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.

Devils Game 2 Review

Hoepfully, last night was just a wake-up call.

Aside from Bryzgalov, there is very little to say about the Flyers performance last night.  The Devils had the better of the first few shifts, but then the Flyers nicked a goal on their first shot.  In the next few minutes the Flyers looked like they might get a few more goals and run away with it, but some Devils power plays broke their momentum.  They would never get it back. 

Towards the end of the first period, Pierre McGuire remarked how the Devils would need to come up with a better push because the Flyers were comfortable playing with the lead and trading some scoring chances.  The Devils found a huge push, and it lasted the rest of the game.

Getting outshot 12-2  in a period and looking so lifeless in a playoff game is embarrassing.  The Flyers never played with any intensity, as the Devils skated circles around the stationary Flyers, even on the Flyers' power plays.

This game was not unlike the regular season meetings in early November (when the Flyers were outshot 39-23) and early February (where the Devils led 6-0).  Those were the Devils two best performances against the Flyers this year, and both meetings took place in Philadelphia.

The Flyers are still a much more potent team than the Devils, but this game is a reminder to them of the carelessness which occasionally plagued their regular season.  No need to panic, but the Flyers need to get back on the horse quickly.

Notes:
-None

Devils Game 1 Review

It all seemed too predictable.

Predictably, the long layoff exacerbated the Flyers' slow starts, and the Devils had the game's first 10 shots and its first goal.

Predictably, the Flyers slowly took over the game against a fatigued Devils team.

Predictably, Brodeur had some real strong stretches, but doesn't dominate entire games anymore. 

Predictably, it was Danny Briere popping up to score two key goals.

Overall, I think we saw a preview of what this series will look like.  The Devils contained the Flyers at times, denying the Flyers space and stopping attacks before they started.  In time, however, the Flyers asserted their superiority. 

Notes:
-Briere simply turns it up in the playoffs.  He had a terrible regular season, making the success of his season entirely hinge on his playoff performance.  Well now he has 7 goals in 7 playoff games.  As good as he was in the playoffs last year, it took him 8 games to get 7 goals then.  This is all the more impressive considering he finished the season with only 3 goals in his last 34 regular season games.

-Playoff JVR is back.  He revved it up and drove the net a few times.  He didn't finish any of those plays, though he did roof a loose puck with style for one goal.  Laviolette put JVR up with Briere and Voracek, reducing the ice time of Schenn in the process, but it looks like that may be the right call.

-The Flyers were able to spread out their defensemen's ice time much more tonight than at any point of the Pittsburgh series.  The health of Grossman, increased faith in Lilja and Gustafsson, and quite frankly less threatening forward talent on the Devils made this possible.  This may not be a good sign because of what it implies about his health, but Timonen actually had the fewest even strength minutes of any defensemen.

-The Devils had success taking away the Flyers passing outlets and forcing the Flyers defensemen to carry the puck further than they normally would up the ice.  The Devils got their 3rd goal on a chain of events that started this way.

-Wellwood played a very good game, and looked like one of the few Flyers ready to go from the start.  As a member of the checking line with Talbot and Cooter, Wellwood will continue to see more ice time than Schenn, Read or Simmonds.

-My review of Bryzgalov today was a pretty strong start, but could've been better later.  In particular, he was a little slow moving around and reacting, leaving his five-hole open.  Bryzgalov didn't have much to do in the 3rd period, but he should've done better on the Sykora goal and made a momentum preserving stop.

Finally, an Opponent

After dispatching the Flyer's archrival of the moment, the Flyers will now face their chief rival from about 1995-2005, the New Jersey Devils.

This year's Devils aren't the most formidable team, but they are capable of playing some good hockey.  Brodeur is also a legend, but at 39 he is much more vulnerable than he used to be.

The Flyers are capable of winning this series convincingly, but a victory lap would be premature.  The Flyers's bad starts and lack of 60 minute efforts could make this a long series if the Devils stay the course.

The Flyers largely need to forget the last series.  It was a wide-open series of passion.  This series will not be.  The Devils this year allowed the second fewest shots against in the NHL, and were 4th from the bottom in generating their own shots, so prepare for much tighter hockey.  Fortunately for the Flyers, the Devils weren't suffocating when protecting leads either.


Notes:
-The Flyers will not be repeating their 50+% power play percentage.  Better, more reliable 5-on-5 play will be required.  Despite a poor first round performance, the Devils PK was #1 in the league this year in the regular season (the Penguins were #3, FWIW).

-Health will be a major issue.  Grossmann appears ready to go, but Briere, Jagr and Timonen are all in various states of disrepair.  Bryzgalov appears to be healthy, but you also can't forget his injury status.  Lastly, Meszaros is increasing participation in practices, but all estimates peg him joining the series very late, if at all.

-The Flyers played the Devils 6 times this season
  -10/8 - Bryzgalov gets a 20 save shutout in the 2nd game of the season.  3-0 Flyers.
  -11/3 - The Flyers blow a 2-0 lead, losing 4-3 in a shootout.  The Devils outshoot the Flyers 39-23
  -1/21 - The Flyers again take a 2-0 lead, and a couple of PP goals by Hartnell ends in a 4-1 Flyers victory
  -2/4 - The Devils get 3 PP goals and 1 SHG, and chase Bobrovsky from the game leading 6-0.  The Flyers score 4 goals in the third period to make it respectable.  6-4 Devils.
  -3/11 - A 1-1 game early in the 3rd period, the Devils score 3 unanswered goals, outshooting the Flyers 31-19 overall.  4-1 Devils.
  -3/13 - In the back-end of the home-and-home series, the Flyers shut down NJ and Bryzgalov gets a 17 save shutout, 3-0 Flyers.

-FWIW, Bryzgalov's numbers against NJ this year were 3-0, 0.29 GAA, .987 save percentage, 2 shutouts.  All losses fell on Bobrovsky, though Bobrovsky admittedly saw a lot more shots than Bryzgalov in those games.

-I will be interested to see how JVR performs this series, as hopefully his health will have improved significantly in the last week.

Penguins Game 6 Review

Flyers nation can now exhale.

Anxiety was rising, but instead the Flyers turned out their best 60 minutes of the series.  Giroux provided the early boost, and the Flyers circled the wagons and survived the Penguins furious counter-punch.  That would prove to be Penguins' best shot.

I was oddly confident this morning.  Rationally, I should've been very concerned about the Flyers shorthanded defense, and Bryz looking physically hampered, but instead I just thought to myself that there was no way the Flyers would let this series get away from them.  They were going to win this game.  This team has been way too resilient this year, never giving up.  Yes, the Penguins were a more focused team than earlier in the series, but this Flyers team always answers the bell.

I'm already looking forward to the next round, and pulling hard for both Washington and Ottawa to complete their upsets and leave a clear path to the finals for the Flyers.  Either way, it will be great not to have to think about punks like Malkin, Neal and Letang for 6 months.

Notes:
-The Flyers really tightened up defensively.  Bryzgalov faced hardly any clean looks, and didn't have to move laterally nearly as much.  As a result, he looked more comfortable and made all the expected saves.  Also, the Flyers blocked 40 shots today, more than the previous two games combined (and double the 20 they blocked in game 3, their previous series high).

-Gustafsson came in and played like a champ.  His ice time rose from ~12 minutes in game 5 to ~22 in game 6, nearly all at even strength.  That was more than Timonen and Carle at even strength this game.  Timonen actually played less than 7.5 minutes at even strength, and 15 overall.

-After going for 1/3 on the power play today, the Flyers percentage dropped to 57% (12/23) for the series.  The Pens themselves went 31% (9/29), a damn good number in any other reality, but also gave up 3 shorthanded goals.  Mind you, the Pens were one of the best penalty killing teams in the league this year and set a franchise record for PK percentage.

-Crosby was nearly invisible today, and I suspect he is not 100% after getting nailed on the chin by Malkin last game.  Malkin was very good, scoring one, hitting a post, and generally wreaking havoc in the Flyers zone around the net.

Penguins Game 5 Review

Okay, so I'm a little late on this one.

Anyway, we actually had a real hockey game this time.  The nonsense finally stopped, and the teams simply played hockey.  The Flyers started out pretty well, but fell behind in the second period and couldn't squeak out one more goal to come back, though they came pretty close.

I like the Flyers odds in game 6, but this is a real series again.

Notes:
-Goaltending.  Before you say anything about either team getting a goaltending advantage, consider the stats thus far; Bryzgalov, 4.54 GAA, .848%, Fleury, 4.70 GAA, .837%.  Equally awful.

Now that doesn't mean it will necessarily continue that way, and it certainly looks to me like Bryzgalov is being affected by injury.  His chip fracture in his foot may not be fully healed, and there are rumors his hip is also bad.  Either way, he cannot move laterally to the right.  On several plays the last two games when the puck goes that way quickly, he doesn't even try to move that way, and just falls on his back and flails his goal stick futilely.  This is a major concern for the Flyers.

On the other hand, it would be unwarranted to conclude Fleury has turned the corner and will be better the remainder of the series.  A few posts, a few slower whistles, or Danny Briere roofing a rebound as is his specialty, and Fleury gives up 4+ goals that game.

-The Flyers PP is absolutely killing it right now, but no even strength goals since game 3.

-The team scoring first is now 0-5 in this series.

-I despise Malkin.  He is such a puke, and a weasel.  He was pretty quiet on all fronts through the first 3 games, but once he got his first goal of the series, it seemed to get his blood pumping.  Since then, he has headhunted Grossmann with a blind-side headshot, tried to castrate Couturier with his stick, and also blindsided Couturier up high away from the puck.  This has been Malkin's MO for years, and you'll notice he only strikes other players when they are not looking.  Slash, trip, punch, high-hits, and only to players who are distracted and looking the other way.

-Speaking of Grossman, he skated yesterday.  I suppose there's a small chance he could play, though that would be awfully quick after an unofficial concussion.  The Flyers could definitely use his size and shot blocking.

-JVR returned the lineup, but only played 7:31, the least of any forward.  Hopefully he's well enough to play more minutes and carry the puck.  Lilja and Kubina actually played fewer minutes, as obviously Laviolette doesn't trust them right now.

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.