Successful hockey teams have tunnel vision, especially in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The entire focus needs to be on the next shift, the next game, the next series. Dwell too long on a single small victory and the fruits of labor may quickly prove disappointing. Spend too much time lamenting -- rather than actively correcting -- mistakes and the problems are sure to compound.
Statistically speaking, teams that win the first game of a series go on to prevail in the series about 60 percent of the time. Then again, statistics show that the team that scores first in a game wins it better than 70 percent of the time. Teams that take three-goal leads win over 95 percent of the time. A statistic is just that -- a figure, a history, a percentage to show probability. It's never an absolute.
This is what is absolute: There is long, long road between the opening win and being the team with the smiles on their faces in the handshake line at the conclusion of the series.
The Flyers are already in a better position in this series than they were in either the 2008 (lost first two in Pittsburgh en route to a 3-0 series deficit) or 2009 (lost opening two on road en route to a 3-1 deficit) playoff meetings with the Penguins. Now they will try to bring the series back to Philadelphia with a 2-0 lead.
Even before last night's game, the Flyers had confidence in their ability to come back in games when the opposition scores first. They had already done it in five games against the Penguins alone in the regular season (going 3-2-0 when Pittsburgh scored first). In two games, Philly erased two-goal deficits and went on to win. So the Flyers -- and the Penguins -- already knew a game against Philly isn't necessarily a first-goal-wins battle. It's a 60 minute (or more) struggle.
But three-goal comebacks are exceptionally difficult. The Flyers are extremely fortunate to be the team with the 1-0 lead in the series this morning. There are only so many times a club -- even a resilient, talented and determined one -- can chase games before the comeback well runs dry.
That said, the Flyers now have a significant psychological advantage on the Penguins even though both teams will deny it to the hilt. All of the pressure is on Pittsburgh, who were the near consensus pre-series favorite, to earn the split before the series shifts to Philly.
Venue is not the issue here. The issue is that then Penguins are very well aware that getting a lead against the Flyers is only half the battle. It's holding the advantage that has often proven elusive. That's where maintaining tunnel vision is easier said than done.
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In the first period of last night's game, the Flyers ran into the business end of a Penguins buzz saw. The Pens came at Philly with tremendous speed, which enabled them not only to create scoring chances but also to blast Flyers' players with huge hits. Philly struggled to cut down the forward-to-defense gap, and Pittsburgh forecheckers were always ready to pounce on any mistake.
The first Penguins goal was not really a mistake by Philly so much as a great play by Sidney Crosby. Braydon Coburn battled Crosby in the corner, so Nicklas Grossmann rotated over to his partner's side as the puck went back to the point. Grossmann made a nice shot block, turning his skate to deaden the puck. In a flash, Crosby peeled away from Coburn and chipped the puck on the backhand over Ilya Bryzgalov a fraction of a second after the blocked shot.
The Pens' second goal came on a 2-on-1 rush off an initial stretch pass. Both Andreas Lilja and Marc-Andre Bourdon went to the same man and Jaromir Jagr wasn't able to cover Tyler Kennedy on the backcheck. On this one, Bryzgalov had virtually no chance of making a save.
With the Penguins off to a 2-0 start, the Flyers needed to start establishing some positives. They did get a few good forechecking shifts -- especially one by Brayden Schenn -- in the latter part of the period but were unable to cut into the deficit. It also didn't help that Jagr gained a breakaway on Marc-Andre Fleury but was not able to finish it.
The last thing the Flyers needed was what happened in the final minute of the period. An apparent Pittsburgh icing was washed out at the last split second for no explicable reason (the Pens did not get to it first nor was it playable before crossing the icing line). As play continued, Pascal Dupuis' poke at the puck crawled across Bryzgalov's back -- possibly going off Grossmann first -- hit the goalie's stick and went into the net.
Over the remainder of the game, Bryzgalov did a tremendous job of stopping the bleeding and making whatever saves were necessary to build momentum toward the eventual comeback. The Penguins had several odd-man rushes, especially in the second period, and also had three power play before the Flyers' got their only man advantage of the game.
Fleury ended up having a rather uneven performance. He made several outstanding saves, robbing Scott Hartnell and Jakub Voracek in particular. But he started to look a bit skittish around his net as the Philadelphia comeback started to gather steam.
The non-call breaks evened out when Danny Briere scored Philly's first goal of the game. Briere was way offside -- it wasn't even close -- but play continued and the NHL's leading playoff goal scorer since the lockout took it from there as play continued. He beat Fleury upstairs to narrow the deficit to two goals.
In the third period, Briere's second goal of the game was scored from a tough angle. He got rid of the puck in a flash and benefited from an accidental screen (and possible slight deflection) set up by Crosby on his own goaltender. After that goal, the Penguins' defense and Fleury began to look increasingly rattled.
Coming into the game, I was worried that Philly might lose the match on special teams. In particular, I was concerned whether the chip fracture in Bryzgalov's foot would enable him to move fast enough laterally if the Penguins went cross-ice. Recovery time on second-chance opportunities also worried me. As it turned out, Philly won the special teams battles.
The Flyers killed off three penalties before finally getting their own power play in the third period. They took full advantage, gaining the zone on a rush and then getting a Schenn deflection goal to tie the game at 3-3.
Overtime was brief and controlled by the Flyers. Jordan Staal, Kris Letang and Fleury all fumbled around on the sequence that ended with an open Jakub Voracek putting the puck into the net to complete the comeback with a victory.
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There was one casualty in last night's game: the Flyers lost Marc-Andre Bourdon midway through the game. He is officially day-to-day. Even before the injury, the rookie looked nervous in his first NHL playoff game. The pairing of Bourdon and Andreas Lilja was by far the shakiest of the three Philadelphia units (even though it was the Grossmann-Coburn pairing that ended up being out on the ice for two of the three Pens' goals).
Pavel Kubina was "officially" a healthy scratch in last night's game. He was available to play but really does not look like someone who has been playing at anywhere close to full health. He had struggled since returning from his upper body injury, so it was only a mild surprise that Peter Laviolette went with Lilja and Bourdon over the former All-Star.
It remains to be seen if Bourdon will be ready to go on Friday. Lilja settled in as the game moved along. However, the thought of a Lilja-Kubina pairing is a concern because they are the two slowest-skating defensemen on the team. The counterbalance is their size and shot-blocking ability as well as Kubina's passing and shooting skills.
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My segment on Dave Heller's
NewsWorks Tonight on WHYY is now available online for those interested in hearing it.
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