In the rubble of what started out as a glorious playoff run, it is tough to focus on what was overall a season of progress for the Philadelphia Flyers. I feel better about the current club heading into the offseason than a year ago. For now, though, what's front and center is the sting of losing four games in a row to New Jersey and actually finishing with a losing record (5-6) in the playoffs for the second straight year.
Somewhere in between Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal and the handshake line at the end of Game 5, the Devils' game-in-and-game-out consistency won out convincingly over the Flyers' sporadic bursts of momentum and longer stretches in which they couldn't do much of anything right. Plain and simple, the Devils were the better team in all three zones of the ice.
In the defensive zone, New Jersey forced the Flyers to have to work extremely hard simply get the puck cleared or covered. In the neutral zone, the Flyers were often caught stationary or surrounded and had precious few chances to carry the puck in the zone. In the attack zone, the Devils had superior puck support against a mostly ineffectual Philadelphia forecheck. New Jersey won most of the battles along the walls and prevented the Flyers’ wingers from getting to the net.
In terms of specific areas that cost the Flyers' dearly in Game 5 and throughout the series, here is an abbreviated list in no particular order:
* The Flyers struggled against defensively disciplined system teams most of the season. Peter Laviolette changed personnel around against New Jersey but tactical adjustments were either lacking or simply not executed very well. Either which way, the coach has to take a share of the blame. Pete DoBoer outcoached Laviolette in the series.
* There was a major discrepancy in the effectiveness of the wingers on both teams. New Jersey wingers scored 11 goals in the series. Philadelphia wingers scored just 3 goals (technically 4, because Brayden Schenn was playing a wing rather than center when he scored in the first period Game 3) for the entire series. For more on this aspect,
click here.
* Ilya Bryzgalov actually played pretty well throughout the series when it came to stopping non-deflected shots and rebounds from in close. But his puck handling was a ticking time bomb. The bomb went off in the first period last night on New Jersey's backbreaking second goal. I still have no idea why Bryzgalov didn't cover the puck rather than trying to play through David Clarkson. For those who blame Kimmo Timonen for the mishap, it's not all that uncommon for a defenseman to play the puck back to his goalie. That one was on Bryzgalov alone for taking too long and then making the ill-advised flip of the puck right into Clarkson and the net.
* The Flyers' special teams play in the series was sporadic. The club actually scored a power play goal in three of the five games, but they also came up small at crucial junctures. Last night there was only one opportunity on the man advantage. The penalty killing was strong at times, awful at other times.
* The Flyers were a disciplined team in avoiding bad penalties in five of the six Pittsburgh games. Against the Devils, they gave into frustration and took some awful penalties. Last night, James van Riemsdyk's offensive zone horse collar of a penalty turned into New Jersey's third period insurance goal a mere four seconds later. Meanwhile, Claude Giroux took himself out of the final game due to his suspension. Last night's game was one where Giroux individually could have made a difference during the long stretch in which it was a one-goal game. He has no one but himself to blame; it's not Brendan Shanahan's fault.
* New Jersey had absolutely no fear of the Flyers' defensemen burning them on pinches or point shots. They had the Flyers' well-scouted, and that enabled New Jersey to constantly have puck support lower in the zone. Only once, when Matt Carle scored in Game 3, did that strategy backfire on the Devils.
* It is crazy to fathom the notion that the team that scored first during the Flyers' playoff run lost 10 of the 11 games they played. The Flyers were 1-6 when scoring first and 4-0 when trailing first. There is no logical explanation for why it played out that way, except that I don't think the Flyers would have fared any better in Games 2-5 if they had played from behind.
* After Game 1, the Flyers failed to score in the second or third periods of three of the remaining four games. Only in the overtime loss in Game 3 did Philly find the net after the first period. Game 3 was arguably the most evenly played game of the series. Philly controlled more than two-thirds of Game 1 against a tired New Jersey team and the Devils were in command for most of Games 2, 4, and 5.
* It takes a little bit of good luck in the injury department to make it deep in the playoffs. The Flyers had a lot of key personnel playing pretty severely banged up. But the Devils are in the same boat, along with every team in the playoffs. It's not a good excuse.
Starting tomorrow, I will begin to pull together thoughts on the off-season. I will continue blogging on daily basis so keep visiting HockeyBuzz throughout the playoffs and the summer time. There is no off-season here!
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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