Fourth Time's the Charm

Whether or not they win the series, the Flyers have had phenomenal success in Game 4s over the past five seasons. The Flyers have won eight of their past nine Game 4s, including their past five in a row. That's crazy good.

Some highlights (the ones I could find):

2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 4 vs. New Jersey



2004 Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 vs. Tampa Bay



2006 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 4 vs. Buffalo



2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 4 vs. Washington



2008 Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 4 vs. Montreal



2008 Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 vs. Pittsburgh



Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has lost their last three Game 4s. Unimpressive.

Recap: Flyers are good, Penguins are bad.

Do it to it, boys.

Game #70 Review: Flyers 6 @ Sabres 4 3/20/09

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4

Honk for Sweep.

• I've stopped short of saying Daniel Briere was becoming a cancer on the team, but it was getting near that. John Stevens switched up the lines just for him, and clearly not everyone was thrilled about it. Briere producing has to make people happier, if a little resentful maybe.
• Not a pretty game, really, but the Flyers needed a lot of goals, and goals they got. Richards, Carter, Gagne, Briere all tallied. No big stretch to say they're going to need those four to be the big four come playoff time.
• Daniel Carcillo has no business being on the top three lines. He has no business being anywhere but the Phantoms, really. Waive the jackass already.
• The buzzer goal = not cool, Sabres, not cool.

No big surprise here, Briere gets The Hat this time. And he giggled like a schoolgirl about it to boot.

Two nationally-televised games in the next couple days. Penguins Sunday on NBC, then Devils Monday on Versus. Should be a hoot.

Game #70 Preview: Flyers @ Sabres 3/20/09

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I'm in a rush, but luckily tonight is pretty straight forward...

Why the Flyers Will Win:

• The Flyers have won every game in this season series, and with some ease. They'll win again tonight.

Why the Sabres Will Win:

• They won't.

Prediction: Flyers 4-1. Do it to it, boys.

Game #65 Review: Sabres 2 @ Flyers 5 3/10/09

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5

Bam.

What a great time to be a Flyers fan.

• Jeff Carter breaks a five-game goal-less streak for the second time in a month. He's been cold lately, but he was real good tonight. Being out of the goal race seems to have hurt his urgency somewhat, hopefully it returns as the games mean more.
• Scott Hartnell scored twice, neither with his stick--one off the leg, one off the nipple. Maybe on March 26th he'll score one off his wig.
• Second real good, multi-point game in a row for Joffrey Lupul. Definitely glad to see him still in the orange and black.
• The first goal was a total fluke, but for the next fifty-something minutes, Martin Biron was real solid, if unspectacular. The late second Buffalo goal was weak, and since it was so late may leave a lasting impression. Biron should still get the start vs. Washington, but it was an annoying blemish on what was otherwise a pretty nice night.
• Claude Giroux is pretty good at this sport, ain't he?
• In case you haven't noticed, the Flyers depth is absolutely absurd. There are easily eight guys who wouldn't surprise anybody with a multi-goal night.
• Arron Asham had a nice scrap, his first in a while. Word that Riley Cote left the game injured really can't worry anyone too much. Flyers have plenty of tough guys that are far more useful with the puck.
• Bunch of penalties from Daniel Carcillo, but they were all matching. Flyers are good four-on-four, so that's fine. But when they stop being matching it's gonna be a big problems.
• No hat in today's post game videos, which means it didn't go to Hartnell, Carter, or Biron. Maybe Giroux? Lupul? Or maybe whoever won it just didn't wear it on camera (Carter never has that I've seen).

Washington, Pittsburgh, New Jersey AND Montreal all came from behind to win tonight. Pittsburgh was sloppy enough to hand Florida a point in the process. While it's frustrating for the Flyers to not gain much ground tonight, it has to be absolutely killer for Buffalo. They're done.

Capitals roll in to town to wrap up their series on Thursday. Flyers lead the series with them 2-0-1 so far, so expect big things.

Game #56 Preview: Sabres @ Flyers 2/19/08

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Flyers play Buffalo tonight, a team that somehow hasn't gotten rid of that shitteous logo yet. Seriously, it's terrible. Flyers should win on strength of logo alone. But since that may not be enough, here are some other reasons the boys in orange and black get the two points tonight.

Why the Flyers will win:

• Martin Biron has owned the Sabres recently, including a shutout in their last meeting in Buffalo some months ago. Another big win tonight could lock up the starting slot for #43 (for now, anyway).
• Kinda quietly, the Flyers are 4-1-0 in their last five. Pretty stellar.
• The crappy effort post-layoff vs. Ottawa last week should make the Flyers pretty sharp today.
• Jeff Carter does well against the Sabres historically. And I'm thinking Joffrey Lupul gets two on the board for some reason.
• Few goalies are less consistant than Ryan Miller. And he has never played well against his old teammate Biron for whatever reason.

Why the Sabres will win:

• Last week vs. Ottawa after ther layoff was as bad as the Flyers have played all year. Deja vu could mean disaster.
• If Scott Hartnell is actually hurt, that could be an issue.
• Sabres have been good in Philadelphia lately, in a head to head where the road team does well in the other's barn consistantly.

Prediction: Flyers 3-1. Do it to it boys.

Layoff Problems

While the economy is going to shit, it seems the Flyers (or at least their fans) are having huge issues with long layoffs in the schedule. This is the second week in a row with a huge break between games, and it sucks.

But mostly for the fans. I was all prepared to say it hurt the Flyers statistically, but then I actually looked up the stats, and the Flyers are a decent if mediocre 2-2-1 in games after a layoff of three or more days.

But still, it's crappy.

Flyers face Buffalo tomorrow. Marty owns them. Should be fun.

Nine Best of 2008 -- #9

In honor of 2009 (and figuring out how to embed NHL videos), I bring you a countdown of the nine best Flyers games of the year gone by, 2008.



Number nine is from February 25th of last year. The Flyers were in complete freefall, falling from the the top of the conference to out of playoff position in no time flat. The Flyers had lost a mind-numbing ten straight, including an especially pathetic effort vs. Florida in a 2-1 loss in Philadelphia in their last game.

With Stevens' firing seemingly imminent and the trade deadline on the horizon, panic had set in. And it didn't help when Buffalo got off to a quick 3-0 lead in the first.

But then...

...well, watch for yourself



Danny Briere's shootout winner against his former squad ended the Flyers skid and set the team back on the course for the playoffs. Without this win, none of the 2008 playoff magic would have been possible.

Good times.