ECQF Game 1: Flyers 1 @ Penguins 4 - Penguins Lead Series 1-0

1

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4

Can't get too much worse, right? Right...?

• The Flyers can't afford to think everything was okay in this game, and that they'll just bounce back. Because it wasn't, and they won't. The Flyers have to do exactly what they did after that horrible performance in Toronto not so long ago. Beat themselves up over it, change shit, and come out firing, and score five goals in the first period. That would be good.
• The Flyers just did not look good. Any of them. Braydon Coburn looked okay. Maybe Mike Richards wasn't bad. But nobody was great. Jared Ross may well have been the third best player on the ice. Not good.
• Just about every Flyer forward was totally invisible tonight, except for the two previously mentioned, Scott Hartnell, and Claude Giroux.
• Arron Asham's penalty was really weak. Led to the first goal, and the game seemed over from there on. That's the only whining I can muster out of this--the Flyers didn't deserve to win at all.
  
• Martin Biron was pretty mediocre. No terrible goals, but he could have had the first three. Especially the third, from Evgeni Malkin. Those are the kind of weird breakdown goals that the Penguins seem to get a lot vs. our boys. No reason for Biron not to start Game 2, it really isn't debatable. He hasn't been immaculate, sure, but Antero Niittymaki has been just bad lately, so putting him in really shouldn't be an option.
  
• That guy who predicted that the Penguins would win Game 1 by the score of 4-1? He must be a freakin' genius.

The split is what we needed, and the split is still in play. Game 2 becomes a must win now, no way around that.