Penguins steal series from Flyers; what's next?
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Penguins steal series from Flyers; what's next?
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Somehow, the Flyers aren’t going to Pittsburgh on Monday.
Somehow, they blew a 3-0 lead and dropped a season-ending 5-3 decision to the resilient Pittsburgh Penguins before a stunned sellout crowd at the Wachovia Center Saturday.
Somehow, they lost the series, four games to two, even though they outplayed the Penguins from the second period of Game 2 until early in the second period of Saturday’s Game 6.
They lost, in part, because the Penguins’ marquee players, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, totally outplayed Flyers’ stars Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. And because the Flyers, with their season on the line, were outshot by a 28-14 margin in the final two periods Saturday.
Outshot and outplayed.
So where do the Flyers go from here?
Well, because a $29 million cap hit next year will be tied to five players _ Carter, Richards, Danny Briere, Simon Gagne and Kimmo Timonen _ the Flyers won’t have a lot of flexibility in the off-season.
That said, it’s important to remember that this series was virtually even, that the Flyers could have easily won it with a call here, a save there.
Wholesale changes aren’t needed. But the team needs more physicality from its defensemen.
Never was that more evident than Saturday, when two of the Penguins’ goals were scored when players batted pucks out of the air and into the net.
I’m in the minority of people who think the Flyers can compete for the Stanley Cup with Marty Biron as the goalie.
Biron wasn’t why the Flyers lost this series. He had a 2.29 goals-against average before Saturday, and only two of the Game 6 goals were his fault.
Re-sign Biron and get a crease-clearing defenseman like Montreal’s Mike Komisarek, a potential free agent. The Flyers missed the injured Derian Hatcher this year more than they will admit.
They need to sign or trade for a player with that type of grit, that kind of physical presence in front of the net.
Comments (58)
game 1 Philly simply doesn't show up,maybe they were wondering why game 1 was in the BURGH.Game 2 Philly actually shows up and plays extremely well.However the horrible(all series)officiating calls Hal Gill for a ridiculous penalty.Common sense tells you(Knuble)theres going to be a make-up call coming.So knuble cross checks Orpik(who definetly embellished).Then for whatever reason Giroux two hands Kunitz.So now we are on the PP and Geurin ends it.Game 3 the flyers simply show why Philly is a hard place to place in.They dominated the game and despite Kunitz almost knocking off Timmo's head the pens just can't seem to get ahead.Game 4 Fleury just stands "on his head",and the pens win.Game 5 Biron plays his best game of the series and stops all 15 shots in the first period.Asham beats Fleury with a rocket,and the flyers play their best defensive game of the series.The result is a dominating win by the Flyers.Game 6 Philly up by 3,Max Talbot decides to try and make up for his first period turn over.After the game Talbot doing an interview with WPXI in Pittsbugh says he asked Carcillo to fight him.Carcillo seemed reluctant too do so,until according to Talbot "the whole Flyers bench told him to drop the gloves".Talbot changed the momentum by getting his a** beat.Then Pens then score.Then Mark Eaton doing what you should goes to the net and bats one out of the air.Then the kid does the same,and all of a sudden the rowdy Wachovia center becomes a funeral home.Then Gonchar delivers the dagger.Crosby finishes it with the empty netter,quieting the "Crosby s*cks" chanters.Philly's lack to score on the PP,and inability to win faceoffs I think was the big difference in this series.Trust me I'm from PGH,and really don't like the Flyers,but after seeing some of the comments they aren't getting a fair shake.They got plenty of calls through out the series but just couldn't seal the deal.A rugged D-man to slow us down and you might have won.— pghforlife- game 1 Philly simply doesn't show up,maybe they were wondering why game 1 was in the BURGH.Game 2 Philly actually shows up and plays extremely well.However the horrible(all series)officiating calls Hal Gill for a ridiculous penalty.Common sense tells you(Knuble)theres going to be a make-up call coming.So knuble cross checks Orpik(who definetly embellished).Then for whatever reason Giroux two hands Kunitz.So now we are on the PP and Geurin ends it.Game 3 the flyers simply show why Philly is a hard place to place in.They dominated the game and despite Kunitz almost knocking off Timmo's head the pens just can't seem to get ahead.Game 4 Fleury just stands "on his head",and the pens win.Game 5 Biron plays his best game of the series and stops all 15 shots in the first period.Asham beats Fleury with a rocket,and the flyers play their best defensive game of the series.The result is a dominating win by the Flyers.Game 6 Philly up by 3,Max Talbot decides to try and make up for his first period turn over.After the game Talbot doing an interview with WPXI in Pittsbugh says he asked Carcillo to fight him.Carcillo seemed reluctant too do so,until according to Talbot "the whole Flyers bench told him to drop the gloves".Talbot changed the momentum by getting his a** beat.Then Pens then score.Then Mark Eaton doing what you should goes to the net and bats one out of the air.Then the kid does the same,and all of a sudden the rowdy Wachovia center becomes a funeral home.Then Gonchar delivers the dagger.Crosby finishes it with the empty netter,quieting the "Crosby s*cks" chanters.Philly's lack to score on the PP,and inability to win faceoffs I think was the big difference in this series.Trust me I'm from PGH,and really don't like the Flyers,but after seeing some of the comments they aren't getting a fair shake.They got plenty of calls through out the series but just couldn't seal the deal.A rugged D-man to slow us down and you might have won.— pghforlife
- EAGLES WEST: Your comments about how things are here in PGH are completely uncalled for.Just bc one person is an idiot doesn't mean you have to try and insult the entire city.LOL...this isn't farm land in Western PA.We aren't corn fed.I actually wish i was 6'4" 240 lbs.Some of us know how to dress,and i wouldn't wear sweatpants to the gym.LOL.Just bc one person is a moron doesn't mean you should insult the entire city :)— pghforlife
- EAGLES WEST: Your comments about how things are here in PGH are completely uncalled for.Just bc one person is an idiot doesn't mean you have to try and insult the entire city.LOL...this isn't farm land in Western PA.We aren't corn fed.I actually wish i was 6'4" 240 lbs.Some of us know how to dress,and i wouldn't wear sweatpants to the gym.LOL.Just bc one person is a moron doesn't mean you should insult the entire city :)— pghforlife
- EAGLES WEST: Your comments about how things are here in PGH are completely uncalled for.Just bc one person is an idiot doesn't mean you have to try and insult the entire city.LOL...this isn't farm land in Western PA.We aren't corn fed.I actually wish i was 6'4" 240 lbs.Some of us know how to dress,and i wouldn't wear sweatpants to the gym.LOL.Just bc one person is a moron doesn't mean you should insult the entire city :)— pghforlife
- EAGLES WEST: Your comments about how things are here in PGH are completely uncalled for.Just bc one person is an idiot doesn't mean you have to try and insult the entire city.LOL...this isn't farm land in Western PA.We aren't corn fed.I actually wish i was 6'4" 240 lbs.Some of us know how to dress,and i wouldn't wear sweatpants to the gym.LOL.Just bc one person is a moron doesn't mean you should insult the entire city :)— pghforlife
- In the 2009 season (including the playoffs) the Pens won 8 games vs 4 for the Flyers... that's double the wins folks...the Pens are the better team with the better players. Just the facts... Have a great off season thinking about that one.— bill_the_sore_loser
- Oh my... Three things can't be argued: 1. The better team won. The Pens have better talent, more team discipline and are better coached. 2. The Philadelphia press and Philadelphia fans like to make excuses. It's a bad habit. Read the Pittsburgh papers (online) after a loss; the focus is on our team's shortcomings, not the luck of the other. 3. Pittsburgh hockey fans and Philadelphia hockey fans share little in common. Pittsburgh Steeler fans and Philadelphia Eagle fans have a lot in common. The Pirates don't have enough serious fans to warrant a comparison with the Phillies. By the way, these comparisons are not flattering to Philadelphia hockey fans or Pittsburgh Steeler fans... I wouldn't hesitate to take my children to a Pen's game. However, I wouldn't take them to a Steeler's game for the same reasons I wouldn't take them to an Eagle's or Flyer's game. Bad behavior isn't tough to recognize. It isn't subjective. Comparing an isolated incident in Pittsburgh to chronically bad behavior is not a valid comparison. I've got a thought: Maybe Bobby Clark needs to go. Like they used to say about Chuck Noll, "maybe the game has passed him buy..."— tgfinn
- Really?? The Pens beat the Flyers because Richards and Carter didn't outplay Crosby and Malkin?? Two players with severely less talent didn't outplay their counterparts?? That sounds to me like an excuse for the fact that the team with the two less talented players couldn't overcome the talent deficiency.— steelerfan624
- Completely agree..... i've been saying the Flyers need a replacement for Hatcher since last season! i'm also on board with Biron, providing he signs a reasonable contract. i'd rather Bouwmeester over Komisarek. that may mean moving some overpriced contracts, like Briere's contract, maybe in some package with Biron's rights.... the last things i want to say are about the Flyers need to cut out the penalties, and to take measures which strengthen their ability to overcome, what has been unfavorable officiating toward them. What urks me MOST about the NHL is the inconsistency in officiating, and how some teams like the Penguins and the Devils seem to always somehow receive favorable officiating, and teams like the Flyers always seem to get the short end of it. The Flyers could have EASILY won this series, had they receive a better shake from the officials. The Penguins are a DIVING team, who will resort to tactics of the lowest kind to draw penalties, and the league NEEDS to step up and start calling the unsportsmanlike penalty on teams like them... that is what urks me most about losing the series, the way it was officiated, and the way the DIVING (or other unsportsmanlike acts, like Stall's pulling Carter's stick into his waste) team won.— smacklby
- first of all, if these cracks about "whiny" philly fans, especially on a philadelphia paper's website, are giving you pens fans your kicks and making you feel better about yourselves, godspeed. whatever. personally, i feel crosby and malkin (especially malkin) are extremely talented players and players you can easily build a team around. i believe the calibur of both teams ALMOST even out, with pittsburgh getting the advantage at the moment. two all star players, a fantastic goalie, but after that i believe the other players are mediocre, good at best. the flyers have more good and great players. 6 players (7 if briere wasn't hurt, and maybe 8 if giroux were starting all season on at least the second line) who scored 25 or more goals. the flyers don't have the luxury of having TWO game changing players. it's tough to get even one. the flyers are a player or two away from going deeper into the playoffs. the pens have a good shot but ultimately i think boston is better and will take the eastern conference. -- p.s. well said OMIGODEAGLES. how did the pirates do this season? do they still even exist? just wondering...— m5dmb28
- hey smacklby.....if the pens were diving so much,why did philly only have 3 less power plays?your PP let you down buddy,not the officiating.hey m5dmb28...we all know the pirates suck and we admit it,but this team will be the best we've had in 16 yrs(hahaha)they are like the jeferson's they are moving on up!!!— pghforlife
- hey smacklby.....if the pens were diving so much,why did philly only have 3 less power plays?your PP let you down buddy,not the officiating.hey m5dmb28...we all know the pirates suck and we admit it,but this team will be the best we've had in 16 yrs(hahaha)they are like the jeferson's they are moving on up!!!— pghforlife
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Broad Street Bull is the Inquirer's blog covering the Philadelphia Flyers and the National Hockey League.
Reach Sam at scarchidi@phillynews.com.
Sam Carchidi
Inquirer Staff Writer
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