Marc Staal Remembers Losing To Flyers In Playoff-Deciding Shootout In 2010

New Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Marc Staal played 13 years with the Rangers. That’s 13 years playing multiple games each season against the Flyers.

That’s plenty of intense and bitterly fought games that meant something, even when they didn’t.

Staal remembers one Flyers-Rangers game in particular. That game meant everything.

“We lost to them the last game of the season in a shootout,” Staal said about his former team losing to his current team on a recent Zoom call.

It was Sunday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center, April 11, 2010. In Augusta, Ga., Phil Mickelson was on the way to winning his third Masters championship.

On the ice in Philadelphia, a loud but nervous crowd knew the stakes. The Flyers-Rangers winner clinched the playoffs. The loser went home. (Check out the video. It’s really terrific theater.)

The Rangers struck first on a first-period goal by Jody Shelley, an enforcer, not a goal-scorer. Rangers coach John Tortorella knew with Henrik Lundqvist in the Rangers’ net, that goal might have been enough.

But Flyers defenseman Matt Carle scored with 13:06 to play to tie the score. The rest of the third period and overtime were scoreless. Onto the shootout the game rumbled to see if the Flyers or Rangers were going to the playoffs.

Familiar Names In Shootout

First up in the shootout was … wait for it … Flyers forward Danny Briere, who beat Lundqvist on an in-close forehand after a sweet fake.

Flyers goalie Brian Boucher then stopped Erik Christensen. Mike Richards was stopped by Lundqvist. The Rangers’ P.A. Parenteau tied the shootout at 1. Claude Giroux, in his second full season with the Flyers, beat Lundqvist through the five-hole to put Philly ahead, 2-1.

The shootout and the season came down to Boucher and New York’s Olli Jokinen. Boucher held strong, closed the five-hold and made the save. The Flyers were in the playoffs.

Boucher told Sam Carchidi, then of The Inquirer, in 2020 it was “the No. 1 moment for me.”

Once in the playoffs, the Flyers advanced to the Stanley Cup finals, where they lost to Chicago in six games.

Wells Fargo Center Memories

“Through those chunks of years there, we [Rangers] were right next to each other in the standings and the games were always super intense, the building was very loud and very fun rink to play in,” Staal said.

“It hasn’t been the same, quite obviously, the last couple of years going in there. With what’s going on, and people I’ve talked to and people like Danny [Briere] and Torts and everybody running things now, what they’re trying to do. They’re going in the right direction.

“It’s a fun place to play. Obviously they’re very passionate fans and I look forward to be able to play in front of them every night.”

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