PREVIEW 7:00 AM EDT
Looking to take a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Flyers would be well served to break their habit of falling behind early and needing comebacks to win games.
Philly's recovery from a 3-0 deficit in Game 1 -- not to mention numerous comebacks against Pittsburgh and other top clubs in the regular season -- proved yet again that they are never out of a game. Nevertheless, a club can only go to the well so many times.
Winning Game 1 of a series bodes well for a team because it mathematically means the losing side is forced to win two games in a row at some point if it is to advance. Of course, this current Penguins team remains every bit as capable of winning the series as the Flyers do. One game really is just that in such an evenly matched series.
On Wednesday night, the Penguins came out with breakneck speed in the first period, dictating both the territorial advantage and the physical play for the first 12 minutes or so. The Flyers were unable to weather the storm, falling into a 2-0 hole that became 3-0 on a fluky last-minute goal that started with a blown icing call.
Tonight, the Penguins are going to try to throw a similar blitz at Philly early in the game. The Flyers need to maintain a tight forward-to-D gap, with plenty of puck support. Avoiding turnovers from the defensive slot out to the offensive blueline is a must. Even in the second period of Game 1, the Flyers were guilty of some low-percentage decision making that led to odd-man rushes for the Penguins.
Philly cannot play with fire like that again. If a single one of those post-first period Pittsburgh outnumbered rushes had been converted into a goal, we would talking today about Philly trying to salvage a split tonight rather than trying to bring the series back to Philadelphia with a 2-0 advantage.
Neither Evgeni Malkin's line nor the Claude Giroux line was much of a factor on Wednesday. That needs to change for both teams, while both the Sidney Crosby and Danny Briere lines will look to continue their excellence from the opener. Brayden Schenn in particular was a force for Philly in the first game, and Briere showed once again why he is the NHL's leading playoff goal scorer since the 2004-05 lockout.
Beyond that, the Flyers need to hit the same notes they did over the latter 63 minutes of the game. They played a tremendous game on special teams, and need to continue that in Game 2. Ilya Bryzgalov had little to no chance on either of the first two Pittsburgh goals (the third one was kind of a funky one) and settled in very nicely thereafter.
The Flyers lost defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon to an upper-body injury in Game 1. As of now, it looks like semi-healthy veteran defenseman Pavel Kubina will be back in the lineup. Defenseman Matt Niskanen is not expected to be ready to play for Pittsburgh.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
FLYERS
Hartnell - Giroux - Jagr
Schenn - Briere - Simmonds
Talbot - Couturier - Voracek/Rinaldo
Wellwood - Read - Rinaldo/Voracek
Carle - Timonen
Grossmann - Coburn
Lilja - Kubina
Bryzgalov
[Bobrovsky]
PENGUINS
Kunitz - Malkin - Neal
Sullivan - Crosby - Dupuis
Cooke - Staal - Kennedy
Adams - Vitale - Asham
Martin - Letang
Orpik - Michalek
Lovejoy - Engelland
Fleury
[Johnson]
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The NHL's Colin Campbell officially apologized to the Penguins for the obvious blown offside call that led to Briere's first goal of the game. I have no problem with that.
However, the Flyers are still awaiting their apology (or at least plausible explanation) for the blown first-period icing call. Oh and while the NHL is an apologetic mood, Philadelphia's wait for a league apology is now 22 years and counting for the non-calls on Denis Potvin's blatantly high-sticked goal and even more blatant offside committed on Brent Sutter's goal in Game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup Final.
The truth of the matter is that the non-calls in Game 1 ultimately evened out. Officials are human, too, and there are inevitably numerous other points within the game that contribute to a win or a loss.
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