PREVIEW 6:45 AM EDT

The Flyers will look to avoid a sweep and prolong their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with the Boston Bruins when the teams face off in Game 4 tonight. Two of the three games played so far have been blowouts and Boston has been the better team in 8 of the 9 regulation periods played so far.

I'll spare you the cliches about the fourth win being the toughest. That's only the case if the team that's trailing in the series skates hard and competes to the bitter end. Just as often, the trailing team wilts and resigns itself to its fate as soon as adversity sets in. From a Flyers standpoint, the biggest frustration with the series has been the lack of energy and competitiveness against a hungry Bruins team that has been played strong, physical hockey.

If the Flyers can dig deep and win this game, they may be able to plant a tiny seed of doubt in the Bruins' minds. But in order to send this series back to Philadelphia for Game 5, the Flyers are going to have to be much better in every single facet of the game -- goaltending, team defense, forechecking, faceoffs, hitting, playmaking, finishing, etc -- than they were in Games 1 and 3 and the first two periods of Game 2.

I will be brutally honest here: Philly looks like a banged-up club that's out of gas and lacks the goaltending to hold them close enough to scratch out a win (let alone four) against Boston. Last year when Philadelphia came back from 0-3 to win the series, the Flyers were healthier, the Bruins were banged up and less gritty than they are now. Even if Philly can muster a sustained effort like they showed in the third period and portion of overtime in Game 2, they still have to deal with solving Tim Thomas.

But here's the funny thing about hockey. If the Flyers win tonight, the mindset of the series shifts from Boston having dominated to Philly having been just a third period or OT goal in Game 2 away from having sent the series back to Philly tied 2-2. After Game 3 of the Chicago-Vancouver series, I certainly would not have predicted that the spent-looking Blackhawks would have taken the series to seven games -- and come within a whisker in OT of completing a comeback from 0-3.

As long as there is hockey left to be played, never say never.

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