Devils Game 3 Review

The margin of error is now officially gone for the Flyers, and they face a virtual must-win on Sunday.

It was the most evenly played game of the series, and the result was in a precarious balance throughout.  The Devils appeared to be playing with more desire and purpose, and were deserved winners.

This year's Flyers squad has experienced more than their share of ups and downs.  They seem unstoppable one game, and completely incompetent the next.  I think many fooled themselves that, after beating the mighty Pens, the Flyers had turned a corner and become a different, more powerful team.  Truthfully, the Flyers were still the same team---often irresistible on offense but terribly inconsistent and inattentive.

The Devils were a much trickier match-up than people wanted to acknowledge.  Now the Flyers have to start skating and banging again, as the Devils are simply playing with much more jump.

The time for jumping off a bridge has not yet come.  This is a remarkably resilient team, so let's see how they do in Game 4.  Nothing is too big for this team to accomplish.

Notes:
-It's time for Claude Giroux to re-assert himself.  He's allowed to have bad games, but he and his line have not mounted consistent threats.  The Flyers need him again.  It may also be time to completely change his linemates.

-Brodeur has the officials eating out of his hand.  His complaints about the game 1 winner being goaltender interference, a claim completely without merit, has led to a very quick whistle or penalties every time the Flyers get near him.  The Schenn interference penalty was completely overblown contact, though I won't complain too much because the Flyers were only on a powerplay due to an erroneous call on Kovalchuk for shooting the puck out of play.  Conversely, Kovalchuk rung a potential game winner off the post on a play where a Devil lost his edge and interfered with Bryzgalov.  Clearly there are different standards for each goalie.

-The Devils continue to outskate the Flyers, and Parise in a particular had a rocket up his ass last night.  If the Flyers don't match the Devils jump, they will not win.

-The Flyers power play is playing incredibly loose and careless.  Most of their problem against the Devils is in gaining the zone, something they accomplished easily against the Pens.  Still, clarity of purpose has been lacking in all aspects of their game, and nowhere is this more clear than on the PP.   Additionally, these hopeless Flyers power plays are having the negative effect of sparking the Devils in the moments thereafter.