When the Flyers drafted Claude Giroux four years ago, Bob Clarke, the then general manager of Philadelphia, forgot his name at the podium. Everyone who supports the orange and black will remember Giroux now.
Giroux scored 5mins 59secs into overtime to give the Flyers a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals on Wednesday night, cutting their opponents series lead to 2-1, and give themselves a chance to draw level in tonight's Game 4 in Philadelphia.
But despite the setback, the Blackhawks are still confident of getting back on track tonight.
Patrick Kane, Chicago's right winger, said: "Right now it looks like they have the momentum in the series.
"But if we take Game 4, then we put ourselves in a great position to go back and play in front of our home crowd and hopefully win it there."
But Villie Leino, who netted the third goal for Flyers, is confident his side have turned the corner.
"It's awesome. We're back in the series now. We've got a lot of self confidence.
"It's wonderful. It's going to be awesome Friday. We just have to carry it into Friday."
Minutes after the Flyers thought they scored the winner on Wednesday, only to have a video review uphold the on-ice call of no goal, Giroux redirected Matt Carle's pass past Antti Niemi to end the third successive one-goal game in the series.
"I was taking a nap, and my buddy texted me," Giroux said. "He said, 'I have a feeling you're going to score the overtime winner tonight.' I texted back and said, 'You're crazy.' I'm going to call him now. It's obviously a big goal."
Clarke, who led the Flyers to their only two championships in 1974 and 1975, blanked on Giroux's name after the team chose him with the 22nd overall pick in the 2006 NHL entry draft.
It was Clarke who scored Philadelphia's last overtime goal in the finals, netting it against Boston in Game 2 of the 1974 series.
Giroux is making quite a name for himself with nine goals in the play-offs after tallying 16 in the regular season. If Giroux keeps this up and the Flyers win the Cup, he will be revered by the Philadelphia faithful the way Clarke, Bernie Parent, Reggie Leach and other heroes who played for the Broad Street Bullies in the 1970s were.
"I didn't really care," Giroux said about Clarke's blunder. "I thought it was pretty funny."
Looking to rally from a deficit for the second time in the play-offs, the Flyers had plenty of confidence despite losing the first two games in Chicago. They came back from a 3-0 hole to beat the Boston Bruins in the semi-finals.
"Like I said this morning, 2-0 for us is comfortable," Peter Laviolette, the coach, said. "We're OK with that. We know how to battle through it."
The Blackhawks remain two wins shy of their first championship since 1961 after having a seven-game winning streak and a seven-game road winning run ended.
Moments before Giroux scored, Simon Gagné nearly ended it but the replay officials ruled the puck did not cross the goal line.
That made Philadelphia one for two on the video reviews.
Earlier in the game, Scott Hartnell had one overturned by replay to spark the Flyers to their first cup win since Game 6 of the 1987 finals against Edmonton.
Danny Briére and Leino also scored for the Flyers, helping them win a desperation game in which Michael Leighton, their goalie, made 24 saves.
Giroux's goal was the only shot in overtime for the Flyers. Niemi stopped 28 shots in the third thriller in the series.
Duncan Keith, Brent Sopel and Kane scored for Chicago.
Briere got his 11th goal of the playoffs late in the first to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead, before Duncan Keith levelled the scores for the Blackhawks.
The Flyers went up 2-1 when Chris Pronger took a slap shot from just inside the blue line that deflected off Hartnell and trickled past Niemi, but defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson poked it out of the net and play continued for another 1:42 even though the red light went on.
Sopel blasted a shot past Leighton from inside the point to make it 2-2.
Kane put Chicago ahead for the first time, before Leino levelled the scores to take it to overtime, where Niemi withstood a flurry of shots in the third, stopping 14 of the 15 shots he faced to send it to overtime.
* AP
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The figures behind the event
1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew
2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Top%2010%20most%20competitive%20economies
%3Cp%3E1.%20Singapore%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Switzerland%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Denmark%0D%3Cbr%3E4.%20Ireland%0D%3Cbr%3E5.%20Hong%20Kong%0D%3Cbr%3E6.%20Sweden%0D%3Cbr%3E7.%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E8.%20Taiwan%0D%3Cbr%3E9.%20Netherlands%0D%3Cbr%3E10.%20Norway%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Red Sparrow
Dir: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Egerton, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons
Three stars
The biog
Marital status: Separated with two young daughters
Education: Master's degree from American Univeristy of Cairo
Favourite book: That Is How They Defeat Despair by Salwa Aladian
Favourite Motto: Their happiness is your happiness
Goal: For Nefsy to become his legacy long after he is gon
Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
ANATOMY%20OF%20A%20FALL
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJustine%20Triet%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESandra%20Huller%2C%20Swann%20Arlaud%2C%20Milo%20Machado-Graner%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
The%20Emperor%20and%20the%20Elephant
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESam%20Ottewill-Soulsby%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPrinceton%20University%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E392%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJuly%2011%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
The biog:
Favourite book: The Leader Who Had No Title by Robin Sharma
Pet Peeve: Racism
Proudest moment: Graduating from Sorbonne
What puts her off: Dishonesty in all its forms
Happiest period in her life: The beginning of her 30s
Favourite movie: "I have two. The Pursuit of Happiness and Homeless to Harvard"
Role model: Everyone. A child can be my role model
Slogan: The queen of peace, love and positive energy
Inside%20Out%202
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EKelsey%20Mann%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Amy%20Poehler%2C%20Maya%20Hawke%2C%20Ayo%20Edebiri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
