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Flyers React to Elimination

May 9, 2012, 4:21 PM ET [32 Comments]
Tim Panaccio
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Understatement of the day: Mark Spector saying in Edmonton, what does it tell you when the Flyers admit they were outworked on pucks in a playoff series? Is that's what this team was built for?

Indeed, there was so much to pick apart about the Flyers epic - and that is the only word here - collapse against the New Jersey Devils.

Here's what the players were saying after the game:

Max Talbot:

“It went by fast, that’s for sure. You turn around and obviously beating Pittsburgh was really emotional. It was something that was a big challenge for us. We put a lot into it. You want to give credit to the Devils because they’re a solid team. They played really well. They knew we were going to play after the whistle and stuff like that. They stayed away, played smart. Every time you get beat you give the other team credit because they played solid. They’re a tough team to play against, but it’s obviously disappointing because you come back and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins who are supposed to be the cup favorite and obviously you’re confident moving onto the second round and all of a sudden you turn around and are down three to one and now you’re done. It’s obviously disappointing.”

Jaromir Jagr:

"It was totally different game. Totally different series against Pittsburgh. It was more up-and-down hockey, not very much battle on the boards, more 3 on 2 one way, 3 on 2 the other way, and it looked like it’s a better game for us. This series was totally different. It was a lot of battle on the boards, a lot of cycle, esepcialy from their side. We spent a lot more time in our zone. When they had the puck, they were pretty good to play on the boards for a long time."

Coach Peter Laviolette:

“There’s a couple games that I’ll look back on I think with disappointment. We didn’t play a better brand of our hockey, and then in the other three games I thought that our guys were trying to play that style and trying to play that brand but I think you have to give New Jersey credit for the way that they played defensively, they fore-checked it, kept it from being the game that we wanted. We could never seem to get down that road.”

Kimmo Timonen:

"Well, they played their system to the maximum I think. There really weren’t any breakdowns, you know. There weren’t any easy goals going in. We had to work on every puck and every battle. They really did a great job. They played like the Rangers, I think the same way. There is something to it, we didn't beat the Rangers this year at all, so we have to find a way to beat those guys the way they play and you know obviously the Pittsburgh series was up and down and that's good for us because we can score early and if there's any turnovers. There were a lot of mistakes in that series and there were a lot of goals too, but teams who were playing really tight defense like these guys and the Rangers, we had a tough time this year."

Scott Hartnell:

"They were stingy. They were tight. You had to fight for every inch of ice that you got. When you had some time and space in the offensive zone, it seemed like they closed pretty fast. You had to make plays fast and it seemed like they were a step forward the whole series.

"They played a lot like the Rangers. We got the puck in the corner on a soft chip and it seemed like they had four guys on you in the corner. It is probably one of the biggest reasons why we couldn't beat the Rangers this year. They just smothered you, three or four guys on you in the zone. It was tough to make plays when your back is against the wall or out in the ice. It is definitely frustrating, but we did have chances. We had a post there and Danny [Briere] on a cough up by [Martin] Brodeur and if that goes in that could have been a whole different story."

Claude Giroux:

"It doesn't matter who we knocked off, we just had to be ready for the next series. I think we were thinking we were going to walk over to New Jersey and they'll fall a little bit. I guess we've got to learn from it. They are a good hockey team. They are well balanced and they played a pretty good series."
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