Hextall Gets Wake-Up Call . . . and It’s a Real Pain

Here’s what an easy night Philadelphia Flyer goaltender Ron Hextall had Friday at The Pond:

A Mighty Duck sends a harmless popup toward Hextall, who snares the puck and calmly deposits it behind the net like so much garbage.

Here’s what a tough night Hextall had:

Another Duck fires a point-blank shot, forcing Hextall to snap his right leg out awkwardly to make the save. Hextall lies on the ice, his right hamstring throbbing in pain.

Strange game.

For two periods it seemed at worst Hextall would suffer from a bad case of pillowhead, snoozing as he was against the sleep-skating Ducks.

Six saves in 40 minutes? Nice work if you can get it.

“I literally did not do a thing for two periods,” Hextall said.

Meanwhile, the Flyers went about terrorizing the overmatched Ducks, building a 4-0 lead and looking like a Stanley Cup contender.

Eric Lindros and his fellow Legion of Doomers pushed around the Ducks, playing what Coach Terry Murray called “textbook hockey.” All the action seemed to be in the Ducks’ end of the rink, a bad sign for the Ducks and for Hextall, too, as it turned out.

The third period began and suddenly the Ducks snapped to life, and that meant Hextall had to heed the alarm clock. By then, he had grown stiff and maybe a little bored by his inactivity.

Certainly, he wasn’t sharp.

Jason York ended Hextall’s shutout bid 7:59 into the third period. Garry Valk scored 30 seconds later, and suddenly it was a game again.

When Chad Kilger steamed toward the Flyer net, firing off a dangerous-looking shot in the final minutes, Hextall needed to make the save of the game. He came through. His right hamstring did not.

“I split [his legs] out and felt pain in the hamstring and figured I better call it a night,” Hextall said. “It’s pretty disappointing. But I’m not going to get too down right now. I’m not going to be pessimistic.”

Into the trainers’ room went Hextall, into the net went Dominic Roussel. Roussel will likely start the next few games as Hextall recovers.

Bad news for Hextall, 31, who’s undergoing a career revival in his second stint as a Flyer. He doesn’t want to miss a minute of what’s shaping up to be the best Flyer season since he led them to the Stanley Cup finals his first time around in 1986.

He went into Friday with a 1.00 goals-against average and, better yet, is surrounded by one of the NHL’s elite teams.

Lindros, John LeClair and Mikael Renberg, who combined for three of the Flyers’ four goals Friday, are the league’s most-feared line. The Flyers are the biggest team in the NHL. They’re experienced and talented. And their goaltending isn’t shabby either.

The Ducks found that out Friday.