Beaten, Bruised, But Still Alive

The Flyers needed to play their hearts out in this game. They didn't. The result was a 7-4 drubbing at the hands of a desperate Blackhawk team.

Instead of trying to come up with a full on essay about it, I am going to simplify things this time by writing my thoughts in bullet style.

• The Flyers came out horribly to start the 1st period. It was not one person playing bad, it was the whole team playing bad. And the 3-0 result showed for it.
• Michael Leighton was unfairly pulled. 2 of the 3 goals were bad goals, yes, but when the rest of the team was dead through the 1st 10 minutes, he was the only one making saves and keeping the Flyers in the game. I love Boucher, but I still do not think he is 100%.
• Peter Laviolette said during the post-game press conference he did not know who was playing goal for Game 5. I have no problem with the posturing and keeping the Blackhawks thinking, but not playing Leighton will be a mistake. He can't take the fall when the whole team had a bad game.
• Aspeaking of having a bad game, what the heck happened to Chris Pronger today? He was a -5, got beaten like a government mule by Byfuglien, played horrible, and played horrible. That being said, the last time he had a bad game, he bounced back real nice.
  
• The officiating has been completely atrocious all series long. Missed calls and ticky-tacky calls were abound, but none were more notable than the missed high stick on Briere that left him gashed. It should have been at least a 4-minute double minor, but to blame the officiating for this loss when the Flyers played the way they did, especially during the 1st 20 minutes, is completely insane.
• The silver lining of this game: Post 1st period, the goals were even at 4.
• Teams like the Flyers and the Red Wings thrive on solid defensive forwards and good defense that force shots from the point that the goalies can easily see and stop. That is how Detroit made the Stanley Cup with Osgood, got as far as they did with Howard, and how the Flyers have done well with Leighton/Boucher. Nobody is going to confuse these goalies with the all-time greats in Roy, Brodeur, or even a Ryan Miller to bring in the best goalie of today. But when the defense lets these goalies down, they become susceptible. As mentioned before, Leighton let in 2 soft goals, so did Boucher, but that all can go back to the lack of stellar defensive play throughout the evening, and to point out a specific instance, failed backchecking on the part of Briere.
• The Flyers failed to capitalize on what appeared to be an off-night for Antti Niemi. He made 2 saves of note, but outside of that, he looked real shaky between the pipes. The Flyers have gotten in his head and he does not like the same goalie that denied the Sharks not named Patrick Marleau time after time again. Despite the blowout nature of this game, let's not forget, the Flyers did score 4 goals in this game.
  
• Chicago may have a killer instinct problem. This game was bad, no doubt about it, but Chicago did not have it put away for good until they got an empty net goal with about 2 minutes left. A lot of that has to do with the Flyers offense showing up for the last 40 minutes, but it could also have to do with the Blackhawks being content. They responded to the Flyers goals, yes, but they were unable to finish the job for most of the night.
• Last year, the captain of a certain Pennsylvania hockey team touched the Prince of Wales Trophy. That team later lost the 1st 2 games of the Stanley Cup Finals on the road, won the next 2 at home, got completely blasted on the road in Game 5, and still went on to win the Stanley Cup. Make of this information what you want.
• As bad as this blowout was, I am still oddly confident the Flyers can get the job done and win this thing. The key will be coming out in Game 6 with heart, passion, desire, and carrying all of that to victory. There is no doubt in my mind this Flyers team will not go down without a fight, and with the Stanley Cup making an appearance in the Wachovia Center should Chicago win, the Flyers are sure to be hungry to stop the celebrating on their own ice and force the series back to Chicago one last time. Get it to 7, and all bets are off. Flyers may not have won yet in Chicago, but nothing has shown me thus far that that feat is an impossibility. We must avoid getting ahead of ourselves though. Game 6 is the game to focus on and the only way to even have a chance in Game 7 is to win Game 6. I have not given up on this team yet, nor will I in the long and drawn out wait for Wednesday night. They are not out of it until the Blackhawks are raising the Stanley Cup, and until that happens, I will continue to believe that the Flyers can win the whole damn thing.

In case you missed it or want to relive the action, here are the highlights from Game 5.