Some (free) advice for Flyers
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Some (free) advice for Flyers
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
CHICAGO _ A few observations/suggestions before boarding a plane and heading back home, where the Flyers face a deficit of three games to two in the Stanley Cup Finals against Chicago:
1. Michael Leighton should start Wednesday. Leighton has rebounded nicely from poor performances throughout the playoffs. Besides, Brian Boucher doesn't look 100 percent healthy yet.
2. The Flyers need Mike Richards and Jeff Carter to step up. Excluding an empty-net score by Carter, they have combined for one goal and a minus-11 rating in the Finals. Carter won't admit it, but he doesn't seem to be himself and is undoubtedly bothered by his still-healing foot. The Danny Briere line has been spectacular, but it needs some support.
3. Insert Dan Carcillo into the lineup in Game 6. The Flyers didn't play with an edge in their 7-4 loss Sunday night in Game 5. Carcillo's energy was needed. JVR (goal) should stay in the lineup. Arron Asham had a team-high seven hits, so Peter Laviolette may be reluctant to sit him. Darroll Powe is a candidate to sit, but only if Ian Laperriere takes his spot on the penalty kill. Laperriere has only been used sparing on the PK since returning from a head injury.
The best solution: Dress five defensemen and 13 forwards. Oskars Bartulis played just 1:58, so a sixth D-man isn't really needed. Yes, it's risky if a game goes into overtime and the defensemen are dragging. But it's worth the risk to have Carcillo available when a jolt of energy is needed.
4. Chicago goalie Antti Niemi has looked extremely pedestrian. The Flyers need to swarm the net early in Game 6 _ like the Hawks did at the start of Game 5. The Flyers cannot play passively at the start. They need to set the tone, need to play with desperation. Think the last four games against Boston.
5. Yes, Chris Pronger had an awful game (career-worst minus-5) on Sunday, but special teams decided Game 5 _ Chicago was 2 for 4 on the power play, the Flyers were 0 for 3.
6. Give Chicago coach Joel Quenneville credit. His line changes ignited his offense. That said, the Hawks' new No. 1 line _ Jonathan Toews, Tomas Kopecky and Marian Hossa _ was still a minus-6. It was the other lines that stepped up _ and, with the Flyers having the last line change on Wednesday, Laviolette will get more favorable matchups.
7. For what it's worth, the Hawks have lost 10 straight in Philly since 1996, and the Flyers have an NHL-best 9-1 home record during this year's playoffs.
8. Crank up Journey's "Don't Stop Believin' " _ and watch a replay of Game 7 in Boston.
9. Repeat No. 8, as needed.
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Buy tickets to Flyers-Blackhawks Game 6 
leighton will start. boucher still isnt 100%. that game wasnt all leightons fault.— foreverinour- Kraijeck sits in my opinion. One good play the other night, against a series of awful plays for him. Carcillo would have changed that thing around last night.
- Any thoughts how the Flyers can get Giroux some more ice time with skilled players?— jsqrd
- I agree 100% on playing Michael Leighton. His numbers at home throughout the season and playoffs are much better then on the road. Boucher has not showed me anything worth playing in Game 6. Flyers would be on the golf course right now without Leighton. Flyers will win on Wednesday and as we saw against the Bruins ANYTHING can happen in a Game 7.— PhilliesPhan86
- Sam, c'mon, you can't dress 5-dmen in favor of inserting Carcillo into the lineup. That's just a stupid, stupid idea. This is game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, not experiment time. Suppose one of the top 4 went down? Now you only have four healthy dmen for the rest of the game and you could possibly end up being forced to use a forward to play D. I think we can do with five minutes of ice time for Mr. Carcillo. And if they really want to play him, then another forward will just have to sit.— toccheyhockey
- Carter is the Bobby Abreu of the Flyers...he only shows up to pad stats...they need to move him ASAP while they can still con someone to take him.— DennyP
- I love the idea of having Carcillo on the ice as much as possible...it negates the chance for any realy player to actually score and thus favors the Hawks!
if we somehow pull game 6 out and win, I can toss a coin to guess game 7. Fact is what the media has been saying all along and i still can't stand to hear ; " Chicago is a better team". No, with that out of the way, The flyers should have something left come game time on wednesday. They need a strong showing to put some kind of doubt into chicago.— azguz- 1. You can't dress only 5 defensemen. If one of them goes down, we'd be totally screwed. 2. We weren't missing Carcillo. The bottom line is that the Richards line and the Giroux line both failed to play in Game 5. That can't happen again. 3. Michael Leighton absolutely must start Game 6. Boucher isn't healthy...bottom line.— PenAquote
- Passing out of the zone went haywire last night. You know things are going bad when they are making blind clears from the defensive zone. When I saw some ofthat in game 1, I was worried we'd get swept but it cleared up until last night.— Claudio Vernight
- the first period was about as bad as it gets and to think we coulda been out of there down 1-0. the 2nd and 3rd goals should have never gone in. terrible play by leighton. you have got to make those stops during any time in the season, especially the playoffs and stanley cup finals. take away those 2, plus the empty net and its a tie game. and maybe if we could have scored on 1 of the 2 empty net chances, we'd be up 3-2 in the series. and by the way yes, this still is a series.— daoust555
- By all means play Dan Carcillo...and unpack your summer shorts...immediately..— ChicagoBill
- Carter was part time all year. Anybody thinking he would play injured. Break up the frat pack line. Move Carter to ice capades and bring on Carcillo. This team plays different when up against it. Go Flyers!— LaCroix,Nolet,Gendron
- Not a big fan of Sam but these are pretty spot-on suggestions and wouldn't be surprised to see most of them happen.— Realistic One
- Leighton stinks......— kramer65
