Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windflelder
The Philadelphia Flyers have been playing with house money, as they say, since they took a commanding 3-0 lead in this series last Wednesday night. They now have just two chips left on the table. If they don’t finish the job tonight in Philly they will be facing elimination for the first time in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 7 if necessary will be played in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Leveling Out
These two teams came together at a very interesting time. When this series started the Flyers were in the middle of a winning streak that continued on into the playoffs. The Penguins were in the middle of a losing streak. Neither was going to last forever.
The young rebuilding Philadelphia hockey club had just clinched by beating the best team in the East in their 81st game of the regular season. Goaltender Dan Vladar stopped the final shot in the shootout against the Carolina Hurricanes and after defeating the Montreal Canadiens the very next night the Flyers were on their way to face the Penguins in the post-season.
Flyers vs Penguins
Game 1 was a nail biter in Pittsburgh with the Flyers hanging onto a one goal lead in the final minute of regulation. No one knew what to expect before this game started. The Penguins had been the better team during the regular season but the Flyers were coming into the post-season full of confidence and success.
The Penguins, on the other hand, had just lost their last three regular season games and remained frozen in the standings as they watched the Flyers eventually tie their season total of 98 points.
The Flyers stunned the hockey world when they shutout the Penguins in Pittsburgh 3-0 in Game 2 of the series. The Flyers and their young core of players had proved themselves to be “for real”. They didn’t crack under the pressure of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, in fact they excelled.
The series moved to Philly and the Flyers rocked the Pens in Game 3 soundly defeating them by the score of 5-2. The Penguins have been facing elimination every game since.
Turning Point
Saturday night at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Broad Street the table was set. The party was about to begin as the teams met up for Game 4 and the city was gearing up for a satisfying sweep of their cross-state rivals.
In reality a victory in this game would have been the Flyers 7th consecutive win. Their 10th in the last 11 games. It would have been the Penguins 7th straight loss. This was the night when things started to level out.
The Penguins spoiled the party for Philly in Game 4 and also won Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Monday night. As the Flyers have allowed the Penguins back into this series they’ve also allowed their biggest stars back into the game. The Penguins top players have been finding holes in the Flyers defensive system that seem almost impenetrable during the first three games of the series.
Which versions of these two teams will show up for Wednesday night’s pivotal game 6 in Philadelphia is anybody’s guess. We’re back to square one, things have leveled out.
Scumbag Hockey
Much has been said about the dirty play in this series so far. Depending on which version you believe both teams apparently are the only team playing an ungentlemanly adaptation of our beloved sport. And also both teams have the refs in their pocket 110% of the time. The whole thing has made for some really entertaining digital conversation.
Fact of the matter is there has been a ton of dirt in this series and it seems pretty obvious where the majority of it is coming from. Let’s just say that there’s only one team that can’t seem to stop ripping the other team’s helmets off. Only one team has resorted to pulling hair, embellishing, or shooting pucks into the opposing bench after the whistle. But that being said let’s break this down strategically instead of emotionally.
Pittsburgh does not fear the Philadelphia power-play, nor should they. The Flyers ranked dead last in the NHL with the man advantage this season. Every Flyers Fan already knows just how frustrating and realistic the situation is. There’s no reason to sugar coat it, their power-play is not intimidating.
Conversely Pittsburgh’s power-play was ranked 7th in the league this season. The Penguins penalty kill was ranked 6th. As far as the Penguins are concerned they are not really putting themselves at considerable risk by using underhanded tactics to bait the Flyers into retaliating or taking foolish penalties.
The Flyers need to keep their composure, stay out of the box, and stay focused on the task at hand. The 4th line needs to reestablish the dominance they displayed early in this series. When the Flyers play the fundamentally sound hard hitting style of hockey that got them here they are a very hard team to play against. They need to lock their systems in place, stick to their gameplan, and put this thing to bed. Tonight.
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