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Bring on the Flyboys! This Series Will be the Best of the Second Round |
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It couldn’t have been scripted any better if Bob Gainey were writing it out. First the Boston Bruins, and now the Philadelphia Flyers. Perhaps it’s fortune that the Canadiens have drawn two teams that hadn’t beaten them once in the regular season. We’re all aware of what Boston did in the first round, shocking the Canadiens, and their fans alike, with a tremendous effort through 7 games.
A Philadelphia Flyers team, playing its 3rd game in 4 nights, comes to the Bell Centre tonight after going through the perfect test in the first round. The Flyers dismissed the hottest team outside of San Jose, heading into the playoffs. They played a Washington Capitals team that offers the same speed game that has made the Canadiens so effective this season.
The Flyers are every bit as tough if not tougher than Boston. They have shutdown guys in veterans like Jimmy Dowd, and Sami Kapanen. They have unsung heroes in R.J Umberger, Scottie Upshall, and Randy Jones. They have skill and balance in Mike Richards, Danny Briere, Jeff Carter, Braydon Coburn, Kimmo Timmonen, Vaclav Prospal and Joffrey Lupul. They have toughness in Riley Cote, Steve Downie, Scott Hartnell, Derian Hatcher and Jason Smith. They have a great goaltender in Martin Biron.
Anyone still feel like this series is going to be a cakewalk? When you consider the Flyers had 7 players with 20 goals this year, and the number 2 powerplay in the league, they match-up quite well with the Canadiens. As we all know the Habs had the best powerplay, 5 players with 40 assists or more, and 7 over the 50-point plateau.
It would be foolish to use the regular season games between these two teams, as any indication of how this series will go. The Flyers, who just beat the Capitals in 7 grueling games, are not the same Flyers that were outscored 15-6 in 4 games versus the Canadiens this season.
Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev are going to see a healthy dose of Kimmo Timmonen, and his partner Braydon Coburn. Both rearguards took Ovechkin off the scoresheet for three games in the first round. Plekanec, and the Kostitsyns will get their dose of Smith and Hatcher. The question is, how much can the third, and fourth lines for Montreal, wear down those four guys throughout the series?
The offensive potential on both teams is enough to carry either one past the second round. The difference in this series comes down to Carey Price and Martin Biron, who are both playing their second playoff series’ of their respective careers.
Andrei Markov and Mark Streit combined for 3 points in the first round. If they can’t contribute to the offense in this series, Montreal could be in trouble. It’s not so much that they have to hit the scoresheet, but they need to effectively get the powerplay rolling. The rest of the defense has to take every opportunity they have to join the rush, in order to invoke the speed game Montreal needs to play in order to win.
This is going to be the most physical, smash mouth series of these playoffs. It’ll involve everything we love about this game: high-octane scoring, big hits, fights, great saves, and probably a bit of overtime.
It starts tonight…7:00pm at the Bell Centre. Enjoy it!!!
Canadiens in 7.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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