Bruins crush Flyers, 5-1
Bruins 5, Flyers 1
Bruins crush Flyers, 5-1
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
BOSTON -- Any resemblance to last year is nothing more than a mocking coincidence. Let us begin there, as the Flyers again contemplate history.
Twelve months ago, they fell into an 0-3 hole against the Bruins in the second round of the playoffs; same as now. And while they do not award style points in the NHL, especially not in the springtime, the reality is that the Flyers played very well in those three losses in 2010 but have gotten thrashed in two of the three losses in 2011. The identity of the more complete team is not currently in doubt. The probability that the Flyers could pull off another miraculous comeback, playing at their current level, is approaching nil -- which is why they call them miracles, after all.
We will talk a lot about goaltending, because that is what we do. And, yes, Brian Boucher was pulled Wednesday night from the 5-1 loss in the second period -- the sixth time in 10 playoff games that the Flyers’ starter was taken out of the game. It is worth a long discussion, clearly.
But the only howler Boucher allowed was the last one, when the score was already 3-0 and the Bruins were wringing the life out of the game, and the Flyers, with their neutral-zone trap. They lost this one long before Nathan Horton shot the puck through Boucher’s legs and forced Flyers coach Peter Laviolette to go to his bullpen, again.
The only reason the Flyers struggled to beat Buffalo in seven games in the opening round was their goaltending. But this situation, in this series, is much more complicated than that. The Bruins, top to bottom, appear to be the sturdier and more persistent team. A Flyers team with scoring on three lines and lots of capable defensemen has begun to wilt.
Maybe they do miss defenseman Chris Pronger that much; another topic worthy of discussion. Pronger, with his mysterious series of undisclosed ailments, has played in only three games in the playoffs. They are 2-1 with him and 2-5 without him. Again, this is something that will be picked over at length, one would assume, after the season is over.
But it seems like more than that. The Flyers came out in the first period and had nothing. They had played very well in Monday night’s overtime loss in Game 2 and had reason to think there might be something to build upon. But they came out flat-footed for Game 3 and the Bruins ended up scoring twice in the game’s first 63 seconds.
The first was a rocket launched by Zdeno Chara, the Bruins’ mammoth defenseman. The second was scored by David Krejci. Neither was remotely Boucher’s fault. And one would presume that that is just what Laviolette told his goaltender during the timeout that he called right after the second goal. It was an odd scene -- the rest of the team gather around assistant coach Craig Berube, and Laviolette and Boucher conversing, alone.
The Bruins, with a lead, with their trapping style when leading, and with their emphasis in this game on hitting, just seemed to keep the Flyers from skating at all. There were none of the breathtaking rushes in transition from Game 2. There was little doubt who was going to win the game -- especially when you add in the fact that Tim Thomas is a better-than-pretty-good goaltender.
Little doubt. It really isn’t like last year.
The 4th goal pretty much summed up Boosh's career. Homer has failed the fans yet again by thinking they could win the Cup with Bob and Boosh. What a joke. This team year in and year out has failed to address that position and I'm sick of it. We think that the Eagles organization is arrogant? Not even close to the Flyers. $100 a pop to go see these guys play every game, 20,000 every night. Another organization that takes advantage of the fans passion for it's teams. 36 years Friggin joke— pflynn20- Can we PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE trade Richards?!?!?! And throw in Versteeg too.....BTW I thought our defensive depth would be the savior this year, but yet again an AHLer is playing D - Syvret?!?!?!— phillysportguy
- Rich, you have to be kidding me.. At some point the man in the net has to instill some confidence in the individuals in front of him. Half the reason Boston plays so well is because they know how solid Thomas is. No matter what these guys were squawking to each other on the bench to get fired up, they had to feel a punch in the gut going down 2-0. Boosh once again being the mitigating factor regardless of which line has been on the ice. This series is all but dead. It's time to except the fate, ride Bob, hope he shows a hint of playoff balls and move on to next season.— JIMMY D
- Like watching little boys trying to play against grown men. Pathetic.— ijj
- Bruins manhandled us. They are better - bottom line. Still gotta root for them and hope they take it one game at a time. Thomas stole game 2, which is exactly why you don't take game 1 off and come out flat. But I don't think game 3 was a matter of them coming out flat - they were just simply dominated.— gob1234
- The Flyers need the hockey equivalent of a defibrillator. Sorry, too much to overcome, no Pronger, no solid play at goal, waste of time trade for Versteeg, lack of Chemistry. I don't blame the coaches, how many times can they tell the players they are out of position? It's also no big surprise based on how they played down the stretch. SEE YA NEXT YEAR.— Voytas
- 1 game closer to no more Morgani!— attila
- 1 game closer to no more Morgani!— attila
- boooooooosh!!— boomartin
- Keep JVR and blow up the rest of the team! Lavy sucks! The goalies suck! Briere only plays hockey when we have the puck...otherwise he skates around waiting and hoping the Bruins will nicely pass it to him. If one more fan says "we don't need a goalie" I'm going to Osama his Bin Laden.— FlyersHatTrick
- Keep JVR and blow up the rest of the team! Lavy sucks! The goalies suck! Briere only plays hockey when we have the puck...otherwise he skates around waiting and hoping the Bruins will nicely pass it to him. If one more fan says "we don't need a goalie" I'm going to Osama his Bin Laden.— FlyersHatTrick
- they look like they'll get swept, and they're playing like they don't care.— stonelamb
- FLYERS showed no heart; they played like suckers.— brjsphila
- Boucher had a bad game? what a shock!!!
They deserve to be bounced and swept. Only because Lavi decided to go with an 11yr backup as our playoff goalie. Between the rebounds and bad goals... does it get any worse for a "starting" goaltender?
The goalie situation is a joke, Lavi handled it like a joke and this very good team has to pay the price for it. Its a shame really, this team has played from behind all playoffs. They never had a chance to do themselves any good.
Thanks Lavi for turning this season into a joke. How do you compete with a goalie thats sloppy and unstable?— inkd0874 - Bryzgalov starts for the next 2 years with Bobs backing up. Trade Leighton for some picks and cash for Leino's offer, maybe Versteeg as well. Zherdev? I wish Lappy could just touch his shoulder and transfer some heart...
Since this is looking like it's over we should all just play Flyers Manager 2011 for the remainder.— lemone
