game-tying goal for Detroit which again, ended the season for the Flyers, head coach John Tortorella pulled Sam Ersson as a final desperation move to earn a win in regulation.
It didn’t work as the Capitals scored on the empty net and got the win on the road against the Flyers. Since the Capitals did win in regulation, that empty-netter eliminated both the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins from the playoffs.
Following the game, Torts spoke with the media and told them he had no idea that Detroit ended up scoring until after Ersson was already pulled from net.
John Tortorella on pulling Sam Ersson
“I had info on the Detroit game right after they (Washington) scored their empty netter. I think it happened pretty close together. But I was pulling him. I’m pulling him, and that was the right time to pull him. Didn’t know anything was going on with Detroit at that time, but immediately after that, our video guys told us that Detroit just went to overtime.”
Of course, Pittsburgh fans were heated on Twitter, convinced that Tortorella purposely pulled Ersson to screw them over from making the playoffs.
Obviously that wasn’t the case. It happened so close together and the Flyers were desperate to get a win in regulation to keep their own playoff hopes alive.
I think we can all agree that if John Tortorella took the podium and said he did that on purpose, he would have instantly became a Philadelphia legend.
Cheers to the Philadelphia Flyers. They obviously choked down the stretch but even the fact that we were talking about hockey in late March / early April is a sign of good things to come.
Shoutout Derek, Stumpo, and Danny – who had Flyers content + The Liberty Yell Podcast buzzing all season long. They are truly the best out there.
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