Rich Hofmann: Miscue by Downie a downer for Flyers

By Rich Hofmann
Philadelphia Daily News

Daily News Sports Columnist

AT THE AGE of 21, so young, the Flyers' Steve Downie has been through hockey hell already - suspensions, embarrassments, all of the rest. This might be the worst, though.

In two straight games, Downie has given away the puck at a terrible moment, leading to a crushing goal by the Pittsburgh Penguins. In Game 2, it was a failed clearing attempt. In Game 3, it was an ill-advised, cross-ice pass in the offensive zone that the Penguins' Evgeni Malkin picked off, starting a rush the other way. Both mistakes ended up in the Flyers' net. Both mistakes were disastrous.

To pin the fact that the Flyers are down by 3-0 in this series, following last night's 4-1 defeat, on Downie would be wrong. The Penguins have played much better, and that's that. But to ignore Downie's fingerprints would be lying. Last night, a 2-1 deficit turned into a 3-1 hole because of his error with about 10 minutes to go. You cannot pretend it didn't happen, or that it wasn't important - and to wonder about the scarring on this kid and his psyche is natural enough.

It is for later, though.

"I think his feelings are not important right now, to be honest with you,'' Flyers coach John Stevens said.

Downie's mistakes are Stevens' mistakes. He was reinserted into the lineup by Stevens for Game 2 to give the team a harder edge - and he made the big mistake. Downie remained in the lineup for Game 3 as a demonstration of Stevens' confidence in him - and he made the big mistake. There is no way to make it sound any nicer than it is. The player messed up and the coach miscalculated what the player could give him.

"We put him back in because you know he's a big-game player, but he's got to learn, and obviously, he hasn't,'' Stevens said. "So you can't make that play. A flat pass, going in the offensive zone with Malkin on the ice, it hasn't worked all series. I don't know why we think it's going to work now.

"They do a great job of getting people back inside the box. That's why I think pucks need to go at the net. They're committed defensively right now. We can hear about their offensive game. But they're committed defensively right now. Those flat passes in the offensive zone are killers the other way.''

The coach's confidence in Downie was misplaced. It will haunt them all. Teammate R.J. Umberger stood up for Downie, saying you couldn't pin it all on him, saying that he was just trying to make a play. Again, that is fair. But, well, everyone saw what happened.

Some see Downie's recklessness and shake their heads. Others see his rough-hewn skill and talk a lot about patience. That talk figures to be for next year, though. For how ever long this series remains - hours, days, who knows? - Downie no longer figures to be a participant.

Last night, then, was probably his 2008 valedictory. For the second straight game, Downie came out and publicly acknowledged what had happened.

"I saw a guy coming, I tried to feed it to him, it got picked off and they went down and scored,'' he said, quietly. "I was trying to make a play. We were down a goal and I was trying to make a play.''

Someone asked, after Stevens stuck with him following the Game 2 gaffe, if he felt as if he had let his coach down.

"Absolutely,'' Downie said.

The interview was painful, frankly. But Downie stood there and took it. Somebody tried to take up for him, saying that, indeed, he was just trying to make a play.

"I gave up the chance to tie the game . . . with not a lot of time left,'' he said. "Not a good play.''

Another tack - the confidence tack. Is your confidence shaken?

"Yeah, definitely,'' Downie said, then adding that it was time to look ahead to Game 4.

But the Flyers are down by 3-0, and it would take history to turn this thing around. In the grand scheme, Downie's mistakes are blots on an ink-stained sheet. The Flyers have not been good enough, and there really isn't much else to say. The Penguins almost seem as if they are toying with them at times, willing to sit back, to trap, to fiddle with a 2-1 lead with the knowledge that they could probably crank it up and score another one if needed.

That is all true. And as for Steve Downie, and what was, and what might be . . . well, that's for later. *

Send e-mail to hofmanr@phillynews.com