Esche played great in that game. His team was absolutely dominated and he kept them in there... They hung him out to dry in overtime with their utter lack of speed to boot...
For this one to come up on a Flyers thread, you have to give honorable mention to the overtime goal credited to Rick Middleton that put the Flyers in a 2-0 hole in the '77 semis. Bernie Parent actually knocked it in himself reaching back on his stomach.
The question you should all be asking is where were your defensman?
Sure he let out a big rebound, but Markov shot/passed it from his end and the puck bounced a few times, it was hard enough for Esche to see what path the puck was taking, let alone send the rebound to the side...fact is, both Desjardins and Therien let Ribeiro (who the pass was originally intended too) get in behind them (mistake #1) then Desjardins/Therien both took forever to pivot and turn around and they both let one of our slowest skaters get to the puck before they did...
I thought it was horrible too, but after reading Esche comments post game, about how he wouldn't of done anything different regarding the rebound...it lead me to believe that he was actually putting the blame on his d-men, which prompted me to look the game over, and I actually noticed how slow they were to react...
both Desjardins and Therien let Ribeiro (who the pass was originally intended too) get in behind them (mistake #1) then Desjardins/Therien both took forever to pivot and turn around and they both let one of our slowest skaters get to the puck before they did...
That about sums it up.
It was an ugly rebound goal, but worst of all time? You got a short memory.
I am not that happy with Esche's rebounding skills. It seems as though he has pinball boards for pads. I think i could've stopped that goal on Ribiero, I know he wants that one back
Esche giving out huge rebound isnt. He wears the thinnest pads in the league and it shows, nows the time to strap a couple of pillows to those babies.
He wears the absolute worst possible pads for his technique. I've worn Eagle Fusions' before, and if you have poor rebound control, forget about it. I guess he thinks they just look cool.
how come a lot of people are missing how esche saved us so many times in that game
if it wasnt for his play, it could easily have been a habs blow out
and everyone glares at the big rebound
i'd like to see anyone complaining get in net and curb a bouncing puck from that far
his defense died on him, eventually one is going to go in the net if no one his helping on defense
Also in the OT , Gagne completly blew it by letting Diver walk in. I know it is his resposiblity to cover the d'man, but in 4 on 4 , you don't let a guy walk in like that. Also, Esche made quite a few good saves in that game, He was not the reason we lost that game !!
Also in the OT , Gagne completly blew it by letting Diver walk in. I know it is his resposiblity to cover the d'man, but in 4 on 4 , you don't let a guy walk in like that. Also, Esche made quite a few good saves in that game, He was not the reason we lost that game !!
No, he wasn't the reason the Flyers lost. They were simply beat. But, it's hard to praise Esche when he makes such a glaring mistake, regardless of how good the rest of his game was.
The defense hung Robert out to dry. That long shot have never made it that far or our defensemen should have been there to get the puck instead of watching the action. They need to fix this or we are screwed even against teams like FLA, CAR and OTT which are our next 3 opponents.
Goal #2 (the REBOUND) was simply a horrible goal to give up. And Esche deserves 100% of the blame on this GOAL (don't bring up the d-men...they didn't produce a juicy rebound...Esche was unable to handle that long pass...he deserves to get his hand slapped for this).
BUT...don't blame the loss on Esche. He played an outstanding game that gave the Flyers a point that they really didn't deserve. He SHOULD have been one of the 3 stars IMO and was easily the best Flyer on the ice.
I heard a quote from Esche on the Team 990 (Montreal's sport radio station) saying that he was more upset at himself for not stopping Ribeiro one-on-one on that play (rather than giving up an unneccessary rebound). That is TRULY silly. And if he really believes that...the Flyers have a BIG problem in nets.
Lets hope that the REBOUND will not linger in Esche's head and that he will carry some of the many solid saves into his next assignment.
The defense hung Robert out to dry. That long shot have never made it that far or our defensemen should have been there to get the puck instead of watching the action. They need to fix this or we are screwed even against teams like FLA, CAR and OTT which are our next 3 opponents.
The Flyers defenseman were in normal position. Markov shot the puck from over 100 feet away at a high speed. It is simply physically impossible for the Flyers defenseman to skate fast enough to get back there. There is no human on earth who can skate that fast. You can not blame the defenseman for that goal, as they were where they were supposed to be and did nothing wrong. Unless of course, you just want to the defenseman to sit in the crease on top of Esche, because the only way they could have gotten there fast enough.
The Flyers defenseman were in normal position. Markov shot the puck from over 100 feet away at a high speed. It is simply physically impossible for the Flyers defenseman to skate fast enough to get back there. There is no human on earth who can skate that fast. You can not blame the defenseman for that goal, as they were where they were supposed to be and did nothing wrong. Unless of course, you just want to the defenseman to sit in the crease on top of Esche, because the only way they could have gotten there fast enough.
Really? Therien and Desjardins were up at the blue line just watching everything while Ribiero came in uncovered and scored. If they were in the right position, that goal wouldn't have been scored. They should have been back more and watching the Habs players. Actually, all they did was watch the Habs players, that's why we lost in OT. I do blame both Ribiero's goal on the defense.
Really? Therien and Desjardins were up at the blue line just watching everything while Ribiero came in uncovered and scored. If they were in the right position, that goal wouldn't have been scored. They should have been back more and watching the Habs players. Actually, all they did was watch the Habs players, that's why we lost in OT. I do blame both Ribiero's goal on the defense.
The Flyers were on an up ice rush when the puck was intercepted by Markov, and shot down on Esche. It would never have been done differently.
The Flyers were on an up ice rush when the puck was intercepted by Markov, and shot down on Esche. It would never have been done differently.
That's not true...the Flyers were on the PP and had just dumped the puck into Montreal's zone...Markov gathered the puck skated behind his net came out in front of Theodore and fired a pass to Ribeiro, like the other poster said, you're d-men Desjardins and Therien let Ribeiro get behind them and didn't react when the puck was heading towards them?
I don't know, call me crazy, but when the puck is dumped in your own zone, the 1st men back should be your 2 defensman? And i'm sure that's what Esche is thinking after making the stop on a bouncing puck from 100 feet, he's expecting his d-men to be their first?
#6 and #37 screwed up, would you have put the blame on Esche had Ribeiro caught the pass from Markov and skated in all along and scored?
The big mistake was your defensman not reacting AT ALL to what was happening.
Think about it for a second...
Your a defensman and your skating backwards in the neutral zone near your own blueline, when all of a sudden, the defensman from the other team decides to launch a deep bomb, logic states that because the Habs aren't killing a penalty, it's probably a long pass...that means, pivot and get your *** back, which they didn't.
They acted almos as though they thought the red line still existed and they expected the referee to whistle a two line pass.
Esche could of maybe did a better job of controlling the rebound, but it was extremely hard to do given from where the puck was coming and how it was bouncing off the surface of the ice, making the save was hard enough
That's not true...the Flyers were on the PP and had just dumped the puck into Montreal's zone...Markov gathered the puck skated behind his net came out in front of Theodore and fired a pass to Ribeiro, like the other poster said, you're d-men Desjardins and Therien let Ribeiro get behind them and didn't react when the puck was heading towards them?
I don't know, call me crazy, but when the puck is dumped in your own zone, the 1st men back should be your 2 defensman? And i'm sure that's what Esche is thinking after making the stop on a bouncing puck from 100 feet, he's expecting his d-men to be their first?
#6 and #37 screwed up, would you have put the blame on Esche had Ribeiro caught the pass from Markov and skated in all along and scored?
The big mistake was your defensman not reacting AT ALL to what was happening.
Think about it for a second...
Your a defensman and your skating backwards in the neutral zone near your own blueline, when all of a sudden, the defensman from the other team decides to launch a deep bomb, logic states that because the Habs aren't killing a penalty, it's probably a long pass...that means, pivot and get your *** back, which they didn't.
They acted almos as though they thought the red line still existed and they expected the referee to whistle a two line pass.
Esche could of maybe did a better job of controlling the rebound, but it was extremely hard to do given from where the puck was coming and how it was bouncing off the surface of the ice, making the save was hard enough
There are a lot of problems with the Flyers right now, speed being one, but goaltending, as always is huge. Esche has horrible rebound control and I don't know if at this stage in his life, he can correct it. He must be used to kicking them back up the middle. He also goes down too fast and for no reason. I'd love to see them give Niity a few games in a row like they did Esche, just to see how he does.
