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Do the Flyers Still Believe? Meszaros Back? + Thoughts on Last Night. |
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Update...according to Source, "Meszaros better than 50/50 for tonight."
First off...thoughts on last night....
On Rangers/Capitals.
I mean, come on. Can this series show us a little excitement? I do feel terrible for Joel Ward. It was a penalty. It was the right call. But I also feel it was totally unintended and it was just a guy giving 110% while getting tied up as he tried to get to his point man. But to me...this game and maybe this series may have been won in the third period when Lundqvist was just unbelievable or the Rangers would have never had a chance. That being said, give me the heart of either of these teams any day of the week. I wish Game 6 was tonight, and all I want out of this series now is a 7th game.
On Nashville/Phoenix
The Coyotes are the best coached team in hockey. Bar none. They don't have nearly the skill level of any of the teams in the playoffs, but they truly believe in what it is they are doing. And absolute confidence is absolutely lethal. Mike Smith, and it couldn't happen to a better guy, is playing unreal goal. If someone where to tell me we were watching a Disney sequel to "Angels in the Outfield" called "Angels in the Goal Crease" I would believe it. The Predators threw all they had and more at the Coyotes. In all my time watching hockey I would have a tough time remembering a playoff series loser who worked harder than Nashville. They tried EVERYTHING. They rushed the net, got traffic, shot for deflections, skated harder, forechecked, backchecked...you name it. The Coyotes are going to be VERY hard for the Kings to defeat. And the Kings are playing about as well as any team entering the Conference Final I can remember.
How Can the Flyers Win Tonight?
There is a common thread among the teams left playing in the NHL. It isn't about talent. It is all about desperation. And it is all about playing all four lines in all three zones for all three (sometimes 4,5,6) periods.
Coming off the Penguins series we knew the Flyers were due a let down. What I didn't see coming is the bad habits the Flyers developed in the first round of the playoffs.
* The Penguins were not hard on the forecheck, so the Flyers could leave their own zone at will. They didn't need to make the quick decisions against the Penguins that are required in this series.
* The Penguins had the least active sticks in the defensive zone of any team I can remember. Especially on the power play. The Flyers could skate the puck around, basically at will on the power play. The Devils have active sticks. The Devils have their heads on a swivel.
* The Penguins had stars the defense could key on. The Devils have had 7 Game Winning Goals in these playoffs from 7 different players.
In the first round of the playoffs there were 7 playoffs series, and then there was Pittsburgh/Philly. In all the other playoff series the teams learned how to play more desperate hockey. They learned how play defensive playoff hockey. The Flyers haven't gotten there yet. If you had turned on Game 4 at any point, and not known the score in the series or the game, you would have sworn the Devils were a team fighting for their playoff lives....not a team trying to get a 3-1 lead.
Tonight is gut check time for these Flyers. Claude Giroux's absence will not be the difference in tonight's game. Remember what I said earlier....these playoffs are about all four lines in all three zones for all three (sometimes 4,5,6) periods.
I did a radio show last night and I was asked "What is it you see in these Flyers that tells you they can turn around a series they have been dominated in so far?"
Tough question, but after I paused I said, "They aren't a team that cares about trailing...at all. They prefer to be the underdog. They prefer when they are counted out. There is some of this that is a carry over from the 3-0 Bruins series, but this year it has been more obvious than ever before. They are much better chasing the game than they are at holding a lead."
It is the strangest thing to be around, but they really don't care about getting good starts. They pretend to. They say all the right things. But it's almost because they are supposed to say those things. They truthfully don't care if they score first. They always believe they can come from behind and get the right bounce. They aren't a cocky group, but they are a team who feels they can out skate anyone and they believe they can turn it on at any time. It's high risk/ high reward hockey. And it can fail them here, because while they are talented, they are also young.
The 2011-2012 Flyers are an optimistic group. A combination of guys too young to know they can be beaten and veterans who exhale optimism in everything they do on and off the ice. What that translates into tonight we will see. Will the Flyers continue to try and run and gun or will they join up with all the other teams we have seen in the NHL and play defense first hockey?
The Devils could come out and dominate them tonight...but covering this Flyers team you sort of get used to expecting the unexpected. Being around these Flyers the impression I get is not a team down 3-1, but a team who is just happy to have a game tonight. They see this as a marathon. And as frustrated as they are after a game it vanishes in optimism....over and over again.
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