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Where's the Jam?

May 4, 2012, 11:07 AM ET [9 Comments]
Tim Panaccio
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The game sheet from the Flyers 4-3 overtime loss in New Jersey on Thursday has the Flyers with 27 hits.

That's about two dozen more in Game 3 than I saw.

Where's the 'jam' as Peter Laviolette likes to say? The Flyers are being pushed around in all three zones. They're light on the puck. Their forecheck isn't very good. The Devils get the puck and cycle the hell out of it, literally getting the Flyers to run around in their own zone.

Yet what really stuns me is how the Flyers vaunted power play - now 2 for 17 in the series - is hesitant to do anything.

I asked Danny Briere the first question last night about the power play and he spoke for several minutes, ripping everything about it, even admitting that he had not been critical in Game 2 thinking it wouldn't serve any positive purpose but now it was time to unload.

"The power plays cost us the game tonight, all around," Briere began. "I was trying to protect it the first two games, saying that good things were going to happen, it’s just a matter of time.

"But the last two games, the all around effort on the power play is just not good enough.

"It seems like we just think that they’re going to let us do whatever we want out there. Their penalty-kill unit is outworking us by a mile. It’s the reason why we lost the last two games.

"If the power play’s hungry, it’s a different story. We could be up 3-0 instead of down 2-1. The 10 to 12 guys that are on the power play, it’s time to step up here now and want to be out there. It’s an honor to be out there. Right now, we take it for granted."

The Devils penalty killers are outworking the Flyers. They were No. 1 in the NHL during the regular season but if you check the stats, much like the Flyers, the Devils PK has been poor in the playoffs.

"Yes, they are, they’re coming after us," Briere said. "But we’re trying to do everything by ourselves. We’re not winning any battles by ourselves.

"We know they’re coming hard, but we’re not playing for each other. Either we’re not getting in there to help someone out.

"They’re shorthanded and they’re outnumbering us to the puck left and right. When I say that, I include myself too. I’m in the group. We all have to be better on the power play."

This is the first time in the playoffs the Flyers find themselves behind the proverbial 8-ball and trailing in the series. The pressure now is on them to tie the series or risk being eliminated on home ice in Game 5.

"I guess we’re down 2-1, I guess pressure’s on us, you’re right," said Claude Giroux, who has not looked like himself in this series.

"There’s no guys on this team that’s gonna quit and there’s gonna be a wake-up call. There’s a good series now and they’re a good team.

"They can score goals. They can play good defensively and I think we need to wake it up a little bit."

I consider Game 4 on Sunday a "must" win because the Flyers have been so badly outplayed in the series and need to come back home with confidence that they played more toward their style and have tied the series.

Here's some stories from CSNPhilly.com on the game last night:
click here
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