Flyers Devils Game 1 Review

Today the Flyers took game 1 against the Devils winning in OT by a final of 4-3.  While I'm certainly happy with the victory I did notice a lot of things that the Flyers need to work on for game 2.  Here are my pros and cons from game 1.

What They Did Wrong

• The Flyers were extremely sloppy early on.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that they were rusty, but they definitely lacked intensity.  They simply weren't as amped up for the game as the Devils were.  
• The Flyers also gave up way too many shots in the early going.  In total the Flyers allowed 15 shots in the first period.
• Offensively, the Flyers got little to no pressure on Marty.  In fact they didn't get their first shot on goal until mid way through the first period.  The Flyers picked up the offensive intensity toward the end of the period but only managed a total of 6 shots to open the game.  
• The Flyers were just 1 of 6 on the power play.  What's worse is that on a few of their power plays they struggled just to get an extended possession.  
• Overall the Flyers were also very sloppy at times and gave up costly turnovers.  

What They Did Right

• Although the Flyers gave up a lot of early shots, Bryzgalov looked great and stopped most of the shots directed his way in the opening period.  The solid play early on gave Bryz a ton of confidence the rest of the game.  
• The Flyers had just 3 penalties in the game and did an excellent job of staying out of the box. 
• After being out shot in the first period 15-6, the Flyers out shot the Devils 30-11 in the remainder of the game.  
• JVR was a huge bright spot for the Flyers.  In the few games that he played in the Pittsburgh series, JVR was basically a non-factor.  But today JVR had multiple breakaways and even cashed in on a play where Marty got caught being too aggressive. 
• G.  One letter says so much.  G (aka Claude Giroux) was awesome today.  He cashed in on a one-timer power play goal, and overall he really stepped up as a leader today.  
• Danny Briere was the MVP of the game.  Briere had two goals; a breakaway goal and a slap shot in over time that won the game for the Flyers.  Briere was outstanding as he continues to put together an unbelievable post season track record.

Overall the Flyers did a great job of rebounding from an awful first period.  They fought off the rust and were able to outplay the Devils in the remainder of the game.  The Flyers now have an excellent opportunity to take a stranglehold on this series and go up 2-0 on Tuesday night.  

Make sure to heckle my buddy @czm26 on twitter.  He's a Devils fan.

Flyers Devils Game 1 Preview

Today the Flyers will take on the Devils in game 1 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals.  The Devils are coming off a game 7 victory against the Florida Panthers and will look to keep the momentum going today.  The Flyers on the other hand wrapped up their round 1 series against the Penguins last Sunday, and have been sitting around for about a week awaiting their next opponent. The Flyers will definitely have to get amped up for today's game and shake off the rust.  Here are the keys to a Flyers victory.

Shake Off The Rust
Some experts are under the impression that the lay off could be a factor in today's game.  Although the Flyers have been practicing all week in preparation, it's extremely hard to simulate the intensity and speed of a playoff game.  The Flyers will ultimately have to use the juice and excitement of the home crowd to get them motivated for the game.

Bryz's Confidence
Bryz is 3-0 with a 0.29 GAA,  and a 987 save % against Devils this year.  The Flyers defense needs to help him out and help him get confidence against the Devils early.  Bryz needs to find a rhythm and rebound after a somewhat difficult series against the Penguins.

Offensive Firepower
The Flyers scored 30 goals against the Penguins in round 1.  They need to continue to get a ton of shots on goal and try to rattle Marty early and often.  Marty struggled against the Flyers in the regular season going 1-3 with a 2.26 GAA and a .905 save%.  The Flyers have to look for continued success against him today and in the rest of the series.

Special Teams
The Flyers led the NHL in round 1 of the playoffs with a 52.2% power play.  The Flyers power play line will have their hands full as they go up against the Devils who statistically have the best penalty kill in the league.  In terms of the penalty kill the Flyers need to just continue to do what they are doing.

Defense
The Flyers did an excellent job of making Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby non-factors in round 1.  Today the Flyers need to do the same thing against Devils' stars Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise, and Peter Sykora.

Overall I think the first period of today's game is going to be extremely rough.  But if the Flyers can keep it to a 2-0 game after the first or better, they should be in good shape to win.

Derrick Rose Out

Late in game 1 yesterday, Bulls' star point guard Derrick Rose suffered a freak injury and tore his ACL.  Needless to say, Rose will be out for the remainder of the playoffs.

I would like to preface this article by stating that while Rose may play for the team the Sixers are currently facing in the playoffs, you never want to see something like this happen to anyone.  It's bad for Rose and the Bulls, it's bad for the league, and it's bad for the game of basketball.

Having said that, the whole dynamic of this series has now changed with Rose's injury.  After yesterday's game, any chances of winning the series seemed extremely difficult.  The Sixers started the game ice cold from the floor, and really struggled to keep pace with Chicago.  The Bulls took a commanding lead early on, and the Sixers were never able to fully recover.  Every time they would make the game close, the Sixers would then sit back and wait for things to happen.  Instead of consistently keeping their foot on the gas, the Sixers were very sporatic and struggled to find a rhythm in the game.

But looking ahead to game 2, the absence of Derrick Rose makes this a completely different series.  The Bulls proved during the regular season that they can win without Rose, but this injury has to be extremely deflating to a team with such high expectations.

As the number 1 seed in the East, the Bulls came into the playoffs expecting to compete with the Heat for the Eastern conference crown.  Now the Bulls are a far less scary team in the absence of their best player.

So what does this all mean for the Sixers?  The Sixers really can't get too carried away at this point.  The Bulls are still a very strong defensive team even without Rose in the line up.  But with the injury I do see hope for the Sixers.  Without Rose, the Bulls don't have anyone that they can go to when the game is on the line.  If the Sixers can manage to keep games close and then pounce at the end, I think this series could get very interesting in a hurry.

Again the Sixers can't be too focused on Rose's injury.  Right now their main goal has to be taking game 2 on Tuesday night, and returning to Philadelphia with a 1-1 split.  

Sixers Bulls Game 1 Preview

After a very exciting start to the season, the Sixers stumbled down the stretch but were able to finish 35-31 good for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference.  As the 8th seed the Sixers will take on the number 1 seed Chicago Bulls beginning today in Chicago.  

I personally like this match up as opposed to the Sixers playing the Heat again.  The Sixers can't handle the Heat (no pun intended) and it always seems like they get away from their game when they play them.  But the season series between the Bulls and Sixers is a different story.  

Back on February 1st, the Sixers beat the Bulls 98-82.  The Sixers lost the other 2 games against the Bull during the season losing 96-91 on March 4th, and 89-80 on March 14th.  Simply put the Sixers have shown over the course of this year and last year that they can beat the Bulls. 

For today's game, I think the Sixers are going to keep it close but get burned by Derrick Rose late in the game.  Rose has shown the ability to beat up on the Sixers in the past and I think he will really turn it on today.  

Overall I think the Sixers can make this an interesting series.  If the Sixers were going up against the Heat again, I would predict the Heat to win in 5.  But there is something about this match up against the Bulls that really intrigues me.  I honestly think that the Sixers can make this an interesting series if they start playing defense again like they did at the beginning of the year. 

Overall I expect the Bulls to win this series in 6 games.  But the Bulls shouldn't write off the Sixers who if they can return to their defensive roots, definitely have the ability to pull of the upset.     

Flyers Devils Preview

Coming into the playoffs, all of the experts picked the Penguins to beat the Flyers in the first round.  Some experts even went and picked the Penguins and their high powered offense to win the Stanley Cup.  But the Flyers were ultimately too much for the Penguins to handle, and the Flyers were able to advance in 6 games.  Now the Flyers are a young and dangerous team with a ton of swagger and confidence heading into their round 2 match up against the Devils.

I personally think the Flyers should have no problem taking down Marty and the Devils.  While the season series was an even split, the play of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov against the Devils during the season is an extremely encouraging sign for Flyers fans.  Bryzgalov was 3-0 against the Devils during the regular season with a .987 save percentage and a dazzling 0.29 GAA.  In total Bryz faced 76 shots from the Devils this year and stopped 75 of them.  Those are very impressive and encouraging stats especially when you consider how much scoring took place in the series against Pittsburgh.  If Bryzgalov can have similar success against the Devils in the playoffs the Flyers should be in very good shape.


Marty Brodeur's regular season stats against the Flyers are not as encouraging.  Marty was 1-3 with a 2.26 GAA and a .905 save percentage.  But don't forget that while he may be turning 40 soon, Marty still has that playoff switch that he can flick and has the ability to get extremely hot at any time.  

Another encouraging sign for the Flyers going into this series is that they are now the number one offensive team in the playoffs.  The Flyers scored 260 regular season goals and 30 goals against the Penguins good for a total of 290 goals on the season.  The closest team to the Flyers still alive in the playoffs are the Nashville Predators who had 232 regular season goals and 16 against Detroit in the first round for a total of 248 goals.

New Jersey has a total of 234 goals on the year, and their main scoring threats are Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise, David Clarkson, Patrick Elias, and Peter Sykora.  Kovalchuk, Parise, and Clarkson all had 30 goals or more during the regular season, while Elias and Sykora were both 20 goal scorers.

While the Flyers don't have as many 30 goal scorers as the Devils they feature a much more balanced scoring attack.  11 guys on the Flyers had 10 goals or more while only 7 guys on the Devils had 10 or more.    And the Flyers had a lot more production than the Devils offensively in round 1.  

The special teams stats for both teams are as follows: the Flyers had a 81.8% penalty kill during the regular season, and a 69% kill against the Penguins.  The Devils led the NHL with an 89.6% penalty kill during the year but posted just a 66.7% kill against the Panthers in round 1.  The power play percentages definitely favor the Flyers.  The Flyers were 19.7% during the regular season and a dazzling NHL best 52.2% against the Pens.  The Devils were 17.2% during the season and 20% against the Panthers.  Overall the Flyers definitely have the special teams advantage.  Their power play line is extremely efficient and they had a pretty solid penalty kill against a very dangerous Penguins team.

Lastly the Flyers have a ton of confidence and rest while the Devils just barely scraped their way past the Panthers.  The Flyers have been practicing and resting all week in preparation for round 2 while the Devils are probably still scrambling after their game 7 victory.  Simply put the Flyers beat a very good Penguins team in 6 games while the Devils needed all 7 games to beat a sub par Panthers team.

Overall I think the Flyers will win this series in 5.  I think they will split at home to open the series, and then win 3 straight to close out this series in a hurry.  If the Flyers can put the Devils away early it will be huge considering the fact that I think the series between the Capitals and Rangers will probably turn out to be a long 7 game series.  I was right about the Flyers beating Pittsburgh in 6, and hopefully I'm right about the Flyers in 5 as they attempt to return to the Eastern Conference finals.  

Flyers Devils Season Series Recap

     

In the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the Flyers will take on the New Jersey Devils.  The Devils beat the Florida Panthers in 7 games in the first round, and will meet up against the Flyers in Game 1 Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center.  To get you ready for this series, in this article we will go through the regular season series.

The Flyers were fairly successful against the Devils during the regular season and will look to continue that success in the playoffs.  Here is a quick game by game breakdown.

October 8, Flyers 3 Devils 0 
The Flyers won this game mainly because of the outstanding play of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.  In just his second game with the Flyers, the Bryz had a shutout as the Flyers cruised to an easy 3-0 victory.  Giroux scored an early first period goal, and Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds both had 3rd period goals for the Flyers.

November 3, Devils 4 Flyers 3 (SO)
Backup Sergei Bobrovsky got the start in this game as the Flyers fell to the Devils 4-3 in a shootout.  Max Talbot scored a late penalty shot goal to tie the game at 3, but ultimately the Devils were able to come away victorious to knot the season series at one game a piece.

January 21, Flyers 4 Devils 1
The Flyers were able to win the game thanks to Scott Hartnell who had 2 goals that were both assisted by Claude Giroux.  Bryzgalov also had a very strong game stopping 30 of the 31 shots that came his way.

February 4, Devils 6 Flyers 4
I think this game is one Flyers fans want to forget about.  The Flyers got burned at home as the Devils cashed in on 6 unanswered goals to start the game.  After allowing 6 goals, Sergei Bobrovsky was quickly replaced by Bryzgalov who kept the Devils off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.  The Flyers were able to battle back, but ultimately they couldn't climb their way out of the 6 goal deficit.

March 11, Devils 4 Flyers 1
Sergie Bobrovsky surrendered 3 3rd period goals as the Devils won 4-1.  Claude Giroux was the lone goal scorer for the Flyers.

March 13, Flyers 3 Devils 0
Ilya Bryzgalov got the start in the season finale between the two teams and he capped it off with another shutout.  Sean Couterier was able to solve Marty in the second and the Flyers added 2 3rd period goals to secure the victory.

So what does this all mean?  It's simple: in all three games that the Flyers lost, Sergei Bobrovsky was the goalie.  Bryzgalov was the goalie in the three victories, and posted a shutout in 2 of those games.

While I don't like to make too much of the regular season, the Flyers have proven that the Devils are not a scary team and they should be able to beat them.  Stay tuned to the blog over the next few days as I will be posting my complete breakdown and prediction for the series.

Flyers Keys To Game 4

Tonight the Flyers will go for the knock out punch as they attempt to 4 game sweep the Penguins.  Tonight is going to be crucial as the Flyers attempt to not let the Penguins have any sort of life whatsoever.  Here are the keys to yet another Flyers victory.

1. Early And Often  
The Flyers need to jump out to an early lead in tonight's game.  If they let the Penguins hang around for too long, the Penguins could slowly gain confidence and possibly win the game and force a game 5.  The Penguins are currently up against the ropes in terms of confidence, so the Flyers need to knock them out early.

2. Fluster Fleury 
Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has zero confidence right now.  He was pulled in the third period of Sunday's game in favor of back up Brent Johnson.  The Flyers need to pounce and get a lot of shots and traffic in front of him early on to really rattle his confidence.

3. Keep Composure 
The Penguins played with zero class in Game 3.  They let their emotions get the better of them, and ultimately went out trying to hurt people.  If the Penguins do the same thing tonight, the Flyers have to remain focused on trying to win the hockey game and not getting caught up in the fights and scrums.

4. Strong Play From Bryz 
Bryz certainly didn't have his best game on Sunday.  He allowed 4 goals and he just didn't look too comfortable in net.  I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Bryz is getting beat early in games.  If Bryz can have a strong first period, it could give him the confidence to finish the game strong.

5. Extra Time Off
Finishing off Crosby and the Penguins should be enough motivation for the Flyers to get it done tonight.  But if it's not then hopefully the extra time off will help the Flyers to end this series in 4 games.  A sweep ensures more confidence and of course more time to rest between now and the second round.  

Overall tonight is not the time for the Flyers to sit back and relax.  If they take the Penguins lightly, they could prolong this series and give the Penguins life.  The Flyers need to go for the knock out punch tonight and I think they will blow the Pens out by a final of 6-2.

Flyers Look To Sweep

Jags at practice today.

In 2010, the Flyers pulled off the improbable 3-0 deficit against the Boston Bruins.  By doing so they became just the fourth professional sports team ever to accomplish the incredible comeback.  The Flyers now hold a 3-0 lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins, and they will go for the sweep to ensure that they won't be on the other end of such a comeback this year.

On Wednesday night, the Flyers need to fully finish off the Penguins and not allow them to have any life in this series.  The Penguins led the NHL in scoring during the regular season and they are still a very dangerous team that can't be taken lightly.

After the Game 3 victory, Scott Hartnell remarked on the difficult task of winning Game 4:

"Our group is real solid right now," Hartnell said. "We’re playing together, we’re focused, but the hardest game to win is the fourth game of that series. If we think that’s going to be easy in Game 4 in Phialdelphia, we have another thing coming. They’ve got a lot of professionals over there who have faced elimination games in the (2009) Stanley Cup Finals against Detroit and have come back and won, so it’s not going to be easy.”

The Flyers definitely don't want to travel all the way back to Pittsburgh for Game 5.  The Flyers want to finish this thing off as soon as possible and get some well deserved rest before the second round.  The extra time off could also enable the Flyers to get some key guys back including JVR and Andrej Meszaros.

According to an April 14th article on csnphilly.com, JVR recently skated with the team and is very close to returning.

“I’m excited to get a little closer [to playing],” JVR said. “It’s pretty brutal when you’re sitting at home and missing all these exciting, big games.  You’d do anything to get out there with them. It’s a good step in the right direction to be on the ice with the guys.”

Andrej Meszaros is another guy that could be back in the lineup soon.  According to Flyers beat writer Sam Carchidi, Meszaros could be back in round 2.


Overall the Flyers need to finish things up tomorrow night because they can't let the Penguins have any sort of life, and extra time off would really serve the Flyers well come the second round.  I think that what we are going to see tomorrow night is a Penguins team that has basically given up.  A couple goals by the Flyers early on could be all that is needed to completely shake the Penguins confidence, and overall send them back to Pittsburgh and out of the playoffs.

Crosby Is An Absolute Joke

Susie Crosby in the box where he belongs.

Before this series, I never really understood the venom that was directed toward Sidney Crosby by Flyers fans.  I thought that Flyers fans disliked him mainly because he was one of the best players in the league.  But after Game 3 it has become obvious to me that Crosby is an extremely dirty player.  He started the scrum in the first period, the scrum in the third, and overall he forced his team mates to fight his battles for him.  

The first fight started by Crosby came in the first period.  The Penguins were down 3-1, when Bryzgalov covered up the puck.  From there Crosby proceeded to jab away at Bryzgalov's glove, and was eventually stopped by Claude Giroux who pulled him away from Bryz.  From there a whole series of scrums opened up all due to Crosby. The fighting eventually died down until Crosby kicked away Jake Voracek's glove as he was bending down to pick up. 

When asked after the game why he did that Crosby responded:

 "I do not like any guy on their team.  It [his glove] was near me and he went to pick it up and I pushed it."

Directly after, Crosby surprised Kimmo Timonen who eventually had to fight Kris Letang.  Giroux tried to take care of Crosby but the refs weren't willing to let Crosby and Giroux really go at it.  But Crosby wasn't done.

In the third period, Crosby grabbed Scot Hartnell from behind and dragged him into the boards.  Scott Hartnell retaliated, but was forced to fight Craig Adams who landed a bunch of cheap shots on Hartsy and eventually ended up pulling his hair.  Again another fight started by Susie, and another fight that he himself didn't actually fight. 

At this juncture of the game, Flyers color analyst Chris Therien was directly calling out Crosby for his dirty tactics.  While Crosby is almost always given a pass because he is the "golden boy" of the NHL, yesterday he was exposed as a dirty player.  

Scott Hartnell put it perfectly:

“It’s not fun to play with that kind of stuff.  You ask the best player in the world, Sidney Crosby, what they were thinking out there and he said ‘well, that’s playoff hockey,’ For me, that’s not playoff hockey. It’s dangerous hockey, it’s trying to hurt some people out there and it’s scary, you’ve got to keep your head up at all times. Crosby comes in and grabs me from behind and another guy [Craig Adams] comes and throws about eight bombs at the back of my head." 

Hockey is a violent game.  Players on both sides get frustrated, and fights do happen in hockey.  If you are frustrated that your team is losing both the game and the series, don't resort to childish games such as jabbing at the goalie's glove, kicking away someone's glove, or grabbing someone unexpectedly from behind.  

Crosby wasn't the only player who resorted to dirty tactics in the game.  After Brayden Schenn made a nice perfectly legal hit, Aaron Asham responded by cross checking him in the throat and punching him when he was down on the ice.  And when the puck wasn't even near Sean Couterier, James Neal came over and laid a ferocious blind side hit on the young star.  Both players will have disciplinary hearings tomorrow and I expect the league to come down extra hard on Neal who left the ice when making his hit on Couterier.  

Overall Crosby and the Penguins played with zero class in yesterday's game.  It was an absolute joke to watch as they used every dirty tactic they could think of to try and frustrate the Flyers.  But in reality the plan back fired and they ended up only frustrating themselves.  On Wednesday night, I hope the Flyers are able to land the knock out punch and send the Penguins packing for an early vacation.  

Flyers Go Up 3-0 Over Penguins

In this exciting series between the Flyers and Penguins, each game gets a little more entertaining.  Today was arguably the most entertaining, as it featured lots of scoring and fast action once again.

The first period was extremely exciting.  The Penguins again scored first, but the Flyers quickly responded with another short handed goal from Max Talbot.  Danny Briere then scored the next two goals of the game to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead.  The first period ended with the Flyers leading 4-2.

In addition to a lot of goals being scored in the first, both teams were extremely physical and there were a lot of extra curricular activities and scrums around the net.  The most prominent scrum between the two teams came when Bryz covered the puck up, and Susie Crosby proceeded to chop at the covered up puck.  From there a whole series of fights erupted and Kimmo Timonen and Kris Letang were both given game misconducts.

In the second period, the game seemed to calm down a little in terms of fights.  But in terms of goal scoring, the second period saw a lot of goals from both teams once again.  The Penguins scored mid way through the period to make it a 4-3 game.  With about 6 minutes left in the period, the Flyers were awarded a power play.  On the man advantage, Jagr sent a beautiful cross ice pass through the defense to Matt Read who one timed it home.  Roughly a minute later Jordan Staal scored to cut the lead back to 1.  Toward the end of the period with time running out on their power play, Braydon Coburn passed it ahead to Wayne Simmonds who put one past Fleury to make it a 6-4 game.

In the third, Marc-Adre Fleury was replaced by backup goalie Brent Johnson.  The Flyers made quick work against Johnson.  Jagr made another beautiful pass, this time to Giroux who scored to give the Flyers a 7-4 advantage. The game eventually ended in a 8-4 Flyers victory.  

Overall a huge win for the Flyers who now hold a commanding 3 games to none advantage in the series.  The Flyers again fell behind early but were able to fight back.  The goal scoring for the Flyers has been amazing so far in this series and it continued today.  Not only were the able to score, but they were able to score timely goals today as well.

Bryzgalov gave up 4 goals in the game but he didn't look as good as he did in prior games.  But credit is still due to Bryz who ultimately kept the Flyers in the game and didn't give up too many easy goals.

Briere once again had another big game.  He notched 2 goals and did a great job of properly setting up and getting in good position to score on offense.  Matt Read was the young star of the game.  Read was relatively quiet in the first two games of the series, but he came through with 2 goals today.  Simmonds, Giroux, scored and Talbot scored twice against his former team.

One thing is extremely obvious after today's game: the Flyers want it more.  They are skating faster, hitting harder, and ultimately out working the Penguins.  It always seems like just when the Penguins think that they are back in the game, the Flyers always quickly respond with a timely goal.

Through out the entire game, the Penguins let their frustrations and anger get the better of them and took it out with cheap shots on the Flyers.  Brayden Schenn and Sean Couterier were both victims to cheap shots.  Toward the end of the game, the Penguins also took some shots at Giroux which resulted in another big scrum in the middle of both benches.

Both teams will get two well deserved days off as Game 4 is set for Wednesday night.  The Flyers will go for the knock out punch on Wednesday as they attempt to end it in Philly instead of traveling back to Pittsburgh.