Flyers steamroll Devils
Flyers 4, Devils 1
Flyers steamroll Devils
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Everyone knew the stakes. To state them was to state the obvious. Peter Laviolette did not mind stating them, either -- that a win in Game 4 would put the Flyers in a great position and that a loss to the New Jersey Devils would put them back in the soup. Reality. Deal with it. Laviolette is that way.
The guy is a truth-teller. Behind the bench, a very public place, and in the dressing room, a very private place, he can be a loud truth-teller. It seems pretty obvious that he does not mind acknowledging either good or bad.
What he has now is good. What he has now is a team that is on the verge of steamrolling the favored Devils out of the first round of the playoffs. Steamrolling; the the exact right word after this one, after a 4-1 Flyers victory that was all about a tremendous wave of physical momentum that absolutely engulfed the Devils at the Wachovia Center.
If you want to count all of the good things that happened to the Flyers, it might take all night. Jeff Carter, scoreless in the first three games, scored twice. Danny Briere, also scoreless, also got a goal. Brian Boucher again was excellent in goal. The Devils’ Marty Brodeur was not excellent in goal. And after again having to overcome a slew of early penalties, and a 1-0 Devils lead, the Flyers kicked in the door starting in the second period and didn’t stop kicking until the final horn.
Now they head to Newark for Game 5 on Thursday night, with the Devils facing elimination and probably ready to offer their best effort in reply. It does not get easier.
And on it goes. The stakes are so significant and they make for nervous days and nervous weeks. Talking about all of that at lunchtime on Tuesday, Laviolette said that one element of playoff hockey is easier -- the fact that you are preparing for the same team, night after night, and not worrying about a whole new set of bodies and styles every other game. But that is the only easier part.
I mean, just consider the emotional edge this team has been on for a couple of weeks now, as a playoff spot began to slip away and was then recaptured at the last possible moment, in a shootout in the last game of the season against the Rangers.
“The intensity goes up -- everybody feels that,” Laviolette was saying. “That’s what makes Game 7s and overtimes great -- everything kind of ratchets up. Is it easier to sleep after the first game of the year as opposed to going into a Game 7? Yeah, probably. But that’s what’s great about playoff hockey.
“It’s rare in the world to get the feeling you get, like we had at the end of Game 82, or like when you win in overtime like we did the other night. The highs are really high, I guess more so in playoffs than at any other point in the year.”
Enjoy it?
“Not right now,” Laviolette said, laughing. “When you look back, and you have successfully navigated to the point where you’re the last one standing, that’s the journey and that also goes with the highs and lows. The highs are in there, the lows are in there, that’s part of the whole ride. That’s what you really enjoy about it. You don’t enjoy when you’re on the bad end of something or when things don’t go your way. If you are high, you can quickly get knocked down to reality. That’t the process that I was talking about, that ride, where you look back and say, ‘That was awesome.’”
The Flyers are not there yet, not nearly. But they are one game away from a place that most did not expect even a week ago. A good place, but not there, not yet.
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Booooosh!!!— scribbles- gagne?— Beartha
- CONGRATULATION FLYERS. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND FINISH IT !! KEEP THE PRESSURE ON AND WIN THIS SERIES. YOU GUYS ARE GETTING BETTER AND BETTER EVERY GAME. KEEP THE PRESSURE ON AND GET IT DONE !!!— longislandflyerfan
- I can't believe the difference in how the teams have looked. The Devils look bad, really bad. Other than Kovalchuk dancing around, their team is basically the same, invisible player. Is Zach Parise even playing in this series?— duffers
- i can't wait for the haters like 35-years and Neutron to air their negative problems on this board while we continue to celebrate. See yas in the 2nd Round. I AM IMPRESSED!!!!— seaonasdad
- Keep it coming boys! Great decisive win for game 4! Bring on game 5!— PhoenixFlyer
- I wonder if the idiot who lives in his parents basement and posts minute after minute starting at 5am, using these names, Big Tom Threw3, The General, The Warrior, Tonka, FlyersLosersfor35Years, and any other stupid names he has for himself watched the game tonight.— Lintltj5
- Still nervous about simon but other than that amazing game by the boys. I love seeing Carcillo's reaction the last 2 times he scored, he constantly looks like the most shocked person in the arena. The Defense infront of Boosh stepped up again. Now I know this team's chances will be limited but if they are facing Washington next round, I like the odds of them atleast making it a competitive series. LETS GO FLYERS!!!!!!!!!— Phillyaddicted
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This is the difference between a team being built to win a division - Devils - and being built to win playoff rounds - Flyers. The Caps - the likely next-round opponent - can't take 6 or 7 games against this Flyers team either. Flyers in 6 over the Devils, Flyers in 6 or 7 over the Caps to meet the Pens in the East finals. And the Pens won't know what hit them this time around.- Comment removed.
- scribbles - is that all you know how to say?
- F-general, warrior sucking big tom's tonka ! awesome game ! I am not Oppressed !— love park
