In the aftermath of the nightmare scenario that unfolded tonight at the Wachovia Center, many people will be quick to indict the officials for putting the Flyers behind the 8-ball for nearly half of the opening period.  While assigning blame towards the officiating is convenient, the refusal to pin the blame anywhere but squarely on the shoulders of Dan Carcillo is entirely misguided. His foolish, selfish acts cost the Flyers game and served as a chilling reminder to fans that this team has much deeper issues than the guy who wears the suit behind the bench.

Matt Bradley appeared to drop his gloves and willingly engage Carcillo and sure, as a fighter Carcillo is looking to punch the other guy first. But like everything else at the highest level of professional hockey, things happened quickly and it was a split second judgment if Bradley had in fact dropped his gloves in time. In all likelihood, if he hadn’t gone down like a ton of bricks, the Flyers were probably looking at one, two-minute powerplay against. But Bradley did go down and the whole thing occurred too quickly for the refs to judge correctly.

The aftermath of the punch heard round South Philly: what was Dan Carcillo thinking? Ironically, I thought he was among the most active Flyers in the first half of the first period, along with the goal scorer Pyorala and Oskars Bartulis. Yet when Bradley finished his check along the boards, Carcillo felt the need to react as if the Washington forward was Materazzi to his Zidane. The team had done well to respond to the early Caps goal and level the score only to watch Carcillo throw away the momentum with an egregious lack of discipline. Unlike his much ballyhooed fight with Max Talbot in last year’s playoffs, there was simply no way to defend his actions on this occasion. Get up, take his number and clean him out later in the game if you get your chance. By engaging Bradley after already taking the initial retaliation penalty, Carcillo once again showed the side of his game the organization has gambled he can control.  Nevermind the fact that by permanently removing himself from the game Carcillo shortened the bench by a man, a detriment to a team that had just spent an eternity killing penalties.

Yes the goaltending was porous as the combination of Ray Emery and Brian Boucher was about as air-tight as an open plastic bag. And sure the wheels seemed to fall apart after the second Washington goal. But it’s been a recurring theme for the better part of two seasons: the Flyers continue to take stupid penalties and put the onus on the penalty killers to turn in long shifts. I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of John Stevens the coach and I fully supported the coaching change. Yet regardless of where you stand on the Stevens debate, he doesn’t put on skates and pads—the players play and the coaches coach. The bonehead penalties and selfish plays simply have to stop.

Additionally, the fans that cheered Carcillo off the ice are clueless (Sidenote, they are the same ones that applauded when referee Stephane Auger took a puck up high near his face). I love nothing more than a good hockey fight…when it’s necessary or comes as a result of the flow of a game. Aggression is good when dispensed appropriately and due to his poor judgment, Carcillo will likely face a multiple game suspension from the NHL. In my opinion, that’s not entirely a bad thing.

It will be interesting to see how Laviolette handles the team over the next few days, including what is sure to be a very tense game in Montreal on Monday.