Flyers Devils Game 5 Preview

Game 2 was painful.  Game 3 was even more painful.  And Game 4 on Sunday was perhaps the most painful game of the entire series.  After an unbelievable round 1 victory over the Penguins, the Flyers were flying high.  They had confidence and swagger and everyone was predicting them to absolutely steam roll the Devils.

But now the Flyers find themselves down 3-1 and on the brink of elimination.  To make matters worse, tonight the Flyers will be without the services of Claude Giroux who will be serving a 1 game suspension for his hit in game 4.

So can the Flyers win tonight?  Can they force a game 6?  Can they claw their way back into this series? Here is what they absolutely have to do tonight in order to prolong this series.

Play With More Energy
All series long the main theme has been to play with more energy and intensity.  Tonight the Flyers have to walk the walk and not just talk a good game.  With Giroux out, the Flyers now have even more motivation to come out with fire and intensity.  Somebody needs to step up and get the boys pumped up and ready to win.

Play With Desperation
The Flyers have to pull out all the stops tonight against the Devils.  They can't just sit back and play a conservative game and still expect to win.

Play With Confidence
Tonight the Flyers have to play with confidence.  They have to play with swagger, and play like the team that beat the Penguins.  The Flyers are the better team and they can't play scared tonight in game 5.

Know How To Play With A Lead
When the Flyers get a lead, they don't know what to do.  They sit back and wait for bad things to happen until eventually they find themselves in a hole they can't dig out of.  If the Flyers get an early lead tonight, they have to keep their foot on the gas.

Give Bryz Motivation
Bryz has had very little motivation during this series.  He's faced a ton of shots and on the other end, the Flyers aren't generating enough shots.  It's tough for a goalie to stop a lot of shots and it's even tougher when he has very little motivation and very little offensive production in front of him.

Win It For G
There is no defending Giroux's game 4 hit.  It was wrong, plain and simple.  But was it warranting of a suspension in an elimination game?  G has been the leader for the Flyers all year long and tonight the Flyers need to win the game for him and give him another shot at this series in game 6.    

With all our will, we will.  Let's go Flyers.