Penguins Game 4 Review

Well that didn't go as planned.

I suppose it was the Flyers turn to wilt as the game went on.  The Flyers took the early lead due on early PPs due to some very tight officiating, and then the Penguins took the game away, capitalizing on an endless stream of penalties.

Aside from that, the Flyers took their foot of the gas pedal tonight, and the Penguins simply played focused hockey.  The question will be, did the Penguins regain control of themselves in time?  Probably not.  If they don't win game 5, what happened tonight is merely an inconsequential blip on the radar.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the Penguins back on home ice.  Nothing surprises me in this series anymore.  The Flyers would do well to simply forget the whole game, and dig in for a trip into enemy territory.

Notes:
-A major issue is the health of Grossmann.  He took 2 illegal headshots, and left the game early with an "upper body injury."  This is the first;

My mortal enemy, Malkin has finally emerged this series.  Gets his first goal, and on his next shift throws his first dirty check of the series.  This is a blatant attempt to blindside a player in the head, and is clearly illegal under Rule 48.1, illegal check to the head.  Malkin threw out his shoulder in a completely gratuitous fashion, and there is no excuse.  So intent is Malkin on headhunting, that his lunge to do so caused him to fall down after the hit.
Grossmann may have survived this hit, but then he took another one.


This hit by Kennedy is not as gratuitous, but it also walks the line of illegal high hit to the head.  The NHL puts quite a bit of emphasis on injury sustained, so any claims the Flyers may have for supplementary discipline may be mooted by the fact that neither hit was individually responsible for the injury.

If Grossman flops, or if he is hit by someone other than Malkin, a suspension is likely for a clearly predatory and intentional hit to the head.  As it is, the Flyers may be without their best shutdown defenseman while Malkin skates away without even a minor penalty to his name.  Clearly the officials are still clueless on detecting headshots, as how can you miss a blatant headshot call in a game when you are calling every little ticky-tack penalty otherwise (20 minor penalty calls!)?

-Giroux did not play in the third period last night either.  Hopefully just a precaution in a game that was out of reach.

-Bryzgalov was really fighting the puck last night.  Moving slowly, to have no idea where the puck was after stopping a shot.  If momentum means anything, Fleury got a hold of himself last night, while Bryzgalov got pulled.  Nothing in this series is that tidy however.

-Before the series, I said scoring the first goal, crucial in today's NHL wouldn't matter much.  I was a little off on that one, as scoring the first goal this series has been crucial--the team scoring first is 0-4 in this series.

-How crazy is this series?  The next highest scoring playoff series this year is Detroit v. Nashville, who have combined for 19 goals in 4 games.  The Flyers and Pens have combined for 20 goals in the first period, and 45 overall.  I haven't even looked at the math for penalty minutes either, which is also off the charts.