This is making the rounds today on the various hockey blogs we check and began on a Pens message board this morning ...
Shop.com already has the Penguins Eastern Conference champions locker room hat available for sale for $28.99, according to Sean Leahy from GoingFiveHole.
In case you were curious, there is no companion Flyers hat available, figuring the merchandise gurus were just working ahead.
This was sent to us by a Flyers fan who felt the Flyers were being disrespected.
It's probably a little tacky that there was not some mechanism for this not to appear on the Web site, given the results of last night's game. The Penguins could have clinched the series Thursday night and the hats needed to be ready for potential sale today. That they exist is not the problem; that you can presumably buy them before the series ends just seems like bad form.
*
The news of the day from Flyers practice is injury updates on Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn. Timonen seems much more likely to play Sunday, but Coburn remains a possibility, Les Bowen reports
All around the coverage of the Flyers' 4-2 win in Game 4 ...
From the Daily News
Ed Moran: Flyers avoid elimination
Rich Hofmann: Flyers' best hope still rides with Biron
Sam Donnellon: Hartnell pours his heart out for Flyers
Les Bowen: Stevens pulls the right switch
Ed Barkowitz: Flyers get up close and personal with Fleury
More Hofmann: Disappointed Coburn misses Game 4
Three stars
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Dave Molinari: Flyers hold on to top Penguins
Gene Collier: Sloppy first period a killer
More Molinari: Pneumonia forces Roberts out of lineup
From the Tribune-Review
Rob Rossi: Pens denied sweep
Joe Starkey: Penguins need to end it
Mike Prisuta: Flyers' adjustments pay off
Box score
Game summary
Event summary
Play-by-play
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Crosby and Richards, also dancing, with 14.9 seconds to go.
Purists cringe.
Megadeath Center is entertained.
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Derian Hatcher and Ryan Malone, one last dance with 22.8 second left.
Hatcher wins on points.
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Lupul into the empty net with 32.3 seconds to go.
That's 4-2, and that's that.
Game 5, Sunday in Pittsburgh.
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Goalie out for Pittsburgh with 1:05 to go.
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Flyers are hanging on, 1:22 to go.
Desperate people are really loud, it turns out.
Timeout, Pittsburgh.
Booooooo.
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Yikes, officially.
Staal, again -- this time from in the slot, unmarked, on a pass from behind the net from Max Talbot.
It's 3-2 with 5:49 remaining.
Yikes, officially.
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The waves have stopped crashing.
The Flyers have regained their footing.
Seven minutes to go.
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Waves of pressure by Pittsburgh now.
Pucks whistling through the slot.
Ten minutes to go.
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Crosby from the slot, into Biron's body.
Crosby is being booed at every turn now.
12:45 to go.
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Fourteen minutes to go. The Penguins now lead in shots, 30-28. It is a fair measure of what is happening. This has a chance to get a little more interesting. Normally, when it's 2-1, the easy cliche is, "Next goal wins." Tonight, at 3-1, I kind of have that feeling.
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Well, it's 3-1. The Pens' Jordan Staal has scored on a really funky goal, one involving a shot from behind the goal line and a three-cushion bank shot in front. I'm still not sure who it hit, or how it squeezed between Biron's pad and the post. But there it is, 3-1.
Building is a little quieter.
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Still 3-0 at the end of the second. Flyers lead in shots, 26-25.
It's in the bag, right?
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Jeff Carter for tripping at 14:17. It is the Penguins' first power play in nearly 30 minutes.
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The Penguins haven't rolled over, not by any stretch. With 7 minutes to go, we've just seen a really exciting few minutes, up and down, a lot of puck possession by the Pens, chances both ways.
Prediction: if the Flyers were to give one up here, before the end of the period, it might get a little bit interesting.
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Five minutes in, Fleury makes a great stop on Briere -- great, stack the pads stop. But the Flyers still look very good here.
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Now, it's 3-0 -- Jeff Carter this time, banging one in from right on the doorstep on a power play.
At the end of the first period, it is now all Flyers. Shots on goal are 17-13, and the whole thing feels different.
The big change? Traffic in front of Fleury. The Flyers are parked in his lap and it is making an enormous difference. They are finally, finally, finally playing their game -- which is not always about beautiful but more often about messy, elbowy, all of that stuff.
About time, you say?
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Now it's 2-0.Briere fought his way through the crease to bang in a big, juicy rebound on the power play.
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After more pressure, the Flyers get the 1-0 lead.
On the rush, Joffrey Lupul fired from about 40 feet, the shot deflected off of the stick of Pens defenseman Hal Gill and sailed over the shoulder of Fleury.
A pair of 18's trade breakaways during the penalty.
Richards shoots wide.
Marian Hossa, saved by Marty Biron.
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In the first 6 minutes, the Pens lead in shots, 6-3. It's pretty wide open, and the Flyers have had a decent amount of puck possession.
But, now, the first hurdle:
Danny Briere, tripping, 5:50.
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Scott Hartnell is stopped on the doorstep.
Mike Richards whistles one wide on the rush.
And we begin, loudly.
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For whatever it's worth, Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury looks terrible in warmups. He isn't stopping anything. Whether that is meaningful or not, we will find out soon enough.
And, in case you missed it, here's a story in today's Daily News about history and 3-0 deficits in the NHL playoffs. It's interesting. You can decide if it's plausible.
Then again, the Flyers will tell us soon enough.
After a day of hope, the decision came down this morning that Braydon Coburn, who took a 50-stitch cut around his left eye in Game 2, will not be able to play tonight in Game 4.
"We were hopeful yesterday," Flyers coach John Stevens said, after this morning's pre-game skate. "He got on the ice a little bit, but still not ready to play. I think he's getting closer, but definitely not playing tonight."
Later, Stevens added, "I mean, we're not going to put anybody back in the lineup if we don't feel they're ready to play, and clearly that's the case right now. He's a young kid that wants to play. He's really kind of distraught right now that he's not able to play. But we're hopeful we'll win this game today, and we have a couple of days before we play again, and hopefully we can get him back."
Ryan Parent again will take Coburn's place on defense. The only other lineup change, as expected, is that Patrick Thoresen will play tonight in place of Steve Downie.
The Flyers' remarkable turnaround season could end tonight with a sweep in the Eastern Conference finals.
No one could have expected the Flyers to get this far after finishing in last place in the NHL last season. They have made major strides and have some more to go. But that will not take some of the sting away for Flyers fans.
The question of the day really is, what are you expecting tonight?
*
Here is the coverage in advance of tonight's Game 4 ...
From the Daily News
Ed Moran: Stevens make line changes, Coburn possible
Rich Hofmann: Offensive Penguins surprising Flyers on defensive end
Mark Kram: Success in faceoff circle often shapes victories
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Dave Molinari: Hossa turning into a perfect wingman for Crosby
Gene Collier: No one expected Penguins' blitz
More Molinari: Penguins remaining on even keel
From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Rob Rossi: Penguins set speed trap
Mike Prisuta: Pens made great strides in short time
Joe Starkey: Desperate Flyers look for opening
Staff: Pens could take lesson from Lemieux
Wrapping up the coverage of last night's Game 3, a 4-1 loss by the Flyers that puts them in a 3-0 hole. Game 4 is Thursday night at the Wachovia Center.
From the Daily News
Ed Moran: Penguins sweep an extinct possibility
Rich Hofmann: Miscue by Downie a real downer
Sam Donnellon: Heart is there but the legs are not
John Smallwood: Flyers' goal: Don't get swept
Ed Barkowitz: Even without a goal, Crosby a leader for Penguins
More Hofmann: Coburn says he will play once swelling goes down
More Barkowitz: Flyers pay tribute to fallen officer
Game 3 recap
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Dave Molinari: Road sweet road
Gene Collier: It's sinking in, Penguins are for real
Shelly Anderson: Flyers shocked and still with no answers
More Molinari: Penguins notebook
From the Tribune-Review
Rob Rossi: Pens push Flyers to the brink
Joe Starkey: Flyers never really had a chance
Mike Prisuta: Briere, Propsal still silent
More Prisuta: Pens aware of Red Wings
Box score
Game summary
Event summary
Play-by-play
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Hossa into the empty net.
Good night, good hockey.
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Richards hits the post.
Six minutes to go.
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Killer goal at 9:58 for the Pens. Killer turnover, again, for Steve Downie, just like in Game 2. Trying to throw a cross-ice pass in the offensive end, the puck was picked off by Malkin and the Pens came in on a rush. Ryan Malone ended up scoring the goal to make it 3-1.
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It is getting a little bit interesting. The Penguins seem to be caught up a little bit in their passivity, and the Flyers are pressing them a little bit. It isn't overwhelming or anything, but it is there. Carter is having a good game but he can't convert a chance. The Flyers find themselves right in this thing, at least for now, with 13 minutes to go.
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At the end of the second period, it's still 2-1. The shots are also in favor of the Penguins, 17-8. The Flyers had only three shots on goal in the second period. They are in the odd position of probably having more scoring chances than they have shots on goal. They have been pretty close to scoring a few times here but haven't been able to finish. Again, though, you really kind of get the impression that the Pens figure they can open up their game and score again if they need to score again. Until then, they are playing a pretty buttoned-up style.
A tying goal, of course, would entirely change the emotional dynamic in the building. But, short of that, the Penguins seem pretty content to play it safely and patiently.
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Carter has had a couple of good chances this period, without scoring. But you watch the Pens and it's funny -- it's as if they think they have scored enough. They're kind of trapping, just sitting back, not really forechecking a ton, not forcing anything.
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Scott Hartnell is hurt after burying one of the Penguins into the glass behind Fleury. He is on the bench, doubled-over in pain. But, after a minute or 2, it looks as if he might be OK. And he's out for the next shift.
The Flyers have had a few chances here, but they're trading a bit with the Pens. It is exciting, but dangerous.
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Mike Richards, shorthanded, in alone, threatening to add to the storybook of his series -- but Sergei Gonchar made a great dive in which he got the puck with his stick, and then tripped Richards simultaneously. No goal, no penalty, good decision by referee Bill McCreary. Richards ended up crashing into Fleury.
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With the Pens caught in a line change, Jeff Carter had a great chance in the slot, on the rush, that Fleury managed to save. And, a few seconds later, Scottie Upshall was whistled for tripping Malkin, sticking out his leg. It erased any stirrings of momentum that the Flyers had generated.
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Kind of a nothing second period so far. After 6 1/2 minutes, the Pens have 3 shots and the Flyers have 1.
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First period ends a 2-1, Pens. Shots are in favor of the Pens, too, 8-5.
It is clear which is the better team. But the Flyers are competitive, and they have gotten a little more traffic in front of Pens goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury than they did in the first two games. They still haven't possessed the puck enough in the offensive end, but they are not out of this game. But that's about all you can say.
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Pens coach Michel Therrien had Crosby and Malkin out for one shift together so far. It was scary enough that you wonder why he doesn't do it more often.
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Well, there's some life.
After a 4-on-3 power play where Mike Knuble and Joffrey Lupul missed glorious chances, RJ Umberger has cut it to 2-1, scoring on a rebound of a failed wraparound by Prospal. Time of the goal was 10:59.
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Uh, oh. Marian Hossa fires from about 35 feet out, and Flyers defenseman Lasse Kukkonen might or might not have screened Marty Biron, but the puck got by on the stick side and it's now 2-0 and they haven't yet played 8 minutes. Repeat, underlined: uh, oh.
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First test: Derian Hatcher for hooking Evgeni Malkin at 3:33.
First failed test: A Ryan Whitney centering pass appeared to deflect off of Jason Smith and into the Flyers' net. It's 1-0, Pens.
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After a moving tribute to slain police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski and the playing of God Bless America, we begin. Loudly.
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f the starting lineups are any indication, Stevens wants to get the Briere line out against the Penguins' third line, centered by Jordan Staal.
And, as he said this morning, Stevens has started out by pairing Parent with captain Jason Smith.
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A half-hour before game time, we haven't yet seen the lineups -- but at the skate this morning, Flyers coach John Stevens said there would be no changes other than Ryan Parent replacing the injured Braydon Coburn on defense.
As for his line combinations, Stevens showed nothing different at the skate. Whether or not that holds up this evening is anybody's guess. But the initial supposition is that he is going to give Danny Briere, Vinny Prospal and Scott Hartnell one more chance to leave an imprint on this series. So far, they have been silent.
Stevens said, "To me, it's in the hands of the players right now...I would expect a big game out of that line tonight."
But if the team starts slowly, a shakeup remains what might be the last card Stevens can play. We'll see.
Braydon Coburn at this morning's conference. (Photo: Comcast SportsNet) |
Read Rich Hofmann's report and an update on Coburn's status.
* From the Penguins' morning skate ...
* Jordan Staal, the Pens' 19-year-old center, was dealing with the death of his grandfather. Staal was expected to play Tuesday night, then headed Canada for the funeral, and rejoin the team Wednesday.
* Forward Gary Roberts was sick and is a game-time decision
* More updates later and of course, Rich will have our live blog coverage of tonight's Game 2.
We are not breaking any news when we say that a Flyers loss Tuesday night would put them in a near-insurmountable 3-0 hole to the Penguins.
The trend is on the Flyers' side, however: The Flyers have won six of the last seven and seven of the last nine when facing a 2-0 deficit in a seven-game series.
A few things we think worth watching:
* Home-ice advantage: The Penguins have only lost once in the playoffs and that was at Madison Square Garden. That is not much to cling to, but it's better than facing the 15-game winning streak they have at the Igloo. The Flyers are 4-1 at home and you can expect the Wachovia Center to be loud.
* Numbers game on defense: Bottom line is that the Flyers have lost their two best defenseman in Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn. Ryan Parent figures to take Coburn's spot in the lineup, but he is a rookie, although any ice time will help ease the load from Game 2. Derian Hatcher and Jason Smith simply cannot play that many minutes.
* Star system: While Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were hitting the scoresheet over and over, the Flyers' best players simply were not playing their best (other than Mike Richards). Danny Briere and Vinny Prospal were each a minus-2 in the first game. Briere was minus-1 in Game 2 and Prospal was even. Briere has taken three shots in the first two games; Prospal has taken five. Briere is also a combined 11 for 26 on faceoffs. The magic these two had earlier in the playoffs needs to return, and return quickly.
* The goalie: Martin Biron has not played badly, but sometimes the goalie needs to bail out the team in front of him. That might be Biron's fate for the rest of the series.
* The power play: The Flyers had the second-best power play in the league during the regular season and are 1-for-6 in the series. A big factor there, of course, is that Timonen is not on the ice.
Tell us what you will be watching and your keys to the game.
From Sam Donnellon at Flyers' practice this afternoon:
Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn is considered "probably doubtful" for tomorrow night's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against Pittsburgh, general manager Paul Holmgren said today.
Coburn required more than 50 stitches to close a circular cut around his left eye suffered early in the Flyers' 4-2 loss Sunday night in Game 2.
Coburn was struck by a puck shot by Pittsburgh's Sergei Gonchar and tipped by Evgeni Malkin early in the first period.
He was to be checked by an opthomologist today for precautionary reasons, although Holmgren said, "We have no reason to think there is anything wrong with the eye."
Coburn lost a lot of blood after the injury and was lightheaded and threw up several times on the team charter back from Pittsburgh, Holmgren said. Holmgren said the team does not believe Coburn had a concussion.
As for the tests to this point, Holmgren said, "Everything checks out."
Ryan Parent will take Coburn's place in the lineup Tuesday night at the Wachovia Center, with the Flyers trailing by two games to none.
Coburn could return Thursday and is expected to wear a protective facemask.
We had wanted to get to this over the weekend, but thought it would be interesting to look at the predictions you made in our "Pick the Series" contest.
We have 125 entrants that responded by 7:30 p.m. Friday. Here is the breakdown:
Flyers in 6: 61
Flyers in 7: 33
Penguins in 6: 9
Flyers in 5: 8
Penguins in 7: 3
Penguins in 4: 3
Flyers in 4: 2
Obviously, the tiebreakers will come into play and we won't check the eligibility until we have the result of the series.
Every mistake -- big or small -- is magnified at this time of year, with so much at stake.
Give credit to the Flyers' Steve Downie for answering questions after last night's game about his costly turnover that led to the game-winning goal.
"It cost us the game. We played well all night, and it cost us a goal ...
"The puck came up my wall. I tried to clear it. It cost us a goal. I just fanned on the puck. Didn't get it out. Simple as that ...
"No excuses. No excuses. That puck's got to go out. I didn't get it out."
Downie was inserted into the lineup in the one change that coach John Stevens made from Game 1. Patrick Thoresen was a healthy scratch. The intention was to help the Flyers on the forecheck and add more offense to the fourth line.
Wrapping up the coverage of Sunday night's Game 2 in Pittsburgh:
From the Daily News:
Ed Moran: Penguins take 2-0 lead in Eastern Conference finals
Rich Hofmann: Steady Richards doing all he can
Jim Rodenbush: Penguins star Crosby returns to form
More Moran: Flyers notes
Game 2 recap
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Dave Molinari: Penguins lead series, 2-0
Bob Smizik: Fleury flowering at the right time
Ron Cook: Talbot a hero for night after return
Shelly Anderson: Lineup change costly for 'big-game player'
More Molinari: Eaton's return unlikely for playoffs
From the Tribune-Review
Rob Rossi: Talbot breaks Philly's heart
Joe Starkey: Therrien, Talbot show magic touch
Keith Barnes: Flyers' new approach fails
Mike Prisuta: Pens' Therrien looking at the big picture
Box score
Game summary
Event summary
Play-by-play
An empty-netter ends it. Final score: Pens 4, Flyers 2 -- just like in Game 1.
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The Pens break the tie. After Steve Downie flubbed a clearing attempt along the boards, the Penguins pulled ahead by 3-2. Maxime Talbot scored it, alone in front, on a pass from Gary Roberts.
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For the first time in the series, there is real tension in the building. Tie game, third period, 13 minutes to go, conference finals -- it is an agonizing bit of business, and it is starting to show. Everybody on both teams knows that while one great play might decide it, it's probably more likely that one great mistake will be the difference.
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Out of nowhere, it's tied at 2-2. Shorthanded, Mike Richards picked off a puck at his own blue line and skated in on a breakaway and scored on a forehand. Unassisted, shorthanded, with 26.2 seconds left in the period, the Flyers again have life.
The Flyers played a solid 10 minutes in the middle of the period and appeared to take some of the play away from the Pens, but then the Penguins began to dominate again. The Richards goal was enormous. It really does give them a chance here.
Meanwhile, the word on Coburn is gruesome. Daily News colleague Ed Moran is reporting that Coburn required more than 40 stitches to close up the cut around his eye. He will not return tonight, for sure.
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More bad news. Danny Briere got clocked by Evgeni Malkin near the end of a shift and went down in a heap. When he got up, he looked very woozy and had trouble getting off of the ice. This bears watching, too.
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With 6:26 to go, Hatcher goes off for hooking Malkin, kind of a tough call, and the Pens immediately scored to go ahead. Just 9 seconds into the power play, Marian Hossa took a backhanded whack at a rebound in front of Biron, and it was 2-1.
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Back to back power plays, and the Flyers have tied it. Joffrey Lupul, lidless, passed the puck from the corner to an unchecked Jeff Carter in front, and Carter buried it. So it's 1-1 at 5:46 on the power play. And even for about 2 minutes before the first power play, following a big save by Biron on a 2-on-1, there was a subtle shift in the momentum. Whether the Flyers can sustain it, of course, is the question.
Meanwhile, here is the NHL statement on the goal review in the first period:
"The play at 16:41 of the 1st period in Pittsburgh was reviewed. Since video review of the play proved inconclusive as to if the puck crossed the goal line, the call of no goal on the ice stands. No goal."
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No Coburn to start the second period. He still isn't on the bench, and there still has been no announcement about the injury.
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So, the first period ends with a 1-0 Penguins lead. The Flyers are barely hanging on here. No Timonen. Coburn hasn't returned, and we still have no word on the injury. Offensively, they can't get anything going -- can barely even maintain puck possession in the Penguins' end. As stretched as the defense is, that puck-possession business is the part that will have to change, and soon.
Shots are nine apiece.
Hatcher played 9 minutes, 8 seconds in the first period -- a huge number for him.
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The Flyers just caught a huge break from the replay officials. A puck was shot by Sergei Gonchar, deflected up off of defenseman Derian Hatcher's face and then down toward the goal line, with Crosby whacking away. The call on the ice was that Biron covered it before it crossed the goal line. After an extended delay for review by the NHL video guys in Toronto, it was ruled no goal -- even though, in their hearts, everyone probably thought it was over the line before Biron covered it and brought it back. The problem was that, even though it seemed over, there really was no definitive angle that showed the puck completely over the line.
Huge break for the Flyers. Enormous. And, maybe, we can stop talking about conspiracy theories.
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Check that Biron-is-back stuff. Sidney Crosby just scored the game's first goal from a very severe angle along the goal line, sneaking it between Biron and the post. Yes, it was a power play and, yes, it was still basically a 2-man advantage because a Jeff Carter penalty had only just expired and he hadn't yet re-joined the play, but it wasn't a good goal. You can't be allowing stuff like that to sneak in the short side. So it's 1-0 Pens at 10:48.
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The bad news is that the Flyers' power play is abysmal without Timonen. The good news is that Biron appears to have returned to form, stopping Pacal Dupuis on a shorthanded breakaway.
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The first fight of the series was lots of fun, Scottie Upshall and Tyler Kennedy both landing significant punches, Kennedy early and Upshall late. Later, there was some bumping around goaltender Marty Biron and a few other extracurriculars that landed Georges Laraque in the penalty box for roughing. About this, the Flyers are not unhappy. They want the game played on the edge of mayhem, if they can.
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A terrible first 2 minutes for the Flyers. Coach John Stevens had appeared to change up his defense pairings, putting Braydon Coburn with Jason Smith. Then, a shot by Hal Gill appeared to deflect off of the stick of Evgeni Malkin and hit Coburn somewhere around his eyes. He was bleeding considerably but managed to skate off on his own power. We'll update the severity of the injury when we find out more, but it is a huge blow. Coburn had become the Flyers' de facto No. 1 defenseman in the absence of Kimmo Timonen.
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First, a weather report from inside the Mellon Arena. It used to be called the Igloo, which seems appropriate, because it's freezing in here tonight. Part of it must be because the weather outside has turned, with rain earlier and lashing winds and temperatures around 50 degrees at game time. You wonder, too, if they might have turned up the air conditioning a little, given the obvious deterioration of the ice in Game 1.
For whatever it's worth, an NHL guy in the arena guessed that it was more about weather and wind whistling through gaps in the old building than anything. But the result might -- underlined, might -- be better ice for Game 2.
Only one real bit of news from the Flyers' morning skate: Steve Downie will dress and Patrick Thoresen will sit out tonight in Game 2.
On a night when the Flyers are clearly looking for a harder physical edge and a more persistent attitude, Downie makes sense. But it is always a gamble because of his familiarity with the penalty box. He has played about 26 minutes so far in four playoff games and been in the penalty box for 10 of them. It's too much.
But when you are trying to live your team's life on the physical edge, it is the kind of gamble you take when you are down by one game to none in the conference finals.
The Penguins also will make a change in their lineup with forward Max Talbot returning. He missed the last three games with a foot injury suffered in Game 3 against the New York Rangers when he blocked a shot. Coach Michel Therrien did not say who would come out, but expect it to be Adam Hall.
Because you have to do something after you lose a game in the playoffs -- it's a rule or something -- it appears as if Flyers coach John Stevens is preparing to dress aggressive/sharp elbowed winger Steve Downie for Game 2 on Sunday night.
"He's always been a possibility," Stevens said, though he declined to say the move was a certainty. "...It seems like the bigger the game, the better he plays. He's going to get some consideration."
Downie is the embodiment of the to-the-edge style the Flyers want to play. The problem comes when he strays over the edge and ends up in the penalty box. Everybody knows it, but this obviously an important game if the Flyers are to have a chance in this series.
"I'm going to do my job, get in hard on the puck," Downie said. "That's why I do, try to help out."
Meanwhile, the Flyers continued to say they could play better than they did in Game 1. Their coach essentially challenged them on the off-day to prove it.
"We're going to have to play a lot better," Stevens said, adding that when you get this far into the playoffs, into the conference finals, "I don't think you can play even 85 percent and win. You have to play 100 percent."
And there was this, about the Kimmo Timonen-less defense: "We can talk about our defense but we need a more more from our forwards," Stevens said.
One other note: Derian Hatcher had the day off. "Just a day of rest for the big man," Stevens said. Hatcher is still only about 2 months removed from a broken leg that kept him out of the lineup until the middle of the first round of the playoffs.
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Old pal Ron Cook, a columnist at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, got the Flyers' attention with his morning-after column today. After viewing Game 1 of the series, Cook wrote:
Is it too late to pick the Penguins in three games?
OK, enough with the wise-guy stuff, but, really, is there any reason to think the series with the Philadelphia Flyers will go more than four?
I don't see one.
Reality hit the Flyers hard at Mellon Arena last night when the Penguins swarmed them with their world-class talent and won Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, 4-2. It will rock 'em even harder this morning when they wake up and realize it won't be any easier in the three games ahead without their best player, defenseman Kimmo Timonen.
Talk about your one-two punches.
It's hard to imagine the Flyers getting back up.
Other than that, Cook thought the Flyers were swell in Game 1. Here's the rest of the column. And, well, let's just say that the fellas were made aware of Cook's opinions at practice.
For his part, Stevens downplayed it.
"Everybody's entitled to their own opinion," he said. "I'm sure there's a lot of optimism here. Why wouldn't there be? They're 9-1 in the playoffs, going along pretty good. It's up to us to create the adversity for them.
"I was more upset that the monkey didn't pick us -- he's 1-1," Stevens added, referring to the monkey that picks games on TSN, the Canadian sports network. "He picked up in Round 1 and we won, then he didn't pick us in Round 2. We were hoping he would pick us again..."
Here is a car commercial featuring several Penguins. It is either hilariously bad or hilariously bad on purpose -- not sure which.
Wrapping up the coverage of Friday night's Game 1:
From the Daily News:
Ed Moran: Penguins take opener from Flyers
Rich Hofmann: Missing Timonen wasn't the problem
More Moran: At least Timonen can give advice
More Hofmann: Team moved by slain cop's son
Game 1 recap
Game 1 three stars
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Dave Molinari: Malkin scores twice in Penguins' win
Ron Cook: If Penguins keep this up, Flyers wil be cast aside quickly
Bob Smizik: Malkin, Crosby too tough an assignment
Shelly Anderson: Game 1 loss puts Flyers in familiar spot
More Molinari: Penguins notebook
From the Tribune-Review
Bob Rossi: Malkin scorches Flyers
Mike Prisuta: Flyers play a game they can't win
Keith Barnes: Flyers hope recent history holds true
A lot of what we heard before the series was about being disciplined and how the Flyers wanted to avoid the Penguins' power play. A lot of what we heard postgame from analysts was that the Flyers needed to be more physical in order to win this series.
"As the series goes, it's going to get tougher," said R.J. Umberger. "There's so much hatred. You saw it there toward the end. It could get worse. But we need to not think about that. We need to play better hockey."
They only had taken one penalty until the scrum with about a minute and a half left that led to a misconduct for Scottie Upshall and produced 14 penalty minutes.
So, we're guessing there might be more of this ...
Penguins win, 4-2, to take Game 1. Flyers becomes eighth team in NHL history to lose Game 1 in three consecutive series.
Box score
Game summary sheet
Event summary sheet
Play-by-play sheets
Shot summary
Game 2 is Sunday night in Pittsburgh at 7:30
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Nice Fleury glove save on a Jeff Carter shot about 3 1/2 minutes into the third period. It is the first Flyers' moment of any kind in a while.
It's really become a nothing kind of game. There isn't much happening either way. Don't know what to make of that.
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With 17 minutes, 28 seconds played through the second period, Coburn has logged more ice time than any player on either team.
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It's 4-2 after the second. There isn't a whole lot to say right now, other than that Jason Smith is really struggling on defense. He is minus-2 so far and looks every bit of it. He was hurt going into the playoffs with shoulder problems, and nobody talks about it much anymore. But he has really having a tough time against the Penguins' speed players, and just with handling bodies in traffic. But there is little the Flyers can do about it.
This is the trickle-down effect of the Kimmo Timonen injury. Everybody else on the defense has to play a little more to make up for the 25 minutes that Timonen normally plays. This is what happens.
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The Pens just look dangerous all the time. They appear to have a lot more space to maneuver in the Flyers' zone that Montreal had in the last round. The game has kind of stabilized here with 6 minutes to go in the second period, but there is this sense of impending doom whenever the Penguins begin a rush.
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Uh, Malkin wasn't offside on this one. Short-handed, cherry-picking near the Flyers' blue line, Malkin came in all alone on Biron, kind of stopped between the circles, wound up and fired a rocket into the net. It's now 4-2, Pens.
Did I mention that he wasn't offsides?
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They don't have a great, great replay of the goal. But, at least circumstantially, it might have been a good call. You can't tell 100 percent for sure, but let's just say that the preponderance of the evidence is that it was very close but probably OK.
All apologies to Leon Stickle and everyone else.
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Another goal, another controversy. With 6.5 seconds left in the period, Evgeni Malkin scored on a fine shot by a fine player. We're getting the whole show here. But there was a teeny, tiny problem -- Malkin was offsides. It might not have been Leon Stickle offsides, but it was offsides. Alas, for the Flyers, there was no whistle, no raised arm, just a goal.
The Pens lead by 3-2 at the end of the first period. The Flyers lead in shots, 12-11, but the Pens had the last five of six shots of the period.
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Now, Sidney Crosby ties it at 2-2. He took a pass from Marian Hossa out of the corner -- after Biron coughed up a puck he was trying to get rid of behind his net -- and Crosby did not miss.
The crowd is no longer quiet.
The game is officially wild.
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Richards, again. This time, after several whacks at the puck in the crease by Joffrey Lupul, Richards swooped in and knocked the puck free, gave himself some spaced and fired it by Fleury. It's 2-1 Flyers at 12:50.
The crowd, decked out in white T-shirts, waving white towels, is a little bit stunned.
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First controversy of the game: with 8:30 to go, after Mike Richards clearly knocked the puck into the net and the red light went on, the officials initially ruled no goal. But after a quick review -- hard to understand what it was all about, honestly, because the puck was clearly in -- the goal was counted. Richards ties it, 1-1.
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The Penguins struck first, at 6:19. with Petr Sykora going from forehand to backhand and really toying with Marty Biron. It was a play on the end of a rush where the Penguins looked awfully fast.
The Flyers have had some chances so far, including on the game's first power play. They've looked OK at the offensive end, and Pens goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has left some tempting rebounds so far. But, to repeat: the Pens look quick, very quick.
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No Steve Downie and no Riley Cote in the lineup for Game 1, meaning no additional muscle.
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They just announced the starting lineups and Flyers coach John Stevens has thrown us his first curve of the series. After having Derian Hatcher paired on defense with Braydon Coburn at the morning skate, the two starting defensemen were announced as Hatcher and Randy Jones.
All of which means either nothing or something. We'll see.
Sometimes, you forget what this stuff can mean to people. It is just sports, after all -- right? But then you hear the story of Matt Liczbinski getting up at the funeral of his father, the slain Philadelphia police officer, and leading a chant of "Let's go Flyers..." It was to honor a man, and to remember the place that a hockey team held in his life.
It goes without saying that the Flyers were touched by the story.
About 90 minutes before tonight's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Flyers coach John Stevens addressed his team, as usual. It was the start of the Eastern Conference finals, and there were hockey things to talk about. But Stevens wanted to make sure that the players knew what Matt Liczbinski had done at the funeral, about how they had touched a man and his family and maybe given them just a few seconds of comfort in their tragedy.
"As you would expect, it was a pretty emotional thing," said one person who was in the Flyers' dressing room.
The Flyers plan a public tribute to Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski at Game 3 of the series on Tuesday night at the Wachovia Center.
Well, based upon the Flyers' morning skate, here is how the loss of Kimmo Timonen will manifest itself in the Flyers' Game 1 lineup:
The top defense pairing is now Braydon Coburn and Derian Hatcher, who played together earlier this season. Next will be Jason Smith and Randy Jones. After them will be Lasse Kukonen and Jaroslav Modry. One other wrinkle: Jones will get the first shot at trying to replace Timonen on the power play.
For Modry, this has been a surreal post-season -- he didn't play well early in the Washington series and was benched. At the same time, his father died in the Czech Republic and Modry left the team to attend the funeral. Now, he is back and looking at significant minutes against the Penguins.
"It's special," Modry said, of the team's opportunity. "It's not every year where you get this far. You have to grab the chance and enjoy it."
Among the Flyers, no one was minimizing the lost of Timonen but there was a lot of talk about pulling together and such. As for the Pens, coach Michel Therrien wasn't minimizing the loss, either.
"Well, obviously, this is a huge loss for them," Therrien said. "With all the respect for the other defensemen, he is their best defenseman and their shut-down guy, and was playing really well. But in the meantime it is giving an opportunity for another player to step in. But in the meantime for us, our philosophy hasn't changed. It's not about them, it's about us. How are we going to play, how are we going to handle ourselves on the ice? And we know how they play, and we're well-prepared. We're excited about tonight. But in the meantime, you know, we're not focusing on who is going to be there and who is not going to be there."
Here are predictions from Daily News staffers and Pittsburgh columnist Gene Collier on the series that we printed in today's newspaper.
You will note that Sam Donnellon is the only one selecting the Flyers. Sam and Ed Barkowitz are tied with the best record in our NHL selections with a 9-3 record. Sam is 6-0 in the East and has picked three of his nine winners in the correct number of games.
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Also, here are Ed Barkowitz's keys to the series:
1. Breaking serve.
Pittsburgh has won its five home playoff games by a combined score of 19-9 and hasn't lost at Mellon Arena in the 13 home games since goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury returned from an ankle injury on March 2.
2. Don't be stupid.
The Penguins. speed will force the Flyers into some penalties, that's inevitable. It's the infractions away from the play - the slashes at center ice, the smearing of a defenseless Penguins player against the glass - that the Flyers need to stay away from.
3. Stay aggressive.
The Flyers' inability to turn two-goal leads into coasting victories during the first two series is a red flag.
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On a programming note, Rich Hofmann will have the live blog of Game 1 tonight from Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh.
The Eastern Conference finals begin tonight ... Plenty of preview stories abound, capped by the news on Kimmo Timonen:
Remember, there is still time to enter our Pick the Series contest. Scroll down the blog or visit http://go.philly.com/flyerspick
From the Daily News
Ed Moran: Flyers face Penguins without Timonen
Rich Hofmann: Coburn has to step up without Timonen in the lineup
Marcus Hayes: Playoff goalies from Parent to Biron
Sam Donnellon: Knuble knows the feeling a Stanley Cup run can bring to a community
Ed Barkowitz: Series Scouting Report
Paul Vigna: 7 series storylines
Flyers notes: Rendell pushing Flyers-Pens at Penn State
Savvy Consumer: Flyers' sales booming
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Robert Dvorchak: Flyers-Penguins have history
Shelly Anderson: Umberger's emotions run high
Bob Smizik: Penguins' power on rise
Dave Molinari: Series Scouting Report
Mark Belko: No ticket? Scene outside Igloo is pretty cool
From the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:
Bob Rossi: Crosby leads Pens by example
Bob Prisuta: Pens' 1-2 punch equally devasting
And our favorite today ... just for the silliness of it all
Staff: Five reasons to hate Philadelphia
The big story heading into the Eastern Conference finals is the Flyers' sudden loss of Kimmo Timonen.
Timonen talked with reporters on Thursday night, so we wanted to let our readers see the transcript of the conference call with reporters that the Flyers provided.
One thing you have to say based on the way an obviously disappointed athlete answered these questions is that Timonen is a stand-up guy, as he has been all season in the Flyers' dressing room.
Q: What is your reaction to what has happened?
Timonen: Hugely disappointed obviously. I was not expecting to get this result this morning. It's the most disappointing thing in my hockey life for sure.
Q: What are the doctors telling you?
Timonen: It's a blood clot. They were able to see it really well. They were thinking about a couple of options, either having surgery and try to remove it, but the best option for me I think is going on clot thinners and hopefully those things help.
Q: Are they telling you how long it might take for the blood clot to thin out?
Timonen: Nobody knows that, but I started today and we are going to have a check up at the end of next week. Nobody really knows. It's probably individual how that blood thinner works.
Q: Emotionally what is this like for you?
Timonen: It's an awful feeling. I was expecting to play tomorrow and you go into the hospital to make sure everything is all right and come out knowing that the season is over pretty much. How many times in your life do you get the chance to play in the Conference Finals and maybe the Stanley Cup Finals? So it is the most disappointing moment in my life hockey wise.
Q: Your team has overcome injuries before. You have been a real key to your team's success. What do you see happening here?
Timonen: Exactly like you said, we had some key guys out of the lineup the whole year and now hopefully somebody can take my role. I am sure there is going to be somebody playing really well. I am just hoping this is not a huge distraction for the team because now we are talking about the (Eastern) Conference Finals and hopefully those guys can focus on winning the game tomorrow. I am sure everybody is really focused and ready to go tomorrow.
Q: How big is the clot?
Timonen: I was not able to see. It is noticeable, but I cannot say how big it is.
Q: You have been through a similar injury like this before in Nashville haven't you?
Timonen: Like five years ago in a similar situation, I got hit by the puck, same ankle. A lot of pain came and there was a blood clot.
Q: Do you remember when this injury happened in the game?
Timonen: It happened the last shift of the game. I think we were killing a penalty or it was 6-on-5 and I think it was (Andrei) Markov who shot it from the point and it hit my ankle.
Q: What did they do after that?
Timonen: We treated it like it was a normal bone bruise and it felt like it too. We iced it down and did the exact same thing we do with this kind of injury. In Game 5 in Montreal, I started feeling a little numbness in my toes and I was able to play through it that game and it was a little painful. Sunday we had a day off and Monday we practiced, same kind of feeling, a little numbness on my toes and Tuesday we had a day off and yesterday same kind of feeling and we decided to do a check up and see what is going on there and today we found out.
Q: Did you have any idea, with a past similar injury, that this could be what it was?
Timonen: Not at all because last time when I had it five years ago it was really painful, I couldn't sleep at night and this time I have been sleeping pretty well. This has not been as painful at all like it was five years ago. I wasn't expecting to get this kind of result.
Q: What did the doctors tell you in terms of the risk factor if you tried to play and got hit in the same area?
Timonen: I asked the doctor the worst case scenario what could happen and he said, 'If you get hit there again the blood clot might break up and go down to your toes and then we have to cut off your toes' so that is not a very good scenario.
Q: Where are you right now?
Timonen: I am at home right now.
Q: Are you allowed to do any exercise?
Timonen: I didn't ask anything about exercise. We are going to do a check up next week and see if it's any better and kind of go from there.
Q: What is the best-case scenario?
Timonen: That hopefully it is better next week. I honestly asked the doctor do you have any hope playing this series and he said only if it really goes well the next week and a half to two weeks.
Q: Have you spoken to any of your teammates?
Timonen: I have a lot of text messages, but it's been a busy day, so I have not had the chance to talk to anybody besides my parents and my brothers. I am going to talk to Sami (Kapanen) probably tonight and I am going to give John Stevens a call tonight too.
Q: Are you going to make any trips to Pittsburgh or are you going to stay home?
Timonen: I actually talked to our team guy and I would like to be there tomorrow, but we will see if that is a possibility. I would like to be there that's for sure.
Q: Do you still have to ice it?
Timonen: No.
What a shocker came down Thursday night on the eve of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen is likely done for the playoffs with a blood clot in his left ankle.
Read Ed Moran's report here.
All the discussions this week about potential matchups takes on a whole different feel now. Braydon Coburn probably becomes the Flyers' best defenseman.
The obvious question now, can the Flyers overcome this tremendous loss?
Gee, wonder what the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was trying to get at earlier this week with this poll.
Voting is now closed, thankfully, by the way ...
Four years ago, John Stevens and Michel Therrien -- the coaches of the Flyers and Penguins -- were coaches of their AHL affiliates, the Phantoms and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. They met in a playoff series. It was apparently memorable, or at least quotable.
After a couple of losses in the middle of the series, Stevens did the rhetorical tour de force. (All of this stuff comes from the archives of the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.) Stevens said the referees were intimidated by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton fans. He said a goal judge was biased after he inadvertently turned on the red light on a Penguins shot that went wide. He made some kind of complaint about the Penguins' radio broadcaster, although the accounts at the time don't specify what it was. And then there was this beauty, suggesting the Pens were faking injuries:
"It's a man's game," Stevens said. "Stand up and play the game the way that men do." Stevens added that Wilkes-Barre/Scranton trainer Pat Steidle "is going to get in awfully good shape by the amount of time he's running on the ice here. It's unbelievable. I hope he's got a good training program, or he's going to wear himself out."
The whole series was about all of the what's-old-is-new-again arguments -- that the Penguins were taking dives and that the Flyers were taking liberties. It's the same stuff, always the same stuff. It must be embedded in the organization DNA.
After a later loss in the series by his team, Therrien fired back.
"We have to give credit to their coach," Therrien said. "He has criticized the referee and got under their skin...Three altercations, three times we were in the box. We're receiving shots to the head after the whistle, and we're the ones in the box....It's got to stop. I know Wilkes-Barre is a small blue-collar town. We're proud people. We're competing against a big city. We deserve a lot more respect. We're working hard. Our guys deserve respect and I believe we are not getting it."
And so it went. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton won that series. The next year, the teams played again in the playoffs and the Phantoms won on the way to taking the Calder Cup. Now, here -- with added layers of controversy from the last couple of seasons at the NHL level.
I love this stuff.
The clock is ticking, Game 1 is getting closer and the coverage is picking up.
And remember to scroll down on the blog to enter our Pick the Series contest.
Here are today's headlines:
From the Daily News
Ed Moran: Upshall is feisty and talented
Sam Donnellon: Playoff success is icing on the cake
Paul Vigna: Flyers plan viewing party
Flyers notebook: Teams share lots of AHL history
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Shelly Anderson: Malkin's personality starts to show through
Gene Collier: Deep thoughts on the series
More Anderson: Penguins notebook
Dave Molinari: Penguins Q&A
From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
Bob Rossi: New Pens, Flyers catching on to feud
Mike Prisuta: Stevens-Therrien, a simmering rivalry
Tricia Laferty: Ex-Pen Mullen sees series from both sides
Joe Starkey: Olczyk assist set up Therrien
Penguins notes: Talbot misses practice
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Both teams are back on the ice for practice today. Look for more updates later, including our series predictions.
When you think Flyers and Penguins in the playoffs, you have to go back to that late, late night in May 2000 when Keith Primeau beat the Penguins in five overtimes.
Ed Barkowitz provides a look back in print in today's Daily News, talking to Primeau, goalie Brian Boucher and some of the other principals.
And allow us to take you back with the video ...
By the way, Comcast SportsNet will air an abbreviated rebroadcast of the game Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m.
UPDATE: Contest entries are now closed. Good luck!
We love giving away free stuff at the Daily News so we figured the Flyers' move into the Eastern Conference finals was another chance.
So, we invite you to predict the outcome of the series. Winner will receive a Daily News T-shirt and a Flyers 2008-09 Media Guide when it is published in the fall.
Here is how you enter:
Go to the comments section below and list the following -- and only the following, no commentary. (We welcome your commentary on the series, just in another post.)
1. Winning team
2. Number of games
3. Tiebreaker No. 1: Total goals scored by the Flyers
4. Tiebreaker No. 2: Total saves by Martin Biron
One entry per person/computer please. Stricty enforced.
Rules:
1. Deadline to enter is Friday at 7:30 p.m. Once the series starts, the contest is closed.
2. Only entries submitted here and having provided only the information requested wil be eligible.
3. From the eligible entries, those that select the correct winner and number of games will be eligible for the prize. We then will crosscheck and eliminate all multiple entries from the same computer.
4. From the remaining entries, we will go to the tiebreakers in order.
5. If there is still a tie, the entry that was posted first would win. The discourages copycatting and encourages not proscrastinating.
Be sure to include your email address in the field below so we can contact the winner.