HBO 24/7: Recapping Episode Number Three
Tonight marked the third episode of this four part series between the Flyers and Rangers. Tonight's episode could have easily been the best episode out of the other two. The Rangers had begun their four games in three nights stretch against Atlantic Division rivals.
With both teams going into the Christmas break, we had a behind the scenes look of how members of each team spend their short live vacation. The finale will air on Thursday, January 5th, just three days after the conclusion of the 2012 Winter Classic.
Follow after the jump for tonight's recap of episode three of HBO 24/7 Flyers/Rangers
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Tonight's episode started off with a brief recap of episode two which left off with the Rangers beating the Phoenix Coyotes with a late minute goal. On the other side of the fence, the Flyers left off with a very humiliating defeat to the Boston Bruins.
We jumped right into the Flyers locker room where Peter Laviolette was ripping his team apart after a poor performance against the Colorado Avalanche. Following the altercation with his team in the locker room, we saw Danny Briere tie up the game, in the Flyers eventual shootout loss to the Avalanche.
Following the loss, the Flyers boarded a flight to take on the Dallas Stars in their second game of a three game road trip. Claude Giroux took part in his first contract practice since suffering a concussion ten days ago. Giroux followed up talking to Laviolette stating that he does not want to hurt the team by returning. Laviolette responded with a "Are you kidding me?"
We jumped back over to New York, where the New York Rangers took to the ice in Bryant Park for their family Christmas party. Derek Stepan's girlfriend Stephanie made her first appearance on 24/7 by stating that she couldn't skate. Shortly after, we saw the return on Landon Girardi who was already taking pointers on blocking shots from his father Dan Girardi.
Finally we saw the Rangers "ugly sweater" party where Brandon Dubinsky was dressed up as Santa, with Brian Boyle as his handy assistant. Boyle ran over yelling "SANTAAAAA, I KNOW HIM!", and Ryan Callahan walked away with the best dressed, or rather "ugliest" sweater of the night.
Following the parties, we jumped right into the Rangers game against the Devils, where Mike Rupp and Cam Janssen faced off with an early fight. The Rangers took their first divisional game against the Devils, where Brad Richards passed along the Broadway Hat to goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist.
Again, we switched back over the Philadelphia where Claude Giroux made a very impressive return, grabbing four points in a win over the Dallas Stars. Braydon Schenn, and Sean Couturier were shown watching the game on TV, where both of them are sidelined with injuries. Following the first period, there was a brief altercation between Steven Ott, and Peter Laviolette when exiting the ice.
Both teams would eventually break for Christmas, where we once again saw the return of Ilya Bryzgalov, who is currently sporting five different faces. We also were able to witness the "blonde husky" in which Bryzgalov described in the last episode. We than switched over to see Marian Gaborik purchasing a Christmas tree outside of his apartment, than proceeding to carry in down the road as if it was no big deal. I think John Tortorella threw a fit just witnessing that.
We finally jumped back into game action where the Rangers would take on the Islanders, followed by the anticipated game against the Flyers. The Rangers would fly by the Islanders, and would prepare for the second game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Probably the biggest highlight of the night was where Tom Sestito, a Flyers rookie, chirping at the entire Rangers bench.
Brad Richards followed up by putting the rookie in his place, and responded with "One day in the NHL huh? This is fantasy camp for you." Brad Richards is a boss. We closed out the episode with a few Flyers, Rangers highlights before their biggest tilt of the season, the Winter Classic.
Hope everyone enjoy this episode! In my opinion, it was the greatest yet!