View Poll Results: Who is going to the Stanely Cup Finals from the East?

PensRule · 05-10-2008, 01:05 PM

Calling Malkin lazy on that play or in general is just hating the "playa". He got crushed on the play by Richards and it was obvious he was going to have a hard time to get back into the play. Then there was a great backcheck by Hossa on Richards( I believe) to cause the turnover and Malkin was in the right spot at the right time. Malkin was not put on the pk because he is lazy.

Dont poke the Russian Bear or he will bite your face off.

As for the game I dont think either team played their best effort but once the Pens got the 3-2 lead and even more so the 4-2 lead they just went back into their defensive system and made the Flyers try to move the puck up the ice which they had a very hard time doing. I expect more intensity from the Pens next game(and probably the Flyers to) but unless Philly can jump out first this is going to be a long series for them.

swflyers8 · 05-10-2008, 03:25 PM

We need to do the same thing we did in period 1 but apply to it to the rest of the game. Which is something I think they will do. We've played badly in every game 1 so far and we've lost. They will and should be back with a great effort tomorrow night. They did have the lead last night. They have to crash the net, make good passes and everyone has to be smart in their own zone. It's that simple. With how bad the Flyers were last night, we only lost 4-2. When we play our hockey, we win games.

Malkin got nailed when he scored the 4th goal by Richards, not the 3rd. He did look offside to me. Neither goal by him was impressive.

Garb · 05-10-2008, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PensRule

Calling Malkin lazy on that play or in general is just hating the "playa". He got crushed on the play by Richards and it was obvious he was going to have a hard time to get back into the play.

Well at least try something when your team is down a man already. I don't know, I guess with the amount of passion I played in I never really understood skating slow, but hey I agree I am probably looking for a reason to hate him.

And if Malkin wants a go at me, I'll smack the ugly right off of him.

Bozojones · 05-10-2008, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimchi power

It looked like Timonen's absence was a MAJOR factor which makes me think they will probably lose this series. They were simply unable to move the puck up the ice; whenever they did finally retrieve the puck in their own zone, they were too exhausted to do anything but dump and change. Otherwise, they were flubbing up simple passes and spent half the game with the puck in their skates.

Did you see that awful neutral zone scrum that got whistled down? Terrible stuff. The worst part is, I don't really see how they'll be able to compensate for Timonen's absence--without him, I could see the team relying on those awful 2-line passes that always get picked off leading to something awful.

Yes I know that Philly has dropped the first game in the previous two series--but NOT like this. This should have been at least a 6-2 game. If it's any indication, Cros and Malk are going to pick up buckets of points in this series.

The Flyers have been playing awesome hockey for the last 10 games. The 2 goals they did score last night were actually pretty easy ones. Crosby's goal was Biron's fault...meaning if he had been in the crease instead of playing defense behind the net, he would have stopped that easy. I think the 15 foot slapper that got by he could have stopped too, but all in all, he has been outstanding, and last night, just OK.

So 10 games in a row playing hot, and one game not, and you think it's "piss poor". If they get whipped in game 2, your point will be stronger, but we'll just have to wait and see.

The weird thing about that game was I didn't think the officiating was too bad...

PensRule · 05-10-2008, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bozojones

The weird thing about that game was I didn't think the officiating was too bad...

Maybe because Philly only got 1 penalty until the final minutes. I also didnt think it was too bad. I thought the penalty on Orpik was a very bad call as all he did was through a great check on Hartnell. Also they missed two high sticks. The first was on a follow through and the announcers said that is not a penalty but the second Hossa got smacked in the face and there was no call. But it still was pretty fair called game.

For all the talk about Crosby diving it looked like Hartnell got shot when he "embelished" the trip by Whitney.

kimchi power · 05-11-2008, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bozojones

So 10 games in a row playing hot, and one game not, and you think it's "piss poor". If they get whipped in game 2, your point will be stronger, but we'll just have to wait and see.

The weird thing about that game was I didn't think the officiating was too bad...

First off, I called the game itself piss poor...not the team in general.

It's playoff hockey...anything can happen. I keep coming back to the point of Timonen though because he's really the only defenseman has who can man the point well, and most importantly, move the puck quickly and reliably through the neutral zone.

I can't stress the last point enough. The biggest problems for the Flyers were in the neutral zone last game...it was an exercise in frustration simply to gain the zone for them. Once they finally gained it..they were too exhausted or too flustered to even start an offensive setup or cycle. I don't think I saw the Flyers get a cycle going the whole night...even on the power play it seemed like they were struggling in the neutral zone.

Scoring and such is fine...almost any of the Flyers' offensive guys can score. But without a reliable defenseman to move the puck well, the team will get frustrated cause they're denied the chances to generate offense. Then what happens? The team will probably start to blast passes across two lines hoping for that outlet. That's a recipe for disaster and spells desperation...the Pens are too good a team not to capitalize on that kind of stuff. I'd rather they dump and chase since the Flyers have a great forecheck....but last game they couldn't even do that. They'd dump, but they wouldn't chase--they were simply looking for breathing room rather than using it as an offensive tactic.

Game 1 was the first time I'd seen the Flyers hampered by what seemed to be something OTHER than just blind luck or isolated mistakes. I saw a real hole this time rather than just a flub. Honestly, I hope I'm wrong--guess we'll see tomorrow night.

flyersfan0210 · 05-11-2008, 02:13 AM

I think that Game 1 told me one major thing: the flyers have relied immensely on Biron and when Biron doesnt play well, the Flyers will not win. 3 of the 4 goals Biron allowed, he should not have: the first goal he over committed to Sykora, the second goal he did not get back to the crease fast enough, and the third goal should never have beated him. Even further, the 4th goal was just a case of the most talented player on the Pens being in the right spot at the right time. Had Biron played anything like he had in the Montreal series, I think the Flyers would have won game 1.

Other things I noticed from the game:

Officating was not that bad, could have been worse.
Timonen injury really hurts the Flyers, many times they could not get out of the zone.
Fleury did not look that great to me. He made only the easy saves. Pittsburgh defense did a great job of forcing the Flyers to shoot from the outside. I think Fleury made only one really good save (a pokecheck on Umberger I think).

Game one showed me that the Flyers are not going to be outclassed this series. They definitely belong in the Eastern Conference Finals and if Biron plays better and the Flyers stay out of the box, it is not crazy to think that the Flyers could be going back to the Cup Finals this year.

canadiancreed · 05-11-2008, 02:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyersfan0210

I think that Game 1 told me one major thing: the flyers have relied immensely on Biron and when Biron doesnt play well, the Flyers will not win. 3 of the 4 goals Biron allowed, he should not have: the first goal he over committed to Sykora, the second goal he did not get back to the crease fast enough, and the third goal should never have beated him. Even further, the 4th goal was just a case of the most talented player on the Pens being in the right spot at the right time. Had Biron played anything like he had in the Montreal series, I think the Flyers would have won game 1.

Best way to put it? As Biron goes, so do the Flyers.

Mcmone3737 · 05-11-2008, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swflyers8

He did look offside to me. Neither goal by him was impressive.

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Let's stay away from personal attacks.

wingsnut19

Mcmone3737 · 05-11-2008, 09:48 PM

2nd Period is about to start, Pens have been dominating this game so far by exploiting the Flyers now weak defence Hatcher got beat to the puck on an icing by 2 Penguins Forwards