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The Third Star

Matt G

• 2 min read

If you watched last night's game between the Washington Captials and the Philadelphia Flyers, you saw the brawl in the third period. If you have any sense of decency, you'll know that Ray Emery does not deserve a third star. A goalie's job is to keep the puck out of the net and this is something Emery did not achieve letting in 4 of 15 shots.

However, Frank Seravalli decided to award the third start to Ray Emery for fighting an oponent who wanted nothing to do with the fight. With just over fourteen minutes into the third period, Emery skated the length of the ice and challenged Braden Holtby.

The three stars in an NHL game are awarded after the game has concluded by a third party. In this case, it was Servalli:

According to Wikipedia:

The three stars in ice hockey are the three best players in a game as chosen by a third party, with the first star considered the best of the three players, akin to the man of the match in other sports. Wikipedia

The three best players. I don't see any reason why a goalie who let's in 4 goals on 15 shots is considered one of the three best players in the game. Furthermore, Braden Holtby stopped 30 out of 30 shots on net. That means he achieved a shutout, which is much more deserving of a star than letting in one out of every four shots. But sports in Philadelphia have had a history of this sort of nonsense.

Under the unusual selections header (Wikipedia):

On November 1, 2013, in a game between the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers, Flyers goalie Ray Emery entered in the second period and gave up four goals in under 23 minutes of play, while Capitals goalie Braden Holtby posted a shutout. Emery was eventually ejected after instigating a fight with Holtby. Emery was awarded the third star and Holtby did not receive a star.

All of the cases of unusual selections were awarded by achieving greatness such as:

On March 23, 1944, Maurice “the Rocket” Richard scored all five goals for the Montréal Canadiens in a 5–1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs en route to a Stanley Cup victory and was awarded all three stars for his efforts.

The logic behind Servalli's decision? According to BuzzFeed, "...because Philly."

One more thing:

“He didn’t want to fight and I basically said, ‘Protect yourself,’” Emery said. “He didn’t really have much of a choice.” Ray Emery as quoted by the Washington Post.

And:

“It happens,” Troy Brouwer said. “It’s Philly.”