I can't even begin to break this one down.

The Flyers were putrid for two periods, taking the Islanders for granted, but then put it together in the third to comeback and win.

John Stevens gave Mike Richards credit for an impassioned between periods speech that lit the spark for the team.

Every reporter wrote that story, but it sounded fishy to me.

A couple guys were joking with Richards after the game about his supposed "win one for the Gipper" plea.

Methinks it didn't really happen as Stevens suggested, but why let that get in the way of a better story?

Yet, Marty Biron said there was some talk at the break.

"A couple guys came in and made the point that all we needed to do was to get our feet going, get one goal and see what happens," Biron said. "There was a sense that we weren't playing well at all. You could look around the room and guys were like, "We have to get going. There's only nine games left and we can't play like that. We have to get some points. There was no sense of panic. There was no sense of frustration. We just had to call a spade a spade."

Good stuff Marty.

Which brings me to my second item - the shootout.

Why on earth did Isles coach Scott Gordon use two defensemen for the shootout and what in God's name was Brendan Witt doing taking the first one?

Here was Gordon's explanation:

"The last time we practiced a shootout, my defensemen were pretty successful," he said. "I told Witt that at some point I was going to use him."

Wow, heady stuff Scott.

As we were getting on the elevator from the press box, Flyers' goalie coach Reggie Lemelin looked at me, raised his eyebrows and said, "I have to be honest, I didn't have Witt on my shootout chart."

Don't worry Reggie, I'm not sure any goalie coach in the league would.

Biron was equally perplexed.

"You get a guy out there you don't know what to expect," Biron said. "He can shoot, deke, heck he might pull a Marek Malik and try to put it between his legs and roof it. I was a little worried and he made a good shot. It was quick. I was fortunate that I just kept my glove up there and caught it."

Anyway, all fun aside, it was a poor effort. And if they plan on beating Boston tomorrow and staying ahead of Carolina and Pittsburgh, they're going to have to be a lot better than that.