 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
"I wanted to make that change in the lines, and I just wanted to talk to them both, to tell 'em my reasons for doing it, and to get some feedback on what they thought," Stevens said last night, after his changes seemed to spur the team to a 4-2, Game 4 victory. The Flyers still trail the series, three games to one, with NBC very relieved to have a Game 5 to show Sunday afternoon, from Pittsburgh.
"They actually looked at each other and were smiling. They said they thought it was a good move, they were all for it - Danny's played lots of wing, Danny and Richie love playing together," Stevens said. "Then I talked to Vinny [Prospal, who moved from Briere's wing to centering Joffrey Lupul and R.J. Umberger] this morning . . . Danny looked like he had his best game of the series, Richie's been a powerhouse the whole way, and I thought Vinny stepped in and did a terrific job in the middle.
"I liked the result, and I think we'll stay with it for the next game."
Briere came into the game leading Flyers scorers, with 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) despite not having scored a goal in this series, or in May for that matter (April 30, Game 4 vs. Montreal). All the little holes he had seemed to jump into for great scoring chances against the Canadiens were sealed up by the imperturbable Penguins.
But after Lupul got what might have been the first really good Flyers bounce of the series last night - his shot from the top of the right circle deflected off defenseman Hal Gill and fooled Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury - Briere gave the Flyers their first two-goal lead of the series.
It came with 3 seconds left in a Flyers power play, one that hadn't looked very dangerous, until Randy Jones blasted a shot on net from up top and Briere squeezed into Fleury's lap to ram the puck home, with 8:12 left in the first.
"The two lines that moved around had a lot of jump," Briere said. "Richie's line and Vinny's line both created a lot of scoring chances."
Briere, who skated opposite left wing Scott Hartnell, said he played the wing a lot in Phoenix (1997-2003), a little in Buffalo (2003-07).
"I was fine with it. The way we play today, it seems like we're all over the place, anyway, after the faceoff," Briere said. "When he said [for Briere to] play with Richie, I didn't have a problem with that - I've thought we've had a lot of chemistry on the power play throughout the year, I thought, 'Well, maybe that can work five-on-five.' "
The three first-period goal-scorers - Lupul, Briere and Jeff Carter - all skated on different lines, though two of the goals were scored on the power play. It helped that the Pens couldn't sit back and trap them, from a 2-0 hole that went to 3-0 with 1:10 left in the first.
The Flyers' 17 first-period shots on net were one fewer than they got in 60 minutes of Game 3, a 4-1 loss. Suddenly, the Flyers no longer were using up entire shifts to get the puck into the Pittsburgh zone. Suddenly, there was orange-and-black traffic in front, and more chances were being generated than the Flyers had seen in the past few games combined.
But Fleury robbed Briere, flying across the crease with his pads stacked, about 5 minutes into the second, and in the third, the Pens looked a lot more like the unstoppable force that had cruised to a 3-0 series lead. They slugged their way back to 3-2 before Lupul iced it with an empty-netter.
"When you get that three-goal lead, I guess it's just human nature," Briere said. "You kind of sit back. You don't want to make any mistakes."
Briere noted that the third period started with the Pens and Flyers trading odd-man rushes, a style that suited the Pens more than the home team. When the Flyers tried to be a little more careful, they ended up getting too careful, and turning every shift into a penalty kill, as they have many times when protecting late leads.
Briere noted that starting with a lead - something the Flyers had enjoyed only for a little more than a minute in the entire series before last night - went a long way toward providing the extra spark the Flyers showed.
At yesterday's morning skate, Richards hadn't seemed all that positive that changing lines was going to change the Flyers' fortunes. But he agreed afterward that it had.
"Whenever you switch it up, it could go either way," Richards said. He won 12 of 17 faceoffs, got a key clear in the final minute, and sent the crowd home extremely happy by mixing it up with Sidney Crosby after the empty-netter set the final score. "You either don't have chemistry and you look out of sorts, or you just match up well, and I thought we matched up well tonight." *
|
|
|
|
|
|
REGIONAL SCOREBOARD
Latest Sports Blogs
TOP STORIES
today's poll
express headlines
Promotions
photo GALLERY
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
email this
print this
reprint or license this
Buy tickets online
