The Flyers are one win away from moving on to the next round, as they defeated the Canadiens in game 4 (2-0) to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Carter Hart again dominated, and earned yet another shutout. Hart became the third Flyers goaltender in history to record back-to-back shutouts in the playoffs. Simply spectacular. He now has back to back shutouts in his first playoff series, which is very impressive I must say. The Flyers did a lot of things right and it was an all around a great game to watch. It’s very difficult to narrow it down to just three things that I am taking away from this game, but let’s get into it.
“Shoot The Puck!”
Well, the team certainly is starting to listen to the infamous “Shoot!” from Flyers fans who love to shout that. The Flyers out shot the Canadiens 10-7 in the first period, and they continued to shoot the puck. Not only that, but the team is shooting first, rather than passing. In previous games, we witnessed constant passing and a lack of shooting. Today we saw more shooting, getting pucks on net, and it certainly generated some chances. It’s critical to gets pucks on net, and create scoring chances on Price to hopefully beat him. The Flyers did a good job at that today. We certainly saw that from Myer’s goal. Just “Shoot the puck!”
“Shuttin em down”
The defense was stellar today. One thing I certainly noticed was the way the defense would shut down the rush as they entered the zone. What a way to just take the out of their game, and keep them from setting up. We saw this at even strength, and on the Penalty Kill. The Flyers were just not letting the Canadiens get comfortable enough to set up. This could be from a new format in practice, or some good old fashioned hustle. What ever it is, it’s working. Keep it up!
“Hey new guy, and Raffl”
Today, we saw Connor Bunnaman get some action in place for Nicolas Aube-Kubel (Hopefully he’s not injured from those two stellar blocked shots). Bunny did not disappoint. Although, he did not have points on the score sheet. Bunny had a terrific game with his forechecking and just being able to keep the puck away from the Canadiens. I think credit should be given when credit is due and he deserves it. Well done Bunny!! Michael Raffl returns for his third game back to the playoffs, and scores another goal in as many games played. He’s really contributed a lot to win games. Joel Farabee comes in for a healthy in scratch James Van Riemsdyk, and adds such speed and agility. The team really plays well with him in the lineup. This was a great coaching decision. Great job Alain Vigneault!
I want to give a quick shout out to the Flyers who blocked shots today. Especially Robert Hagg who took one of the head from a Shea Weber blast. Excellent dedication to the game.
Alain Vigneault:
“Sometimes you need balance” with putting Raffl with G.
“There is no doubt Carter is a huge part of this (The win).”
Carter Hart:
“What a shot by Raff there.”
Philippe Myers:
“Carter Hart is the best goalie in the league.”
That’s my story and I am sticking to it!
Flyers could have been 0-3 down in the series, if we haven”t got Carter Hart! But today”s line-shuffling was the difference, and today while we did not score much, we defended with good attitude, and played first ok game of the serious!
We should also try to trade up in summers draft, in order to be able to select Finnish center Anton Lundell! I”d be willing to part with Ghost and JWR along with our first rounder to do it, even if we had to eat some of JWR”s salary to do so!