The Flyers did plenty of good things in game one of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the Buffalo Sabres. Unfortunately, they just couldn't put the puck in the net. It was a game in which the Flyers were the better forechecking team, defended well and got good goaltending except for one bad rebound that led to the game's only goal.

As a result, the Sabres now have a win in the cash register. I'm not necessarily worried about a loss on home ice. However, in order to gain an upper-hand in the series, it now puts immense pressure on the team to win three of the next four games with game 2 being an absolute must.

The Sabres are capable of playing considerably better than they did last night. They never really got their transition game going and were contained along the perimeter most of the game. In their own end of the ice, they boxed out the front of the net well and blocked a lot of shots, so the Flyers will need to adjust a bit. With Buffalo only scoring one goal, Ryan Miller basically stole a game for his team, but the rest of the squad is capable of beating the Flyers on their own merits.

The one thing the Flyers can't do moving forward is fall into the trap that Montreal fell into against Philly in 2008. In that series, Guy Carbonneau stubbornly insisted his team was doing everything right, even as they couldn't beat Martin Biron and were losing low-scoring games. After five games, the Habs were on the golf course.

Let's revisit last night's keys the game for the Flyers (which will be the same key's for every game of the series), and see how they fared.


1) Be hungrier for the puck, keep the game simple and render Ryan Miller a non-factor.

The Flyers did fine in winning the puck battles. They had the superior forecheck in the game. However, with Miller being the story of the game, the Flyers failed in the most important part of the equation.

What more can the Flyers do? For starters, they can do a better job generating screens and deflections. There were only a couple of instances last night where Miller had to fight off a screen. I don't recall a single deflection. Miller allowed almost no rebounds last night, so that's another area where Philly needs to improve. Put more pucks right at his feet.

The Sabres' goalie tracked the puck like a hawk, never panicked when the Flyers got a few close-range chances and scrambles ensued around the crease and was always in the right position. When a goalie is playing like that, you have to score goals where he has no chance to make the save.

Lastly, some of the Flyers' best scoring chances last night never even got through to Miller because they were blocked by the Sabres. Gotta get those on net.


2) Put the regular season power play struggles in the rear-view mirror.

Major failure in this regard for the Flyers. They went 0-for-5 on the power play, including a failed 5-on-3. On two of the man advantages, the Flyers generated good puck movement but the final opportunity (trailing 1-0 in the third period) was the weakest.


3) Sergei Bobrovsky needs to make Buffalo earn their goals.

Bobrovsky played a strong game. He passed several difficult tests throughout the game, and was aggressive in challenging the shooters. Yes, he allowed a bad rebound on Patrick Kaleta's goal -- exactly the type of rebounds that Miller was NOT leaving out -- but sometimes the team in front needs to clean up rebounds and make sure everyone is marked. I can't fault Bobrovsky for allowing one goal in a game, and a goal in which the scorer had a wide open net at that. Once the rebound got out, Bob was helpless.


4) Match the Sabres work ethic.

The Flyers absolutely matched -- and often surpassed -- the Sabres' work ethic in the game. The lopsided number of giveaways in the game through the first two periods (10-2) were evidence of the Flyers doing a better job on the forecheck. Buffalo picked up its game a bit in the third period but it was anyone's game until the final buzzer.

5) Walk the line between aggressiveness and recklessness.

The Flyers did this very well last night. They matched their regular season high with 40 credited hits, yet they also stayed out of the penalty box. That's another reason why it was disappointing that the result wasn't there on the scoreboard.

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