Flyers Keys To Game 3

After an unbelievable Game 2 on Friday night, today the Flyers will have the opportunity to go up 3-0 in the series.  The Flyers can't sit back and be satisfied with what they have accomplished so far in this series.  The Flyers have to keep their foot on the gas and try and take a 3-0 lead today.  Here are the keys to a Flyers victory.

1. Timeout Before Game
I'm not kidding about this.  In the first two games of this series, it took a Peter Laviolette timeout to get the Flyers going.  So for today, the Flyers should go out for the opening puck drop and just before the game officially begins, Laviolette should call a timeout.  There is something magical about a Lavy timeout, and the Flyers would be better off using it before the game instead of when they find themselves behind 2 or 3 goals.

2. Young Gun
In my game 2 preview, one of my keys was for one of the young guys to step up.  Sean Couterier did just that, taking Evgeni Malkin out of the game and notching three goals himself.  Today, the Flyers need either Couterier or another young player to have similar success.

3. Special Teams
The Flyers were sent to the box on 5 separate occasions on Friday night, and the penalty kill allowed just two goals. What's even more impressive is the Flyers scored two short handed goals and were 1 for 3 on the power play.  The Flyers have to continue to be aggressive on special teams.

4. Bryzgalov
If someone who hadn't watched any games of this series took a quick look at the box scores, they would probably come to the conclusion that Bryzgalov is struggling.  But the box scores certainly don't tell the whole story, and in reality Bryzgalov is playing extremely well.  He is flashing leather and playing at the top of the crease which says to me that he has all the confidence in the world right now.  Bryz needs to continue to play well this afternoon.

5. Home Ice
The Flyers didn't have a dazzling home record during the regular season, but I think that playing at home today is going to really play to the Flyers advantage.  Returning home with a 2-0 lead against the hated Penguins is a recipe for an absolutely electric crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.  I expect the Flyers faithful to be completely Flyered up today.

The first two games of this series were two of the best hockey games I've ever seen.  In my mind, Game 1 ranks up there with Game 7 against the Bruins in 2010.  But the Flyers can't be satisfied with how they played out in Pittsburgh.  While they certainly did a lot of things right, they also have a lot of things they need to work on to be victorious today.  Ultimately I think the crowd at the Wells Fargo Center is going to propel the Flyers to another victory.  I think the Flyers will fall behind by 1 early on, and then respond with 4 unanswered goals to win the game 4-1.