Flyers are now up 3 games to 1. Woo hoo!

[kexodusc]

You're never in trouble in a playoff series until you lose a game at home..cliche, but true!
The last line change is sooo important to the Flyers to get the matchups they want vs the Crosby and Malkin lines.

Wouldn't it be great if Crosby and Malkin collided, knee on knee at full speed in the neutral zone?

[Ex Lion Tamer]

You're never in trouble in a playoff series until you lose a game at home..cliche, but true!
The last line change is sooo important to the Flyers to get the matchups they want vs the Crosby and Malkin lines.

Wouldn't it be great if Crosby and Malkin collided, knee on knee at full speed in the neutral zone?

The match-up they want - that ship has sailed with Timonen and now Coburn both out. No disrespect to Hatcher, but if he's playing 24 minutes like he did in game 2, the Flyers are in trouble. I see this series going 4 - maybe 5, not more.

Wings/Pens will be a very good series. And I don't really understand the hate on everyone seems to have for Crosby - well i understand it from Swish - hockey fans, for some reason just love to eat their own.

[kexodusc]

The match-up they want - that ship has sailed with Timonen and now Coburn both out. No disrespect to Hatcher, but if he's playing 24 minutes like he did in game 2, the Flyers are in trouble. I see this series going 4 - maybe 5, not more.

Wings/Pens will be a very good series. And I don't really understand the hate on everyone seems to have for Crosby - well i understand it from Swish - hockey fans, for some reason just love to eat their own.

Hate's a strong word. Hockey's a sport that's built on a weird code of honor. It's okay to high stick a guy in the face, but if you whine about being hit in the face, or "oversell" the injury you're villified. Soccer players would be executed for some of the stunts they pull.
Crosby has some old bad habbits he developed in the QMJHL - it was common for him to have 3 guys hanging on to his sweater and arms, so he learned to lunge a bit and fall down "easy". It was the only way he could get space and it worked so often (still does). Most of the time it works to draw a penalty, which in all honesty should be called 100% of the time anyway, but there's a few too many times it's just blatant diving.
It's infuriated a lot of the NHL stars in this league - Sundin, Jagr, Alfredsson, Shanahan, Sakic, among others are all on record saying he's got to stop that. It's not helping when Ovechkin, a European (the horror) is playing a much grittier, less whiny game while racking up similar numbers. He is, to his credit getting much better, but still has a ways to go.

Some of the hate of course is just the same anti-hero sentiment that other greats like Gretzky and Lemieux had as well. I'm sure in a few years Crosby will look a lot different than he does now and they'll be picking on some other rising star.

As for line matchups, you're right, the injuries are an unfortunate blow to the Flyers, but I was thinking more in line of forward line matchups. Malkin's line has stayed away from Briere's for much of the first 2 games. It'll be interesting to see if that changes in Philly.
But damn, with Coburn and Timonen out, it might not matter much now. Philly needed a bit of luck to win this series, and so far luck's been against them.

[Rich-n-Texas]

GO STARS!!!

[Swish]

I'm not going to cry the blues...well, maybe a little bit...because they weren't supposed to make it to the Eastern Finals. Maybe the first round, but the third? No way. One thing I can say with confidence is that they will make some minor changes in the off-season, get Gagne and the others back on the ice, and with a team that is very young overall, have a very good chance at making a major run next year and for many years to come.

While I can lament that the loss of Gagne and their two best penalty killers and stoppers on defense was the main reason for the losses, it's not that simple. As Kexo pointed out (he obviously knows more about the game than many), it's the forward play that is killing the Flyers in this series. They're not controlling the puck, getting beat endlessly, and making poor passes and committing turnovers. They were very opportunistic against both Washington and Montreal, but not in this series.

I guess I can rest well knowing they're going to be back in the playoffs next year, and the years after that, and the year after that....

Swish - long suffering Philly sports fan

[kexodusc]

Ugh...I can think of 2 goals that would have been stopped had Timonen and Coburn been in the lineup. Still might not have been enough.

Not much you can do I guess. So much of the playoffs is the stylistic matchup between teams. Pittsburgh's been matching up well so far. The more I look at Detroit, the more I'm starting to buy into the likelihood they might be the best team now. I know I'm flip-flopping from my earlier thoughts but I like looking at the games within the game. The big factor could be the fact that Zetterberg and Datsyuk aren't just two of the best offensive forwards in the game, they're also easily two of the very best defensive forwards. That's will help Detroit shut down at least 1 of the big Pittsburgh lines, something nobody's been able to do. They'll put up numbers as well. Detroit's defence is the best Pittsburgh will see in the playoffs, which should make it a bit harder on their big scorers. Goaltending is a real toss up. Neither Osgood nor Fleury are "that good". I would take Hasek in the finals over either, but both are white hot not so call it a wash. And Detroit isn't an underdog team here by any means, unlike the other 3 teams Pittsburgh's faced. On the flipside, I don't see Detroit walking over Pittsburgh like they did for most of their other 3 series. For the first time in a lot of years, the best playoff round might very well be the final. This could be a very close, and evenly matched duel.

I'm not going to cry the blues...well, maybe a little bit...because they weren't supposed to make it to the Eastern Finals. Maybe the first round, but the third? No way. One thing I can say with confidence is that they will make some minor changes in the off-season, get Gagne and the others back on the ice, and with a team that is very young overall, have a very good chance at making a major run next year and for many years to come.

The rest of the conference gets tougher next year -look out for Montreal, Ottawa and Washington next year to be serious threats, and Pittsburgh will lose some talent but still be awesome. It'll be 6-8 team race for tops next year. You can throw playoff seeding out the window. Roll the dice basically. But I will concede with Richards, Carter, and Van Riemsdyk on the way, they have a great young core and they'll be up there again, and I can't imagine them missing the playoffs for some time, but Philly's always in the playoffs.

I said it after the last round - you really have to make the most of your chances because there's no consolation prize, no moral victories, and if everything goes your way the following year, you still have worse than coin flip chance of winning the conference. Easy to sit back and say a team won't win it all but that's the "parity" the NHL keeps talking about.

Gagne will be interesting to watch next year - without Forsberg I doubt he'll score 40 goals again, but he should be good for 30 and that will really add some secondary scoring to an already potent team. The Flyers have an interesting summer ahead - do they go for it all now and bring in some more big name talent by trading a bit of the up and comers, or do they try to keep it together for a few more years and build from within? I think the latter rarely works outside of Detroit. Most teams are afraid to fail and be set back a few years despite the fact building over time is rarely successful, but in Philadelphia, a championship would lead to canonization so I could see the GM being bold and going for it. I'm guessing they might be big players this off-season.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

As Kexo pointed out (he obviously knows more about the game than many), it's the forward play that is killing the Flyers in this series. They're not controlling the puck, getting beat endlessly, and making poor passes and committing turnovers. They were very opportunistic against both Washington and Montreal, but not in this series.

If only the Flyers had another Umberger or two - they'd be up in this series.

Gagne is one thing, but losing you're top defence pair before going to a conference final - well there isn't a team in the league that could absorb that kind of loss without it taking a major toll. Imagine Detroit without Lidstrom?

The rest of the conference gets tougher next year -look out for Montreal, Ottawa and Washington next year to be serious threats, and Pittsburgh will lose some talent but still be awesome. It'll be 6-8 team race for tops next year.

I hope you're right about Montreal, but I have my scepticisms. They were about as healthy as a team can be this past season - and who knows if Kovalev is as motivated in '09 as he was in '08. On the plus side - The Kostitsyn brothers look like the real deal, the defence is young and talented and deep and should continue to improve. If they can get bigger and deeper down the middle and find that power forward that can put the puck in the net consistently; (hello M. Hossa - please come to Montreal to play), allowing Higgins to play third line where he really belongs. And if Carey Price shows he's a #1, they should be alright - but that's a few too many ifs for my comfort zone.

[kexodusc]

I hope you're right about Montreal, but I have my scepticisms. They were about as healthy as a team can be this past season - and who knows if Kovalev is as motivated in '09 as he was in '08. On the plus side - The Kostitsyn brothers look like the real deal, the defence is young and talented and deep and should continue to improve. If they can get bigger and deeper down the middle and find that power forward that can put the puck in the net consistently; (hello M. Hossa - please come to Montreal to play), allowing Higgins to play third line where he really belongs. And if Carey Price shows he's a #1, they should be alright - but that's a few too many ifs for my comfort zone.

I have little doubt they'll be as good as they were this year + a bit better simply because their young players develop a bit. Same with Ottawa and Washington, 2 of the youngest teams in the NHL on an average age basis. Ottawa is a bit different in that they had some bad injuries, but mostly just looked like a team that played 200+ games in the last 2years, which catches up. Long summer this year for them though.
The Kostitsyn's will be fine but I see them more as secondary scoring. A cheaper, less disappointing version of the Sedins. I look at guys like Komisarek, and Higgins to take on more physical and leadership roles. Those 2 are unsung heroes for the Habs. They've got some other mules on the farm that should step up too. The Habs need the physical/size aspect in their forward lines to balance the skill. I'm sure they'll find some of that. And of course, they need a true top line player to play with Kovalev, but I think they'll get that this year somehow - Tanguay, Naslund, Jagr, etc. Hossa wouldn't hurt. Price and Halak are as fine a goalie duo as any IMO, and it's just a matter of time until one or both really take off and they trade the other. Price is the poster boy, whoever trades for Halak is probably getting a steal.

Of course, injuries can kill a season so you have to be a bit lucky too, but Gainey's done all he can do I think, other than trade Huet away for a pepsi machine, but realistically, they weren't going to go any deeper with him in net so not a big loss.

Montreal's only problem is that the East was a bit weaker than normal this year because of injuries, and teams in transition. There were more easy wins in the East this year, next year it'll be more competitive, so finishing first will be a crapshoot.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Y'all can do all the analyzing you want. All I know is the Stars put forth an unbelievable effort tonite in a victory against Detroit that included surviving a 6 on 3 in the final seconds of the game for a 3 to 1 victory. They wore their hearts on their sleeves!

Saturday night is going to be very interesting...

BELIEVE!!!

[Swish]

The Wings are made to beat the big, defensive Western teams, but they're not well suited for a matchup against a team that can match them skill for skill, speed for speed. The meat-and-potatoes Nashville Predators, slow and injury-ravaged Colorado Avalanche, and the hurt and seemingly tired Dallas Stars haven't controlled the puck possession game or generated much in scoring chances. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are capable of doing that and aren't going in underdogs.

Pittsburgh and Philadelphia both have high octane offense like Detroit's never seen, and equal or better goaltending. Assuming they get past the Stars (not willing to concede that one yet, but it's looking grim) the East Conference champs will be their toughest challenge. I like the East over Detroit, regardless of which PA team it is.

The Penguins can barely muster a shot much less a goal, and it's because the Wings are controlling the puck on offense and strangling the Pens with their excellent defense. This one isn't even close and could very well be a clean sweep. Maybe it's best the Flyers lost to Pittsburgh to spare themselves the humility and the hands of Detroit. Then again...

Swish - lovin' it!