Jaromir Jagr (boos) and Maxime Talbot (cheers) might have elicited different responses in their respective returns to Pittsburgh, but both managed to dig the knife a little deeper into the hearts of Penguins fans tonight.
Jagr scored and then saluted a beauty while Talbot capped everything off with an empty-netter as the Philadelphia Flyers won 4-2. Claude Giroux, Tyler Kennedy and Matt Read were named the three stars of this game, but you’d have to be naive to deny the fact that the spotlight was on that duo of former Penguins.
It wasn’t just about the story of those returns, though. These two teams are vying to knock the New York Rangers out of the top spot in the Atlantic Division, so the Flyers closed much of the gap. New York technically has the tie-breaker since they hold a game in hand, but both teams are tied at 48 points while Pittsburgh is stuck at 46.
This was a special game for Philly, but the drama-heavy squad’s next game should be even more fascinating, as their next contest is the 2012 Winter Classic on Monday. From an excitement standpoint, it would be ideal for the game to be for the lead in the division, but the Rangers have one game before the WC as they’ll face the Panthers in Florida on Friday.
Regardless, tonight’s game and the Winter Classic should make for great hockey - both when they air live and when the hockey world gets to re-live them in the last episode of HBO 24/7. Enjoy highlights of the Flyers win below:
Here’s some footage of Jagr’s reception in Pittsburgh: