Unchained Hartnell

Flyers take sole possession of first place in the Atlantic with a close match-up against the LA Kings.

Scotty "Best January Ever" Hartnell delivered a crushing, sliding goal with 28 seconds left in overtime to give the Flyers the 3-2 win (pic below).

(photo: Ron Cortes, Phila. Inq)

Outstanding. Give 'em their props, commentariat, and don't forget to tack tonight's overtime thriller on to the end of this:

A short word of praise for the Philadelphia Flyers as the NHL schedule resumes again tonight after the All-Star break. No single team did as much to turn around the fortunes of their franchise in the past 12 months as the Flyers did. A year ago, they’d managed just 27 points in 47 games up to this point in the season and were running away with last place in the overall NHL standings. A well-orchestrated trading deadline fire sale, a smart pre-emptive strike before the official free-agent signing period began and then one smart buy on the open market helped them turn it around so dramatically that they had accumulated 59 points in 48 games heading into tonight’s meeting with the Los Angeles Kings – or three more than they accumulated all of last season. The Flyers on an 11-2-1 run, look as if they’re going to make the playoffs; and when they get there, who knows what might happen? It didn’t hurt their cause that a few important pieces of the rebuilding puzzle (Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, R.J Umberger) were already in place before general manager Paul Holmgren began his work, but the Flyers provide a template for how quickly change can happen in the post-lockout, salary-capped NHL – just in case anybody else out there might be looking for a blueprint.

PWN3D!!lol!!1