Kings' broom not quite big enough, but history still on their side

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

They say the fourth win is the hardest to get, especially so when you're up 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals.

I don't know where "they" came up with this, or why others parrot what "they" said, but as usual, the "they" who spout a lot of supposed conventional wisdom are totally off base.

So the Los Angeles Kings failed to sweep away the New Jersey Devils at home on Wednesday night, dropping a 3-1 decision which means they'll get another chance to win it all on the road -- where, coincidentally they're 10-0 and have a shot to break the all-time NHL record for road victories in one postseason -- this coming Saturday in Newark.

The degree of difficulty in closing out the terminal series after holding your opponent winless while you've won three straight can be argued. What can't be, is that it's apparently not so tough to pick up that fourth win in succession for the Stanley Cup.

Since the dawn of the expansion era in 1967, there have been 15 Finals which saw one club take the first three games and have the opportunity for a sweep. Twelve of those series ended in the fourth game:

1968  Montreal vs. St. Louis
1969  Montreal vs. St. Louis
1970  Boston vs. St. Louis
1976  Montreal vs. Philadelphia
1977  Montreal vs. Boston
1982  Islanders vs. Canucks
1983  Islanders vs. Oilers
1992  Penguins vs. Blackhawks
1995  Devils vs. Red Wings
1996  Avalanche vs. Panthers
1997  Red Wings vs. Flyers
1998  Red Wings vs. Capitals

Only the Islanders in 1981 against the North Stars and the Kings this year have failed to do so. New York, which lost Game 4 in Bloomington, eventually returned to Nassau Coliseum and closed out Minnesota in Game 5 for their second straight title.

The 1988 Oilers were the victims of a technicality, as power failure at the Boston Garden in the second period of Game 4 forced the postponement of a 3-3 tie and forced Edmonton back home, where it was triumphant in Game 5.

To steal from Pete Townshend, the Kings are all right. There's a long way to go before the approach to the fate which befell the 1942 Detroit Red Wings.

Devils lacking proper fire to overcome Kings

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

In Greek legend, Hephaistos (Vulcan in Roman mythology) toils endlessly in the fiery pits, fashioning anything and everything the Olympian Gods require in their daily soap operas with each other and on the planet Earth.

The reason he was kept down in the depths and well away from the world was that he possessed two decidedly un-godlike qualities: physical defects and diminished mental capacity.

So there he is, a Rocky-like laborer, hammering and blasting away for eternity with the tools of his trade, doing the most with what little he has, pausing every so often to let the land shake with a volcanic eruption or two.

By the way, he was also banished from Mount Olympus -- some versions of the myth say he was thrown down by Zeus himself and became crippled when he landed on one of the islands in the Mediterranean -- before eventually returning by machinations of his fellow gods.

Given that description, it's not hard to imagine how the New Jersey Devils have found themselves in an 0-2 hole in the Stanley Cup Finals with two games far away from home to try and survive.

The Horned Ones haven't done a great job thus far, opting for a deliberate path in the first part of each game. They have tried to draw out the Kings, to bait them, trying to force turnovers -- all methods that succeeded in the first three rounds. In the rare times it has worked, Jonathan Quick has proved to be the great equalizer, taking up the mantle Martin Brodeur once held.

Then comes the inevitable shockwaves: a short-handed chance, a power play, the desperation that results from a third-period deficit. Both times, a goal was in the offing that temporarily provided some life for the hosts, but no more. The Los Angeles Kings stole back the momentum, then called down the thunder by winning both in overtime for good measure.

What the Devils have apparently failed to realize, despite home-ice advantage throughout the best-of-seven set, is that the Kings can match them line-for-line, pass-for-pass, check-for-check and pace-for-pace.

Most importantly, LA is ahead of them shot-for-shot by a 2-to-1 margin and that's what has the club two wins away from the first championship in team history.

It's the worst nightmare for a club predicated on expert devotion to and precise execution of their system, squaring off against an opponent who strike back effectively simply by hoisting a mirror in the opposite direction.

You have to wonder what magical tool Peter DeBoer has on order to bolster his arsenal. If it exists, the obvious question is why wasn't it there to open up this most crucial of all times?

Ilya Kovalchuk, Patrik Elias, Zach Parise, who are all special parts of the machinery, haven't risen above their places as cogs in the wheel yet. Time is growing short. Although Henrik Tallinder is teetering on the brink of a comeback, the Kings have already countered with the addition of Simon Gagne -- who has scored the most goals of any active player against Brodeur.

They may have professed confidence on the eve of a Game 3 all the way across the continent, but if New Jersey doesn't want to get blown out of the series before it really gets rolling, it has to stop trying to turn each zone into a chessboard for the first portion of the game and then simply rely on one or two quick bursts of passion to stay in the contest.

So that part about being cast down suddenly from the heavens? A perfect allegory for a surprise run to the Finals abruptly halted by forces beyond the Devils' control but within their same.

It's especially fitting because Lucifer -- the Devil himself -- also found himself in the same predicament without the later ascension.

If the sudden underdogs from the East are satisfied that their game plan has gotten them this far, good on them. That's the way it's supposed to be when you've racked up 12 of the necessary 16 wins to take the Cup.

But if the game is to keep on waiting, keep on hoping, thinking that things will just turn like a blow on a hot piece of iron, then the same fate that befell a giant of antiquity will roar into the present with a vengeance.

The Kings won two; the Devils need four of five. The spark won't turn into fire with divine intervention, it has to come from within, at a time when harder and tougher souls have been forged than any work of a lame, slow blacksmith.

Poetic justice for ex-Flyers in Stanley Cup Finals

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

While revenge may be a dish best served cold, redemption is more like a buffet, best walked through slowly, to be savored in its warming glow.

And as the Los Angeles Kings arrive at their first Stanley Cup Finals since 1993, there are a whole host of ex-Philadelphia Flyers players throughout the organization who find themselves on the cusp sooner than anyone expected.

Chief among them, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, whose whirlwind years began with their shocking departure from Philly roughly 11 months ago. Then there's Simon Gagne, troubled again by concussion issues, who played the good soldier in allowing himself to be deleted from a Cup Finalist roster two Julys back in a trade to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

All three were integral parts of a Flyers team that made their own surprising title run before falling short to Chicago.

Richards, once portrayed in the same light as Bobby Clarke, looking every bit the grizzled vet with beard in tow, ever the work-hound, author of "The Shift." Carter, his light-footed but heavy-handed comrade, always the goal-hound. Nowhere was that complementary relationship revealed than at the end of Game 5 in the Eastern Finals, Richards chugging away like he wanted to end it all and Carter picking up the garbage and scoring into the empty net.

Gagne, 11 years a Flyer, whose beginning and end in Philadelphia book-ended heartbreak. His reward may be extra sweet given the timing: finally cleared for contact just as the fourth of four rounds is set to commence next week. The man who kept the season alive with an overtime strike in Game 4 of the Eastern Semifinals against Boston, then tallied the winner in Game 7 of an epic comeback deserves some more positive karma.

Let's not forget Justin Williams.

So what if he already won once, thanks to help from another ex-Flyer in Rod Brind'Amour at Carolina six years ago? The native of Cobourg, Ontario is, by all accounts, one of the more genial and accessible players, so why not cheer for him again to stick it to the organization who traded him for the illustrious Danny Markov?

All three may also be able to put a damper on one of the most unlikely playoff heroes in NHL history, one who prevented the Flyers from advancing twice -- Ruslan Fedotenko.

If the Rangers end up being LA's opponent, and if the Kings win it all, then Fedotenko will be denied his third (yes, read that right, third) Stanley Cup. Remember how Rusty (the man who scored one of the two goals for Philly in 2002 against Ottawa) tore up the Orange and Black in '04 with Tampa Bay, netting the winner in Game 7? Remember how he was on the Penguins three years back?

Finally, there's Ron Hextall. A man most of us never thought would turn management. He who sweat, and made countless others bleed, in pursuit of winning: a Flyer through and through. He may be employed by LA but his heart is still here, probably still aching that he couldn't do enough to help us take it all.

Even though Hexy no longer has the immediate control of his crease, a win will erase at least some of the pain from an extraordinary 1987 and a forgettable 1997. That his chance comes again, after rising to the rank of assistant GM, on significant anniversaries can't be ignored.

You think there's some place deep down where he wishes to get one over on Clarke, Holmgren et al. if for nothing else than having the wrong bust presented during his "night" in 2007?

I floated the crazy idea prior to last season that perhaps Flyers West is nothing more than a breeding ground for future Flyers East. Richards and Carter shipped out, one day to return as more mature persons and players. Hextall to serve his apprenticeship before eventually taking over for Holmgren.

Winning a Cup will likely make that path an easier, and clearer one. It's not going to be easy for fans who feel jilted, but there's no reason not to wish your former favorites well. They're gonna play either New York or New Jersey, after all -- two franchises this year's Flyers couldn't overcome.

Devils-Rangers may be one Mother of a series

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

Though the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers have faced each other in the postseason five times previously, the Eastern Conference Finals matchup that looms ahead as the sixth marks just the second time that something other than mere bragging rights are on the line.

Back in 1994, both clubs found themselves on the cusp of a Stanley Cup Finals appearance and the resulting validation as legitimate winners.

The Devils, under the guidance of first-year head coach Jacques Lemaire, played second banana to the Blueshirts in the Atlantic Division all year. Their 47 wins, 106 points and 306 goals for were all franchise records but they had yet to get over the hump, having only once before reached the semifinals (in 1988 as a last-minute playoff club and heavy underdog to Boston despite two shocking series wins over the Islanders and Capitals).

The Rangers, under the brief regime of Mike Keenan, carried with them the pressure of having blown a charmed year two seasons ago and the ever-present ghosts of the franchise's last championship, the infamous 1940. New York claimed its third division title in five years, but that year's model looked to be a world-beater, thanks to a franchise-best 52 wins and 112 points.

What transpired was one of the all-timers.

Seven games. Three decided in double-overtime, including the terminal contest at Madison Square Garden. Martin Brodeur's introduction to playoff pressure. Bernie Nicholls' short-handed spree. Stephane Matteau's first 2-OT winner in Game 3. Mark Messier's Game 6 guarantee that came to fruition. Valeri Zelepukin playing "Beat the Clock" followed by MATTEAU! MATTTEAU! MATTEAU! in Game 7.

This year's battle for Hudson River supremacy has none of the sexy elements of that memorable series 18 years back. Even Jersey's head coach had a fairly even-handed answer for Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger:

"Anybody who coaches or plays wants to play your main rival in this situation. I don't think it gets any better than that," said Peter DeBoer. "That's the type of environment you want to play in, so I think we're very excited that we'll get an opportunity at the best team in the Eastern Conference. They had the most points. We're going to throw our best at them and see if it's good enough."

And Rangers head coach John Tortorella threw in the idea that his team has its collective eyes on a bigger goal than simply beating their rivals:

"We are still in the process of trying to become one of the elite teams. To be able to play two game sevens in the first two rounds, for a young group of guys it’s a tremendous experience. This is where your legacy is made, in playoffs," the Stanley Cup-winning boss said to SNY on Saturday night.

During the regular season, the Atlantic Division winners and top overall seed averaged roughly 2.75 goals for and 2.28 goals against. The fourth-place club -- only seven points back -- managed similar numbers offensively but yielded slightly more, just over 2.5 goals per game.

In the postseason, the Rangers have scored a whopping 29 times, and the Devils have come up with a relatively-profuse 36 in two fewer games. 

But it does have two things in common on the ground: the bad blood between neighbors, and Brodeur's still alive and kicking.

Lest we forget the all-out line brawl at the drop of the puck in mid-March:

Brodeur, now 40, is entering his fifth series against the club which occupies the renovated enclosure above Penn Station, but has won only once -- a shocking four-game sweep in the 2006 first round. It would be a sweet and honorable thing if, in his final NHL season, he crossed New York off his list of enemies vanquished one more time.

His counterpart is Henrik Lundqvist, a full decade younger. The Swede enjoyed the best season of his career, and, as a double-barrel Hart and Vezina finalist, wants nothing more than to keep going.

Brodeur outlasted his heroic one-time opponent in Mike Richter, so for the "King" to send Marty packing will be some razor-sharp poetic justice. This is Lundqvist's first trip past the second round in seven North American campaigns.

So, of course, the presumptive Hall-of-Famer laid it on thick in the Star-Ledger:  "He's a Vezina candidate. He's unbelievable. He's kind of the top goalie in the NHL right now. And I think I was in that position once. I played against Patrick (Roy) and Dominik Hasek. I played against all the guys during maybe the top years in their careers."

One thing decidedly not in New York's favor is this: since the expansion of the playoffs to best-of-seven for all four rounds in 1987, no team has ever advanced to the Finals after playing the maximum 14 games through the first two.

That formula spelled doom for the 1993 Maple Leafs and 2002 Colorado Avalanche, who share the NHL record for playing 21 postseason contests without reaching the title round.

One thing not on New Jersey's side is the fact that their five-game dispatch of the Philadelphia Flyers, ending last Tuesday, left it with six days off between rounds. The Orange and Black enjoyed five days off after beating Pittsburgh and the Devils appeared to be the fresher team throughout.

While the merits of rest vs. momentum in a short break will be debated endlessly, it works in the Rangers' favor to have a Game 7 at home followed by a Game 1 in the following series two days later on friendly ice.

“You play so hard for each other, nobody gets tired," Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh told the New York Times' Dave Caldwell after a 2-1 win over Washington in Game 7.

No matter what's written about past, present and future, ultimately it's up to the players to make it happen. The madness begins on 33rd and 8th tomorrow night.

Anatomy of a defeat, in their own words

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

"I'm not a coach to analyze the effort of the team. It's only two ways. New Jersey Devils played outstanding and we didn't play our game." - Ilya Bryzgalov

"We got the puck in the corner on a soft chip and it seemed like they had four guys on you in the corner. It is probably one of the biggest reasons why we couldn't beat the Rangers this year. They just smothered you, three or four guys on you in the zone. It was tough to make plays when your back is against the wall or out in the ice." - Scott Hartnell

"Everything happened kind of fast. It's obviously frustrating. We know we could have done a lot more damage than that. And you saw guys tonight pay desperate hockey. They played with heart and that's how we should have played the whole series." - Claude Giroux

"Well, they played their system to the maximum I think. There really weren’t any breakdowns, you know. There weren’t any easy goals going in. We had to work on every puck and every battle. They really did a great job." - Kimmo Timonen

“Well they really play solid defensively.  That’s one thing they do really well.  They go and play a little bit like the Rangers, they put four guys in the corner.  There’s not a lot of space out there.  We’re a team that likes to play with the puck and make some plays so it’s frustrating a little bit." - Max Talbot

"We just weren't able to get on track with what we wanted to do." - Peter Laviolette.

"Proud of how we stuck to the game plan. Proud of how we turned the other cheek. Proud of how hard we competed against a very hardworking and competitive team." - Devils head coach Peter DeBoer

"If you want me to be honest, I would say they were very strong. They were very strong on the boards, I don't think they lost any battles on the boards. That was the biggest difference. I hate to say it, I hate that feeling, but they were. It surprised me how close together they played. If somebody made a mistake, there was always a second guy (around)." - Jaromir Jagr



 
   
 

Missing note: G-less Flyers can't overcome Devils

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor 

Long after the events of the past season have been digested, one singular play by the person under the most intense scrutiny may unfortunately serve as the epitaph for a playoffs gone suddenly, horribly wrong.

Still, the image of Ilya Bryzgalov non-chalantly flipping the puck in the path of David Clarkson, the errant pass hitting the lower end of the shaft of his stick, and the rebound bouncing through the $51 million man's pads and settling inside the left post will surely haunt the corner of minds more attuned to the positive aspects of following this team.

But as it was, that blunder served as the game-winning goal, coming at the 12:45 mark of the first period, eventually sending the New Jersey Devils onto a 3-1 victory to close out the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5 of this Eastern Conference Semifinal.

"You have to ask Bryz about it," said Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who acknowledged his time to win a championship is growing shorter. "This is a game of making the most of mistakes. It was a mistake and it happens. It was one goal, but we needed to score more than just one. You can't win that way. We needed more."

That "more" couldn't have been laid at the feet of the 31-year-old Russian, who actually played better in the round just passed than he did in the win over Pittsburgh -- but still has nothing to show for it.

"I saw him coming and I wanted to put the puck in the corner for Kimmo to start back up," Bryzgalov said. "It's a bad bounce unfortunately because it could have gone anywhere -- in the corner, higher, lower, but it goes straight between the legs."

Ilya Kovalchuk put the final nail in the coffin with a power-play score with five minutes played in the third period, and the Devils move on to the Eastern Finals for the first time since winning it all back in 2003.

Martin Brodeur withstood an early burst and surrendered the opening goal of the contest, but rebounded to win thanks to 27 saves.

"It doesn't matter to me. Every year I was here that we won the Stanley Cup we were the underdogs," Brodeur admitted. "We know what we're capable of accomplishing and we don't need a pat on the back from anyone to feel good about ourselves."

New Jersey has a wait of at least five days ahead, since their third-round foes won't be revealed until the Capitals-Rangers series is completed. New York has a 3-2 lead with Game 6 scheduled for Washington tomorrow night. A potential Game 7 won't occur until Saturday in Manhattan.

There would be no kind of math, no faith, hope or charity that could will the hosts to victory and keep the fires burning for what would have been Game 6 in Newark on Thursday night.

The loss of Claude Giroux to a one-game suspension due to losing his composure at the worst possible time on Sunday, the swarming opposition forwards and the superiority and execution of their game plan was simply too much to overcome.

"We were thinking we would walk over Jersey. Its kind of our fault a little bit. We have to learn from that," said the 24-year-old burgeoning star, who was in street clothes for the final handshake and attended to his postgame duties with grace.

He'd finish the best season of his four-year NHL career with 110 combined points, including eight goals and 17 points in 10 appearances over two rounds. That leads all current players still active in the postseason.

Nonetheless, this ragtag bunch of Calder Trophy seekers, wily veterans and one spaced-out backstop provided a quote-a-minute, 40-win, 100-point year the likes of which we're never likely to witness again.

"I can tell you that the group that's in that room right now is a terrific group of men," said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette, once again offering few words of explanation in defeat. They played hard this year, they gave a lot and we came up short. It's a bright future and we're looking forward to that but tonight it's disappointing."


Zac Rinaldo, Giroux's erstwhile replacement, did make the most of his 8:43 of ice time. He left a deep impression in the first period, levelling Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov with a high, though ultimately clean, hit which stirred up echoes of Brayden Schenn's destruction of Pittsburgh's Paul Martin several weeks back.

But what the Orange and Black sorely needed was offense, and Rinaldo was pale shelter next to the impact and leadership of the team's leading scorer.

The Flyers ended the series with a scant 11 goals, an alarming drop from the 30 in the opening round.

Max Talbot earned his keep, netting Philly's lone score of the contest, a second-chance rebound job over a sprawled Brodeur just 7:18 into the contest, but that was the only successful salvo. It wasn't nearly enough, even coupled with the 27 saves Bryzgalov did make, to keep this roller-coaster campaign chugging up one more hill.

New Jersey committed one penalty all night -- an interference minor to Adam Larsson early in the second period that was brushed aside by his teammates -- and stood like the natural feature whose image graces its home arena in the face of an onslaught.

It didn't help that more than a little luck on the wrong side factored into the victory.

Behind by a goal, the Devils managed to steal away some momentum and take the air out of a vociferous sell-out crowd when Bryce Salvador's left-point shot from an Adam Henrique face-off win deflected off the stick of Wayne Simmonds, hit the crossbar and settled home.

The fateful marker, coming just 2:09 after Talbot's opener, gave the visitors some life, and then the gaffe which rewarded Clarkson effectively put the psychological advantage firmly on New Jersey's side.

"I don't know how it happens, but you try to you try to force the goalie (into doing something he doesn't want to do). I didn't even know it went in until the crowd started booing," Clarkson said. It was a pretty good feeling knowing it went in."

Philadelphia mustered only seven shots in the second period, enjoyed some brief bursts of pressure in the third, and can at least take some pleasure in depriving Brodeur of a final insult in a possible attempt at a score with the net vacated.

Notes: The Devils have now won three of the five all-time playoff series against the Flyers, and have evened the total victories between the clubs at 14 apiece...Having also won two games in Philadelphia during the set, New Jersey assumed an 8-7 lead in playoff games here...The Flyers fell to 1-6 in these playoffs when scoring the first goal...Jersey improved to 22-16 in Game 5s...Andrej Meszaros returned to action for the first time since March 1, played 19:26 and recorded two shots...James van Riemsdyk was a game-worst minus-3 in 10:46 of ice time...Each of the last two times New Jersey beat the Flyers in the postseason, it went on to win the Stanley Cup (1995, 2000)...Including the 2010 series against Boston, Philly fell to 5-11 in second-round games over the last three postseasons...The loss marked the 11th time in Flyers franchise history that it dropped four straight games within one best-of-seven playoff series.

Giroux suspended, out for Game 5

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor 

As if things weren't already dire enough, the Philadelphia Flyers learned on Monday afternoon that forward Claude Giroux was suspended for one game -- Tuesday's crucial Game 5 -- for his hit on the Devils' Dainius Zubrus during Sunday's Eastern Conference semifinal Game 4.

As time was winding down in the second period of a 4-2 New Jersey victory, Giroux struck Zubrus in the head with his shoulder after the Devils forward had dumped the puck in the Philadelphia zone.

It capped an angry shift which began by his protest of a non-call on Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur, who appeared to have clearly played a puck beyond the trapezoid behind his net.
Giroux was given a minor for an illegal check to the head for his efforts.

"After pulling even with Zubrus on the backcheck, Giroux chops down across the back of Zubrus' stick, and then well after the puck has been chipped in the corner, Giroux comes across Zubrus' body and drives upward with his shoulder making principle point of contact with Zubrus' head," said NHL vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan in a video explanation of his decision.

"In spite of the fact that Zubrus is bent over and is in a skating posture, the positioning of his head does not significantly change before Giroux recklessly picks him. We feel this rises to the level of supplemental discipline. We have taken into consideration...Zubrus returned to the game and completed it.

It is also important to note that Giroux hasn't been fined or suspended previously during his four-year NHL career."

The Flyers star forward has put together one of the finest playoff performances in recent league history, picking up eight goals and nine assists in 10 games, but has just two goals and an assist in the conference semifinals.

Now trailing the series three games to one, Philadelphia faces a must-win situation without the player called the "engine" of the club. Game time is 7:30 p.m. (et) at the Wells Fargo Center.

Giroux to face hearing on Zubrus hit

Flyers star Claude Giroux faces a disciplinary hearing this afternoon with the NHL's Department of Player Safety in the wake of his actions during Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Devils.

Giroux delivered a hard, illegal hit to the head of Devils forward Dainius Zubrus near the end of the second period, drawing a minor penalty.

Game 5 in this series is scheduled for Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Devils push Flyers to brink of elimination

Special to the Phanatic


Martin Brodeur has always held a special kind of sway over certain opponents. Playing parts of 19 seasons over three decades will cause that to happen. On Sunday, he celebrated his 40th birthday in style, leading the New Jersey Devils to a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 4 of this Eastern Conference semifinal series from Prudential Center.

The future Hall of Famer allowed two goals in the first period, but blanked the Flyers over the final two frames and finished the game with 20 saves and added an assist to give his team a 3-1 lead in this best-of-seven series.

"For me, I don't take anything for granted," said Brodeur. "I really appreciate every moment, especially this series because it has been awesome for me. We're not out of the woods, it's been a good three games but the fourth one is the hardest to get."

Petr Sykora and Marek Zidlicky each posted a goal and an assist while Dainius Zubrus scored twice, including the winner in the second period for the Devils, who are one win away from the conference finals for the first time since 2003.

New Jersey can advance with a win in Game 5 on Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Claude Giroux posted a goal and an assist while Scott Hartnell scored the other for the Flyers, who defeated the Penguins in six games in the opening round to advance to the semifinals. Ilya Bryzgalov allowed three goals on 42 shots in the loss.

"They work harder and win battles," said Giroux. "It just looks like they want it more than us. It's frustrating because the whole season we've been outworking the other team and now it's the other way around."

The Flyers scored the first goal of the game while on the power play. After a left circle faceoff win, Philly controlled the puck and Giroux threw a shot on net from the top of the left circle that Hartnell tipped past a screened Brodeur at the 11:50 mark.

Skating shorthanded, the Flyers made it 2-0 as a scrum in the Flyers zone saw the puck come out and Maxime Talbot sent a lead pass to Giroux, who was able to chip a backhand past Brodeur with 6:20 left in the first.

On the same power play, though, the Devils got one back as a hard pass at the right point from Zidlicky went to the left side where Sykora redirected it in with 4:46 to play in the first.

New Jersey then tied it with under two minutes to play in the opening period as Bryce Salvador sent a sharp pass from the left point to the slot where Zidlicky redirected it in for his first of the playoffs.

The second period was completely dominated by New Jersey, which held a 16-5 shot advantage, but Bryzgalov did all he could to keep it tied.

However, his best was not enough as Zubrus scored with 2:13 to play. After blowing a 2-on-1 chance, the Devils kept at it and Adam Henrique sent a pass from the deep right boards to the front where Zubrus snapped it home.

The Flyers were able to get pressure in the third, but weren't able to crack Brodeur as he made 10 saves in the third, including a stuff attempt from Hartnell about six minutes in.

Philly pulled Bryzgalov for the extra attacker, but Zubrus put the puck into the empty net to seal the victory.

Notes: Brodeur has three assists in these playoffs and 11 in his postseason career. It was the 106th win of his career in the postseason, including 13 wins against the Flyers...Philly has only rallied from a 3-1 series deficit once in its history, two years ago against Boston, while the franchise has surrendered a pair of 3-1 series leads, the last time to New Jersey in the 2000 Eastern Finals...The Flyers fell to 1-5 when scoring first in these playoffs but are 4-0 when allowing the first goal...Late in the second period, Giroux was called for an illegal hit to the head when he threw a shoulder into the head of Zubrus, who was not injured on the play...Philly went 1-for-2 on the power play while New Jersey was 1-for-5...Giroux has eight goals and nine assists in the playoffs to lead all skaters in points.

Flyers' dale could use a little more Hawerchuk

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

And so the Philadelphia Flyers find themselves in an unfamiliar and opposite position this afternoon, down 2 to 1 in a series they should be winning, instead of being up three-zip in a series everyone thought they should lose.

This is the roller-coaster ride known as the 2011-12 season, and it's going to have at least one more twist and backwards run before it's all over, be sure of that.

Heading into a pivotal Game 4 on the road, against a tough opponent, staring down the barrel of a near-insurmountable 3-1 series deficit, you're probably wondering who's going to step up. So am I.

Injuries are no excuse, and frankly, neither is the constant stream of quotes from Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen after every single frustrating loss intimating there's a lack of focus, urgency and desire -- and worse, a total inability to diagnose and correct the issue.

"I think we're all just kind of out of sorts with each other," Hartnell incredibly revealed on Friday. "It's good to have a couple days between these games to get re-focused again."

I really have no comment after the quote. How is this still possible to say with a straight face 91 games into a season?

Someone has to step up and it has to be NOW. Not once the puck drops on Sunday night, but NOW as in starting with the next time the team is gathered together. There is an extra off-day built in despite no venue change, and it's incumbent upon someone to get the rest of the club in gear, maybe put some fear of God into the wonderful rookies who are enduring a steep learning curve.

The likely suspects are Briere, Max Talbot, Timonen and in terms of total NHL service, Jaromir Jagr. Who can be a wild card in that mix?

Once upon a time, it was Dale Hawerchuk.

Unwanted after Mike Keenan decided to tear up his roster in St. Louis at the tail end of the 1995-96 season, the former #1 overall pick was swapped in a one-for-one in mid-March for Craig MacTavish. It was a clear win for Bob Clarke who was looking to replace an injured Mikael Renberg and inject life into the Legion of Doom as they fought the Panthers and Rangers for the Atlantic Division.

On a 13-3-0 tear to end the regular season thanks to the 15-year veteran, the Flyers snagged the #1 spot in the East and faced the Lightning in the first round.

The Orange and Black decimated Tampa Bay, 7-3, in the opening game of the '96 playoffs, but let the Bolts back in the series thanks to two straight overtime losses. The second of those came in front of an NHL playoff-record crowd and a regional television audience at what is now Tropicana Field, blowing leads of 3-1 and 4-3 in the process.

With Eric Lindros the target of constant strafing runs by Igor Ulanov and Michel Petit, John LeClair hobbled with a bad ankle thanks to a Tampa hatchet job, and a second line patched together with the likes of Pat Falloon and John Druce, something had to give.

And it was the guy who lived in the shadow of Wayne Gretzky during the prime of his career who took up the flag. His goal late in the second period of Game 4 -- right after a penalty to Kjell Samuelsson expired -- gave Philly a 3-1 lead and essentially quieted Tampa's riot for good.

Terry Murray's club won the final three games of that Eastern Quarterfinal by a combined 14-3 (4-1, 4-1, 6-1) count, and moved on.
 
Keep in mind that Hawerchuk was a guy who played for the original Jets and Sabres. He'd never been past the first round in his NHL career (having been put out of commission by the Flames in both '85 and '87 and the Oilers used Winnipeg like cannon fodder in the next round both times) and time was growing short due to hip issues.

But he was a captain in the 'Peg and an assistant with Buffalo, and so knew how to lower the pulse of a team feeling the first adrenaline rush of being down against an inferior foe.

With Jagr's constant groin issues and age, he's the most similar player to the Hall-of-Famer on this year's team, but his desire to win has likely been muted by two Stanley Cups now 20 years distant and the need for preservation beyond hockey.

Who does that leave that's even close? Anyone else have that drive, hunger, laser-like focus that a bunch of Flyers who are spokespersons for the club and who haven't won anything seem to lack?

It's clear New Jersey doesn't have that special player, but they don't need it, being in the driver's seat and skating with the same abandon their opponents did against a stacked Penguins roster.

"I don't think we thought we were going to win four straight, but definitely they've played a lot stronger and a lot harder than me personally would have thought they'd come with," Hartnell added.  They've been on a high the last few weeks obviously, beating Florida in Game 7. They're riding that high."

It only takes one man, one play, one moment to bring that high to an end. Otherwise, that valley the Flyers are carving for themselves will cut so deep they can't climb out. 

Peter Laviolette had been adamant that "this team," in its uniqueness, has no idea how to respond to elimination scenarios despite having a quarter of the roster remaining from two years ago. Still, the odds are in their favor that a hero will rise among them, if internal confidence is not.

Devils take Game 3 in OT, and 2-1 series lead

Special to the Phanatic

Wasted opportunities are becoming a thorn in the side of the Philadelphia Flyers.

After failing on two straight power plays in the extra session, Alexei Ponikarovsky scored with 2:39 left in overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 4-3 decision in Game 3 of this Eastern Conference semifinal series from Prudential Center.

Ilya Kovalchuk, who sat out Game 2 with a lower body injury, made a stretch pass from his own zone to Ponikarovsky while the Flyers were making a line change. Ponikarovsky skated down the right wing on a 2-on-1 and his initial shot was stopped by Ilya Bryzgalov, but he got his own rebound and backhanded the rolling disc home inside the near post for the win.

Kovalchuk posted a goal and two assists while Ponikarovsky and Patrik Elias each had a goal and an assist for the Devils, who took a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series. Martin Brodeur posted 25 saves for the 105th win of his playoff career.

"We've set ourselves up well, but at the same time, we can enjoy this victory tonight and then come back at it and get ready for Sunday," said Elias. "We have to focus on that and leave the rest behind."

Brayden Schenn, Matt Carle and Danny Briere each scored for the Flyers, who failed to hold an early lead, rallied in the third period but ultimately lost their first overtime contest in three tries this postseason. Bryzgalov didn't need to stand on his head, and acquitted himself well after stopping 27 shots in the loss.

"Unfortunately we couldn't capitalize in overtime and there's nothing you can do about that," said Bryzgalov. "We just have to come back tomorrow and prepare for the next game."

A pivotal Game 4 returns to The Rock on Sunday evening, and it may be in the Orange and Black's best interest not to start well early, as they are 4-0 in these playoffs when the opponent scores first.

The initial power play of the game went to the Flyers and they took advantage of it. Good work behind the New Jersey net saw Briere come away with the puck and skated to the left. He then sent a pass to the left circle where Schenn one-timed it through on the short side at the 6:08 mark.

The Devils, though, roared back with a pair of goals just 20 seconds apart later in the first period to take the lead.

Skating on the power play, Elias got the puck at the right point and skated into to the circle. From there, he showed a veteran's confidence to thread his shot through traffic and past Bryzgalov's blocker on the far side at the 12:33 mark.

On the ensuing shift, Travis Zajac fired a pass from the left wing to the slot where a wide-open Kovalchuk skated in alone and beat Bryzgalov to the glove side for his fourth goal of the playoffs.

The only goal of the second period belonged to Philadelphia as Jakub Voracek skated behind the New Jersey net and came out to the left side where he passed it to the circle and Carle blasted a one-timer through a screen set up by Claude Giroux at the 4:44 mark.

Bryzgalov needed to make just four stops in the second period with his biggest one coming about two minutes in as he stoned Calder Trophy candidate and first-round overtime hero Adam Henrique on a breakaway.

The Devils took the lead at the 7:29 mark of the third as Elias sent a pass from the deep left boards back to the right where Zach Parise beat both Bryzgalov and Carle to the near post for a successful stuffer.

Philly, though, had the answer 3 1/2 minutes later. Shortly after Kovalchuk rang a shot off the left post, Briere brought the puck into the Devils zone down the left wing and left a drop pass from James Van Riemsdyk, who fired a shot on net. Brodeur stopped the shot, but the rebound sat to the left and Briere was there to chip it in for his league-leading eighth goal of the playoffs.

Notes: Briere's goal was the 50th of his postseason career...The home team has won just seven of the 20 overtime games in these playoffs...Philadelphia went 1- for-5 on the power play while New Jersey was 1-for-2...The two goals in 20 seconds was the fastest pair of goals in postseason history for the Devils. The former mark was 26 seconds on May 14, 2000 when Petr Sykora and Bobby Holik scored against the Flyers in Game 1 of that year's Eastern Conference Finals...Philadelphia rookie forward Sean Couturier left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury, and was later deemed to be "OK" enough to be available on Sunday...The team which has scored first in each games has gone on to lose that contest.

Devils cook up disaster, even series with strong third period

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

The great partnership between English comedians Peter Cook and Dudley Moore yielded one decent movie, 1967's seminal "Bedazzled."

In it, Cook, playing a rather ordinary-looking British version of Lucifer, helps Moore's working-schlub character achieve his goals through the usual devious means. Of course, Moore's quest ultimately involves getting a female to notice him, but in between, a series of vignettes detail how each one of Moore's seven wishes, from a simple ice pop onward are procured then twisted into an ironic, unsatisfactory ending.

As much as there have been complaints from all quarters that the Flyers have not found a way to prevent starting slowly, the wish of the masses finally came to fruition on Tuesday.

Matt Read tallied before the game was three minutes old and then Ilya Bryzgalov made that slim margin hold up with 25 saves through the first two periods, but the New Jersey Devils turned it all around in shocking fashion, scoring four times in the third to take a 4-1 victory.

Apparently, it was all academic to head coach Peter DeBoer. "I really felt we'd respond like this,'' he said. ''I knew we'd be better. Knew we'd bounce back. We've dealt with adversity and injuries all year. It's nothing new.''

Adam Larsson, David Clarkson, Travis Zajac and Bryce Salvador lit the lamp for the visitors, who acquitted themselves well following an overtime loss in Sunday's Game 1.

Martin Brodeur looked every bit the man who will turn 40 on Sunday, fighting the puck continually in the opening 20 minutes. He rebounded to snag the win thanks to 19 stops -- nine of them in the final period.

In a role reversal, Bryzgalov was perhaps the best player on the ice for the hosts, losing despite halting 31 pucks.

"I don't know why, but after the first few minutes we seemed to play with no urgency, no desperation," said Sunday hero Danny Briere.

With this Eastern Conference Semifinal tied at a game apiece, Game 3 shifts to Prudential Center in Newark on Thursday night.

Bryzgalov put together his best period of the playoffs in the second, holding the fort as New Jersey rolled up a 12-2 shot advantage and held the Flyers off the board until 87 seconds remained in the stanza.

"There are times when a goaltender can stand on his head and squeak one out for you, but often times it doesn't last and the end result is justified based on total performance." said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette, again lost for words in a short postgame presser.

He would have been on pace to record the club's first 1-0 shutout since Roman Cechmanek did it in Game 4 of the Eastern Semifinals against Ottawa exactly nine years before, but the Devils saw to it that history was tilted to their favor.

During a 4-on-4 with Marek Zidlicky and Scott Hartnell in the penalty box, Larsson -- the sub for a scratched Ilya Kovalchuk who was sidelined with a reported back issue -- tied the game by scoring on a wrister from the right circle that slipped inside the near post at the 3:08 mark.

"Down a goal, third period, that was huge," DeBoer said of the 19-year-old. "I feel great for him. He was out a few games but came back tonight and responded well."

Clarkson put them up for good with 8:43 remaining, crashing the cage and depositing a Zach Parise rebound just before knocking the net off its pegs with force.

Zajac made it a 3-1 game with just under six minutes to play as he circled from left to right and lifted a backhander on a wraparound with Bryzgalov hopelessly out of position.

The frustrating evening came to an appropriate end inside of three minutes left when Salvador, by total accident, cleared a puck more than half the length of the ice while shorthanded into the empty net.

"We stayed positive despite the way Bryzgalov dominated the second period," offered Brodeur, who had an excellent view and plenty of experience to say so. "We kept saying "guys, keep on shooting because he's going to give up something, and when he does it'll be more than one.'"

Another sellout crowd had reason to ramp up its emotion as Read, Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn worked their youthful magic on the fourth shift of the contest.

The 25-year-old was alone in front of Brodeur but missed his chance, only to see Schenn recover the puck behind the net and set up Read from a sharp angle along the goal line to the right of the veteran seconds later. A low, hard shot zipped inside the near post at 2:53.

New Jersey wasn't jolted to life until a sequence midway through the second period, where, on two consecutive shifts the puck hardly left the Philadelphia zone. Bryzgalov had to make several quality saves on shots that weren't of real quality, but the effort drew a standing ovation from the faithful when it finally concluded.

"I thought their skating was better than ours," was Laviolette's terse assessment of the advantages the visitors exploited. "It was (in all) three zones. They were quicker to the puck than we were."

Notes: New Jersey hadn't won in regulation since Game 4 of the opening round against Florida...The Flyers fell to 3-2 at home this postseason...Philly last gave up four goals in the third period of a playoff game on May 6, 2011 at Boston, in a season-ending 5-1 loss...Zajac has five goals over nine games in these playoffs...The Devils moved their record back to the .500 mark in Philadelphia, at 7-7 all-time...James van Riemsdyk and Briere were a game-worst minus-3, while Claude Giroux was held to two shots and a minus-1 in 21:05 of ice time...Six different Devils players posted a game-best plus-2...The Orange and Black finished 0-for-5 on the advantage, sinking to 1-for-11 in two games.

Kovalchuk out for Game 2

Devils forward Ilya Kovalchuk, who was near-invisible during Sunday's 4-3 OT loss in Game 1 of this Eastern Conference Semifinal, putting up zero points and zero shots in almost 15 minutes of ice time, has been ruled out for tonight.

According to team PR, it is due to an undisclosed injury apparently suffered in the first round.

The dynamic 29-year-old winger recorded two goals and six points in a five-game loss to the Flyers two years ago.

Danny Double: Briere's second chance OT score allows Flyers to get jump on Devils

Special to the Phanatic

A 14-year NHL pro, Danny Briere says he doesn't feel pressure in the playoffs.

Instead, the overriding feeling is of excitement.

"When I have the opportunity like I have this year, like I've had the past few years in the playoffs, you try to make the best of it and enjoy it as much as possible," said Briere, now in his fifth season with the Flyers.

The 34-year-old scored his second goal of the game 4:36 into overtime Sunday afternoon and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-3, to open their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Briere's game winner came moments after he had an earlier potential game-deciding goal disallowed because it was clearly kicked in with his left skate.

The fifth-seeded Flyers, after a slow start, peppered Martin Brodeur with 36 shots and took a 1-0 lead in the series despite allowing the Devils to tie the game twice in the last two periods.

James van Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux also scored and Ilya Bryzgalov made four of his 23 saves in OT for the Flyers, who were playing for the first time in a week after knocking off the Penguins in six games.

Zach Parise, Travis Zajac and Petr Sykora scored for the sixth-seeded Devils, with Sykora's goal tying the game 11:22 into the third period.

Brodeur gave up all four goals, including the game-winner on Philadelphia's seventh shot of the extra period.

The Devils, after beating Florida on the road in double-overtime Thursday to win Game 7 of their Conference Quarterfinal series, will try to even this series in Game 2 on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

"We were able to erase a couple of leads and stayed in the game. I wish we could have kept that pace up that we had in the first period," said Parise. "We didn't really give them much room out there, but I thought we played a pretty solid game all around."

Briere's disallowed goal touched off a muted celebration by the Flyers, most of them realizing he had directed the tipped pass into the net with his skate.

But there was no doubt about his next shot, a hard, low blast from the point that made it through a van Riemsdyk screen and past Brodeur for Briere's seventh goal of the postseason.

It gave him 26 goals in his last 41 playoff games dating back to 2010 and 49 in 104 career postseason games.

"When he gets the puck on his stick, something is going to happen. That's why he's so dangerous," said Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who had an assist. "He's money in the playoffs."

Earlier, Giroux also got his seventh goal of the playoffs on a hard one-timer from the middle of the left circle that beat Brodeur over his shoulder 4:19 into the third period to make it 3-2 Flyers.
Giroux won a faceoff on the right side to set up the play, then shifted across the ice for Timonen's pass.

Sykora's tying goal came just over seven minutes later and followed a Flyers giveaway inside the New Jersey zone. Sykora ended up behind a Philly defender and slipped a shot through Bryzgalov's legs from the left side to make it 3-3.

After Sykora's goal, Brodeur made a blocker save on van Riemsdyk as he went to the ice in the crease.

It was one of 15 shots by the Flyers in the third. Van Riemsdyk had another good chance with around 3:15 remaining in regulation on an open shot in the slot, but Brodeur stopped him again.

Early in the first period, Flyers rookie forward Matt Read turned the puck over behind his own net and Patrik Elias passed to Parise in the left circle for a one-timer and 1-0 Devils lead just 3:16 in.

New Jersey took advantage of the hosts' week-long sabbatical, rolling up 11 shots before the Flyers got their first and ended the opening period with a 15-6 advantage.

That caused the sellout crowd to make its half-hearted, but audible and not totally undeserved displeasure known. After all, the Orange and Black scored a combined nine goals in the first period of their three home tilts against the Penguins in the opening round.

"That was embarrassing. We can't come out like that," said Giroux. "It's unacceptable and we are lucky enough to have 'Bryz' shut the door and he made some huge stops for us."

The Flyers finally found their legs following intermission, and the sudden jolt allowed them to take the lead with goals 37 seconds apart in the middle period.

Jakub Voracek hit Briere with a long pass behind two defenders, and the veteran netminder guessed wrong by trying to anticipate a low shot, needlessly flopping towards the right post while the French-Canadian sniper chipped the puck in the opposite direction.

Moments later, Brodeur threw his left pad into the air to stop a point shot from Flyers defenseman Erik Gustafsson, but was unable to scramble to stop van Riemsdyk's high rebound chance from the low left side, which made it 2-1 at the 8:44 mark.

The Devils tied the game 31 seconds into a Matt Carle hooking penalty when Parise slid a pass all the way from the left boards to Zajac on the other side of the net for a tip-in that squeezed through Bryzgalov's legs and trickled over the line.

Notes: With the victory, the Orange and Black improved to 14-10 all-time in postseason games against the Devils, and upped their OT mark against New Jersey to 3-0, and have taken all four overtime playoff games against the franchise...Van Riemsdyk picked up his first playoff tally sincce scoring both in a 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of the Eastern semifinals on May 2, 2011...The Atlantic Division rivals finished one point away from each other in the regular season...The Flyers and Devils have met four other times in the playoffs: the Devils won the 1995 and 2000 Eastern Conference finals, while the Flyers captured quarterfinal series in 2004 and '10...New Jersey has participated in three straight overtime contests.

Flyers - Devils schedule announced

The Philadelphia Flyers, in conjunction with the National Hockey League, announced the schedule for their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with New Jersey early this morning. 

The fifth-seeded Flyers have home-ice advantage in the series and will host the sixth-seeded Devils in Game 1 on Sunday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.

The complete schedule is as follows: 

Game 1 – Sunday, April 29 at Philadelphia 3:00 PM (NBC)

Game 2 – Tuesday, May 1 at Philadelphia 7:30 PM (NBC-SN)

Game 3 – Thursday, May 3 at New Jersey 7:30 PM (NBC-SN)

Game 4 – Sunday, May 6 at New Jersey 7:30 PM (NBC-SN)

* Game 5 – Tuesday, May 8 at Philadelphia TBD (NBC-SN)

* Game 6 – Thursday, May 10 at New Jersey TBD

* Game 7 – Saturday, May 12 at Philadelphia TBD


*  if necessary   

This will be the fifth meeting between the clubs. Philly has won the last two, both first-round victories by 4-1 counts, in 2004 and two years ago. New Jersey won the two previous series with more on the line, the 1995 Eastern Finals 4-2 and the 2000 Eastern Finals 4-3.

Memoirs of an Invisible Man

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

When you look back at the recently-completed Eastern Conference Quarterfinal between the Flyers and Penguins, among the dozens of snapshots it's hard to conjure up an image of Sidney Crosby having done anything worthwhile. And that's sad, considering he is the most marketable asset in the league who didn't even make it out of the first round.

But how is it that a player who scored better than a point-per-game (8 pts. in 6 appearances) was rendered pretty much invisible?

How is it that the figurehead of the "new" NHL was overshadowed and pushed into near irrelevance, not by the opposition, but by his own teammates?

I bet Mario Lemieux, Ray Shero and Dan Bylsma would kill to find that out.

"I think these six games were probably Crosby’s six best games out of the last 14. I thought he was very good," Bylsma lied in Sunday's post-game postmortem.

Here are a few simple explanations: Jordan Staal, James Neal and Evgeni Malkin were simply better.

For one, Staal came up with team-bests of six goals and nine points. He was everywhere Crosby might have been expect to be: in open space, knowing when to rush and when to lay off, when to shoot and when to dish, creeping behind the defense, getting his face time in the crease.

So was Neal, who appeared to be following orders as the guy who tried to do the dirt to Philly's top forwards on every shift. He came up with six points, four distinct head-shots, two scores (including what still remains as the "goal of the series" from Game 4), a one-game suspension, and a whole new reputation.

And Malkin, the best player for Pittsburgh. Let's not forget that, while Crosby got to lift the Cup first because he bore the "C," Malkin was the Conn Smythe Winner in 2009. Was the best player as the Pens were upset by the Habs in the second round two years ago. Actually stood in the handshake line at the end where Crosby opted out. Bore the burden of being the Lone Star with Crosby out for last year's collapse against Tampa Bay.

The 25-year-old Russian came up with three goals and eight points, and was the only man on the opposing bench who seemed most determined not to let Game 6 slip away after two straight wins. He was held off the scoreboard twice, but was the man behind the men in the middle contests, all but one of his points coming in Games 2, 3 and 4. He was also simply too fast, too involved to let anyone lay a good check his way. He also clearly understood that a game is not won after putting in a strong effort over a mere opening 20 minutes.

He continues to make his case to outsiders that his overall worth has been more of a catalyst to Pittsburgh's rebirth than Crosby.

Here's another: he's still not feeling right in the wake of concussion problems that may have gotten worse as the series progressed.

Three collisions come to mind -- the accidental meeting of Malkin and Crosby and Crosby's off-balance collision with the goal post in Friday's 3-2 home win in Game 5, and Claude Giroux's purposeful, devastating launch just seconds into Game 6 which seemed to leave him dumbstruck.

We know that, aside from the two brutal hits sustained in January of 2011 which led to Crosby's lengthy post-concussion absence, there was just one recurrence -- a rather innocuous collision with teammate Chris Kunitz in early December where a head-shot was not involved -- which tipped the scales of the young star's health.

So it's not a stretch to assume that either one of those three incidents, or all of them combined had an adverse effect going forward. This, despite #87's assertion earlier today that nothing out of the ordinary came from that unexpected contact.

It was noted on Sunday evening that Crosby "didn't seem to be himself" for the remainder of the clincher. When pressed on this issue, Bylsma chose to sidestep the issue entirely:

“We were on the short end of the scoreboard and for a lot of that game we were behind significantly. The Flyers weren’t concerned with giving up to much. Whether it was just one player I think the Flyers played their best defensive game of the series today in addition to getting out to the first goal and the power play goal. They were the best at the other side of the puck today.”

And while it's true that the Flyers finally woke up defensively and put forth a playoff-like effort on the back end in the final game of this series, Crosby still seemed to be the most Casper-like of all the Penguins who didn't kick it into gear.

Even when you strip away all the bravado and the baiting that came from the chippiness of the first two contests, there wasn't much substance left in Crosby's overall game.

That's why this seems especially troubling. Stripped of any context, the next quote may seem especially damning, complacent and lacking the fire expected of a captain whose team was bounced in the first round despite being a Cup favorite:

"Well, I don't think anybody does (like to lose), but, you know that's hockey sometimes. You don't always get to achieve the stuff you want to and there's a lot of other teams that want the same thing. It's not a good feeling, but that being said, we've got to find some way to learn from this and be better for it."

A man who thinks he has an unlimited number of shots left in his career to get to the final round? Someone melancholy in the immediate bleakness of defeat? Someone trying to convey that losing is a blessing in disguise? Someone not in his right mind?

Only one person has the answer, and none of us should envy the path he has to take to get it all straight. Whatever Crosby decides to do from this point forward regarding his play, health and growth in leadership, it's in his best interest to be firm, decisive and most of all, visible.

Claude Giroux: Man on a mission that is just underway

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

On a dreary afternoon in a cold, antiseptic building which once again assumed the rabid personality of its sellout crowd, the Philadelphia Flyers beat the rival Pittsburgh Penguins and eliminated them in a playoff series four games to two.

They did not fend off an invading horde of Persians while severely outnumbered.

Nor did they slay a mythical dragon, as we've been told St. George did.

They didn't even beat the defending Stanley Cup champions, so pardon me if I keep the hyperbole packed away for at least one more best-of-seven course.

But there is one man who is worthy of appreciation this morning, the player people in certain quarters are falling all over themselves to proclaim as next year's captain: Claude Giroux.

He's good...but not yet great. Still, the whispers of leadership have appeared to finally catch his ear. Like the old NBC hospital drama, ER, Giroux has heard the words of his predecessor echoing through the WFC hallways and tunnels: Set The Tone.

So that's what the 23-year-old from Hearst, Ontario did during his first turn on ice:




It wasn't completely unexpected.

"When the best player in the world comes up to you and tells you, 'I don’t know who you’re planning on starting tonight, but I want that first shift,' that says everything you need to know about Claude Giroux right there," said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette.

What drove the point home on the opening sequence was not the check on Crosby, but the excess burn-off of emotion -- his scream of triumph to his own bench, and the punch to the glass as fans in some of the most expensive seats in the house cheered him on.

"He was possessed. I think he set the tone, just plain and simple, as that he just said I want to win,” added Danny Briere, a veteran of some pretty wild playoffs, both here and in Buffalo.

But there are at least two more rounds to go before the chase for the ultimate prize begins, and though Giroux has started to write the opening chapters of his Philadelphia legend, he still stands in the shadow of Mike Richards.

You know, former captain, now in Los Angeles, author of the original "Shift?" Here's a refresher course:




Richards sure didn't have the dazed look of a player tired of dealing with the media, nor the thousand-yard stare of a young man needing a change of scenery. This Mike Richards was fully bearded, bearing down and ready to do whatever it took to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

That was the "likeable" Richards, in contrast to the picture that was painted until the wake-up call of a trade to LA was made last June.

My, how soon we are asked to forget.

"G's probably the biggest competitor that I have ever played with. He wants to win so bad," said linemate Scott Hartnell. "I could tell right when I got to the rink this morning that he was fired up and ready to go. When you hit like that on the first shift, that's our best guy in here and he played a great game tonight."

Does Giroux have another, more important, bigger "shift" in him? At least one teammate believes so.

"Claude, to me, he’s the best player in the league right now and he’s our motor…engine, when he goes, we go," added Kimmo Timonen, the man who is the unofficial leader as the most senior member of the team.    

Whenever it may come, it most likely won't be part of a torrid, record scoring pace. The luxury of playing an offensive juggernaut like Pittsburgh is a return to free-flowing, skilled hockey, which helped produce his 14-point series effort.

The remaining potential Conference Semifinal opponents: Boston, Washington, New York, Ottawa all stress a more defensive-oriented, technical style of hockey with plenty of board-rattling to boot compared to the Penguins.

Still, no matter the time, or place, or score, all the greats need is one chance to shine when it counts the most: Bobby Clarke in 1974, overtime Game 2 of the Finals. Dave Poulin in Game 6 against Quebec in '85. Pelle Eklund's electric Games 3 and 4 at the Forum in the '87 Wales Finals. Eric Lindros hooking Messier to finish off his hat trick in Game 3 of the East Finals in '97. Richards and Montreal.

Giroux is off to a great start. And that's a big boost towards a better finish.

Giroux sets tone as Flyers finally ice Penguins

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor 

In a return to classic playoff hockey on a rainy Sunday afternoon, the Philadelphia Flyers finally iced the Pittsburgh Penguins by a 5-1 count in Game 6 of this Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.

Claude Giroux led the way with a goal and two assists, setting a new team record for most points in a six-game playoff series with 14 (6G, 8A).

Scott Hartnell, Danny Briere, Erik Gustafsson and Brayden Schenn also lit the lamp in the clincher.

"We weren't too happy about Games 4 and 5, the way we played. Today, it was a full team effort,"said the best player in the series for either side. "Usually we never get off to a good start, but I was trying to fire the team up, get them going.  You want to put forth a total effort. Whether it's scoring goals or blocking shots, it doesn't matter. Guys were paying attention to the little details and that's what you need to win."

The Orange and Black snapped a two-series losing streak to their Western neighbors, and await their opponent in the conference semifinals.

"I think winning all series, is what it's all about," said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette. "At some point you have to go through really good teams. There's something about Pittsburgh, their history recently, but for our team to move on speaks volumes for it. It's real satisfying to be able to move on against a team that a lot of people picked."

Helped along by a defensive effort which blocked an incredible 40 shots, Ilya Bryzgalov didn't need to steal the game, but only to stop 30-of-31 pucks fired his way to pick up the key win.

"Everybody was sacrificing themselves to win this game, it was not just all me," the humble netminder said in his usual understated fashion. "They all have to pay the price to win the game and the series. This was a very dangerous team. There was no personal pride at all. It's a total team effort."

Despite half a roster which took home the franchise's third Stanley Cup title just three years ago, there simply wasn't enough talent or drive remaining to overcome an 0-3 series deficit.

Evgeni Malkin tallied the lone goal for the Penguins, whose other big guns -- Sidney Crosby, James Neal, Jordan Staal and Steve Sullivan -- were all held without a single point.

Failing to build confidence from a stellar effort in Friday's narrow win, Marc-Andre Fleury looked shaky again, letting in four goals on 22 shots.

"No matter what you're season looks like, the expectations for this group were high," said Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma. "We were lucky to get Sid there back at the end of the season. I thought these six were his best of the season. There's not a lot of words to describe what we thought about this complement of players."

After two close short-handed opportunities by Giroux and Matt Read on Kimmo Timonen hooking penalty, Malkin fired away through a screen in the right circle for the visitors' first of the day, coming at 8:34 of the second period.

If there was any doubt amongst the sellout crowd that the tide was coming in, they were washed out just 34 seconds later.

That's when Briere's sharp-angle try off a Jakub  Voracek dish hit Pens defenseman Brooks Orpik in the leg, dribbled through Fleury's pads and slid just over the line to restore the three-goal margin. It didn't take much effort from the war room in Toronto to call a good goal, and the Flyers were in command at 4-1.

With several slick moves along the goal line, Malkin was able to draw a holding penalty on Braydon Coburn just after the eight-minute mark of the third, but the best chance of that minor came when Giroux was pulled down just shy of squeezing off a shot in the slot.

Fleury was sent to the bench for an extra skater with 3:27 to go and the Pens got a break when Gustafsson was called for shooting the puck over the glass. Neal managed to flip one home while Bryzgalov was pushed into the cage, but the score was quickly wiped out due to obvious interference.

Schenn was then able to hit the empty net in the final 10 seconds to seal it.

Giroux stoked the home crowd's fires on the first shift, laying a brutal hit on Crosby, then got the opening goal only 32 seconds in, pulling up at the inner edge of the left circle and beating Fleury with a high wrister.

"Getting that first goal was huge, to steal the momentum right away. I wanted to go out on that first shift and do something to get the boys going," he said.

Laviolette called the 23-year-old's game "monstrous," and added something which will be retold in team playoff lore by revealing Giroux practically demanded to play the first shift of the contest. That trust was repaid and then some.

Briere drew the game's first penalty, and the Flyers escaped with one close chance against as Matt Niskanen hit the post late on the advantage.

It was 2-0 with 6:59 remaining on a power play created when Matt Cooke interfered with Schenn. Giroux ripped one from the left circle that deflected off Fleury's arm and trickled behind him. Joe Vitale tried to push the puck back out into play, but it only reached far enough for Hartnell to shove it back over the goal line while he crashed the net.

Gustafsson tripled the advantage at 5:25 of the second period on a shot from below the circles that an unscreened Fleury simply missed. It was the first career playoff tally for the 23-year-old, called up late last week as one of the Phantoms' Black Aces.

Malkin rang one off the crossbar from a tight angle to the right of Bryzgalov just before seven minutes elapsed, just prior to his goal.

'We were going to have to get players and pucks to the net to score a goal," Bylsma added. "We couldn't just rely on our power-play chances. The Flyers took better advantage of that. We gave them too much respect on their power plays. That and short-handed play were the decisive factors in the series."

Notes: Hartnell's power-play score in the first gave Philly 12 such goals in the opening round, setting a new franchise mark originally accomplished in the 1989 Patrick Division Finals against the Penguins, a series won in seven games...Bill Barber, 12 in 1980 Semifinals, and Briere, 12 in 2010 SCF previously held the six-game series record, while Tim Kerr (10G, 5A) holds the all-time mark for a full seven-game course, in 1989 against the Penguins...There were 56 goals in the six-game set, third-most for any best-of-seven series in NHL history...Gustafsson was credited with a game-high seven blocks, while Coburn, Matt Carle and Andreas Lilja recorded six blocked shots...Sunday's win marked the 10th time in 10 chances the Orange and Black have won a series when up three games to none...The 40 blocked shots was the most in playoff action for any team since Montreal blocked 41 at Washington on April 28, 2010.

Penguins live to fight another day, send series back to Philadelphia

Special to the Phanatic

Backed by Marc-Andre Fleury, the Pittsburgh Penguins lived to fight another day as they took a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5 of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series on Friday night at CONSOL Energy Center.

Fleury, who had recorded a goals-against average near six per game over the first four games,  was stellar in the third period, especially during the Flyers lone power play of the frame, as he stopped 14 shots in the final 20 minutes and finished the game with 24 saves.

 The Penguins now trail this best-of-seven series, 3-2, and they are hoping to become jut the fourth team in NHL history to rally from a 3-0 deficit. Game 6 is set for Sunday at noon in Philadelphia.

Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy each posted a goal and an assist while Steve Sullivan also lit the lamp for the Penguins, who hope to join the 1942 Maple Leafs, 1975 Islanders and 2010 Flyers as the only teams to win a best-of-seven series after dropping the first three games.

"It's just one game at a time and we've been saying that for a while," said Staal. "We'll go into Philly and be confident that we can win and go from there."

Matt Carle and Scott Hartnell each scored their first goal of the playoffs for the Flyers, who received 20 saves from Ilya Bryzgalov in the unexpected defeat.

"We definitely have to look at what we're doing in all areas of the game," said Hartnell. "Our forechecking and neutral zone play, it seems like they're getting too many rushes off them."

The third period was the first scoreless period of this series and that was thanks to Fleury, who was brilliant during a Flyers power play after Kennedy took a slashing call 7:37 in.

Holding a 3-2 lead, Fleury made the lead stand repeatedly during the penalty kill, starting with a quick pad save on a one-timer from Jakub Voracek at the right circle. From nearly the same spot, Jaromir Jagr snapped a shot on net that Fleury stopped and he later made two point-blank rebound chances from Danny Briere before the penalty expired.

"I don't think we were doing anything differently," said Carle. "But when your back is against the wall guys make plays and he was huge for them in the third."

From there, he continued to make the saves, but the Penguins defense, which along with Fluery had allowed 23 goals in the previous four games, kept the Flyers from setting up any pressure and the Pens won just their second game out of nine chances at home against the Flyers since the new arena opened in October of 2010.

"In the third with the penalty kill and late in the game with a lot around the net he stood strong," said Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma about Fluery. "There was some loose pucks and rebounds that he was on. He's the one that kept us in it in the third period."

It was all power-play goals in the first period and the first one went to the Flyers.

With Deryk Engelland in the box for roughing, Matt Read had the puck at the left point and brought it over to the slot before dishing it over to the right point for Carle, who flung a wrist shot that went into the left corner with Briere providing a screen in front at the 11:45 mark.

It was the longest a game had gone scoreless in the series, but just three minutes later the second goal of the game was scored and this one went to the Penguins.

The Pens caught a break as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin collided in the Flyers zone and Philly went the other way on a 3-on-1, but was unable to get a good shot on net. Moments later, a slap pass from Kris Letang in the high slot went to the left circle where Sullivan one-timed it home.

A few minutes later, Malkin took a roughing penalty when he hit Brayden Schenn late and a slashing call was issued to Craig Adams a bit later after he broke Jagr's stick to give the Flyers 18 seconds of a 5-on-3.

Philly wasted little time to take the lead as perimeter passes saw the puck go to the low left side where Briere sent it to the right and Hartnell wristed it in for his first goal of the playoffs with 2:25 to play in the frame.

Fleury made a nice save on a Jagr one-timer less than a minute into the second and the Pens tied the game at the 6:15 mark.

A short 2-on-1 break saw Staal opt to shoot and his wrister from the right circle beat Bryzgalov cleanly for his sixth goal of the playoffs.

Halfway through the frame, the Penguins took their first lead of the game. A pass from the deep right boards by Matt Cooke went to the right circle where Kennedy slapped a shot past Bryzgalov for a 3-2 advantage.

Malkin took an interference call late in the second period, but the Flyers were unable to get anything going and the game went into its second break with the Pens up by one.

Bryzgalov kept his team in the contest about four minutes into the third when he made a nice glove save on a James Neal wrist shot.

Notes: Philadelphia has only let a 3-0 series edge slip away one time, in the 1975 Semifinals against the Islanders, eventually winning a home Game 7 to reach the Stanley Cup Finals...The Orange and Black fell to 7-2 at CONSOL...Jagr picked up an assist on the Carle goal to give him 188 playoff points in his career. He is tied with Joe Sakic and Doug Gilmour as his next point will give him seventh place all-time...The Flyers have scored their past five goals on the power play and now have 11 in the series, which ties their team record for a playoff series set against the Penguins in 1989, a series that went seven games...Staal leads the playoffs in goals while Philadelphia's Claude Giroux, who had one assist in the game, leads the playoffs in points with 11...The Flyers were without defenseman Nicklas Grossman, who was out with an upper- body injury which is believed to be a concussion that he suffered in Game 4. They did get back forward James Van Riemsdyk, who had not played since March 1 after surgery to repair a broken bone in his left foot.

Deja vu all over again

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

Last night's 10-3 pasting at the hands of the resurgent Penguins brought to mind the last -- and only other -- time the Philadelphia Flyers allowed double digits in a playoff game.

April 25, 1989, Patrick Division Finals Game 5 at the Igloo in Pittsburgh. Two days earlier, Mario Lemieux was the subject of a high hit that left his neck so sore he could only move it to one side without pain. Philly won that one to tie the series at two games apiece, and there was some doubt that Lemieux would play in the pivotal contest.

He put those questions to rest before seven minutes were played:



And in the post-game, courtesy of Channel 57 and Bill Clement, the superstar center tries to explain how his NHL record performance came forth:



In that game, a 10-7 victory, the hosts were ahead 6-1 after one period thanks to four Lemieux tallies, then went up 9-3 at intermission thanks to more Mario magic and the talents of Rob Brown. Down by six, the fighting spirit of the Orange and Black finally reared its head:



No, Paul Steigerwald, you're not supposed to do your trademark "windmill" celebration so close to a player with a volcanic temper like Ron Hextall when you're working on a butt-kicking. It's called class.

Unlike that Tuesday evening 23 years ago, this year's Flyers club didn't resort to the same kind of tactics when facing a monster six-goal deficit. Being at home, having the atmosphere completely deflated, and holding a 3-0 series advantage likely threw a damper on any player getting all fought up.

It was disturbing from this standpoint: in the third period of the 1989 tilt, the above scrums galvanized Paul Holmgren's club into a 21-shot, four-goal third period. It was enough of a scare once the gap was closed to 9-7 for Pens head coach Gene Ubriaco to leave Lemieux out on the ice for most of the final two minutes in regulation -- allowing him the chance to share in league lore.

But on Wednesday, there was no such collective sweat and strain. Only Zac Rinaldo doing what he does best:



Rinaldo's actions seemed perfunctory, tacked on, unnecessary given the circumstances. The Flyers need to focus and their every action from now until the fourth game is won must be taken to push the Penguins right out the exit.

In any case, after the Blitz from #66, Philadelphia went home two days later and posted a convincing victory to force a Game 7. Incredibly, that game was won on a Saturday night thanks to 39 saves from backup Ken Wregget after Hextall was ruled out with a torn groin.

As Peter Laviolette said to counteract Dan Bylsma's mantra: we have to win one game, they have to win three. Time, the odds and history are on their side.