ECQF Game 5: Flyers 3 @ Penguins 0 - Penguins Lead Series 3-2

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That's more like it.

• It was an odd, unfamiliar feeling having bounces go the Flyers' way.
  
• As those of you who read The FF frequently should know, I have ALWAYS been an ardent defender of Daniel Carcillo, who has proved me right by being one of the Flyers' best these past two games. He got assists on the first two goals to finish a game best +2. Added to his goal in Game 4, he's picked it up nicely after that suspension.
• One person I actually have been advocating for is Arron Asham, who again showed off some offensive chops with a laser of a shot to open the scoring, a goal that stood up to be the game winner.
• That first goal held up because Martin Biron did what he needed to do. He didn't really even look his best, but nothing got past him (except Evgeni Malkin's kick-in). Tough to complain too much about a shut out.
  
• Every Flyer forward except for two have scored. Those two? Joffrey Lupul and Danny Briere. Not to say their not earning they're pay (they aren't), I'm just thinking a little pride should kick in when Jared Ross is out-tallying you...
• I realize he scored tonight, but Mike Knuble hasn't been much better than his two aforementioned goalless teammates. Hopefully that late goal gets him back on track.
• I guess it makes sense to keep trying, so good on 'em, but anyone else think it was a little odd that Bylsma pulled Marc-Andre Fleury with just over a minute left, down by three? Can't say I've seen that before.
• The Pittsburgh fans were quiet the whole game, and deserted their team halfway through the third. The Igloo didn't look more than half full with five minutes left, which is pretty disgraceful for a playoff game, no matter the score.

The action now shifts back to The Wach for Game 6, on Saturday at 3 PM on NBC and CBC. The Penguins haven't outplayed the Flyers since Game 1. That was more than a week ago.

Good things can and will happen.

Let's go Flyers.

Michigan Mikey

Even though he's already scored more than 20 goals this season, I don't often write about Mike Knuble. If you look on that thing on the right sidebar that shows you how much about each category has been written, you'll see. He's rarely terrible, and he's rarely extraordinary. He's just a good, hard-playing, Flyersy player. Which is totally acceptable.

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Mike is playing in his home state of Michigan today for the first time in three years. His family from Grand Rapids will likely be in attendance, as well as some old chums from his days in Ann Arbor playing for the University of Michigan. He liked it there. He was the Wolverines' most improved player in 1993, and their MVP in 1995. Other notable Wolverines in the NHL include Marty Turco, Cam Ward, Brendan Morrison, and Mike Comrie.

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Will being back in the Wolverine State lead Knuble to be something besides not terrible and not extraordinary tonight? I'm going to go out on a limb and say...maybe.

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In case you haven't figured it out yet, there was no real point to this post. Sorry.

Game #65 Review: Capitals 2 @ Flyers 1 3/12/09

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And so the Flyers win the season series 2-1-1 instead of 3-0-1.

My feed crapped out and was spotty all through the first, so I don't have any great insights into anything except what I've read and what. But when has that ever stopped me?

• Not a bad game. Like I said in the preview, the Caps were the more determined team, especially Theodore, and it paid off. Though not by a whole lot. Real close game. A lot more of these to come the rest of the way.

• Alex Ovechkin scored. That happens. But who was on the ice for the Flyers when he scored? Arron Asham, Darroll Powe, and Riley Fucking Cote. That's completely inexcusable.

• Only one goal for the good guys tonight (from Mike Knuble), but it was a real nice one. Flyers did a lot of things right in terms of setting up shots, just that the actual shots weren't enough.

• Jose Theodore had a good night, which we all know he can do. Though that "spectacular" save in the second that's shown like three times in the highlights above was really just him having to make up for being in terrible position and getting across way too slow.

• Daniel Briere didn't get hurt today. Mixed emotions on that. I liked him a lot in the playoffs last year, but that groin is just a distracting time bomb these days.

• Not happy to see the Penguins salvage a point after being down 3-0 in the third. Not happy to see the Devils or Rangers win. Nice that the Islanders held the Canadiens to one point. And nice to see the Panthers lose.

Big home-and-home, back-to-back matinees with the Rangers coming up this weekend. Beating Sean Avery and Co. twice in two days should be a lot of fun.

Game #65 Preview: Sabres @ Flyers

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Why The Flyers Will Win:

• Martin Biron has owned the Sabres of late, and was awesome vs. Nashville on Saturday. He has a real chance to lock down the #1 spot solidly with a big game tonight.
• Last time these two teams met, Mike Richards notched five points. Always improving, we expect him to tally around eighteen tonight.
• Buffalo's logo is not a Sabre. It's a buffalo. And that's just weird. It's not like the Devils' logo is a new jersey, or the Coyotes' logo is a Phoenix. The bills do the same sort of thing, and I just can't endorse this. The Flyers logo is flying, so it's fine, but the buffaslug on the Sabres jerseys isn't sharp or being fenced with or anything. That has to cost them at least a couple goals a game.

Why The Sabres Will Win:

• Patrick Lalime will probably get the start tonight, and while he might be pretty crappy nowadays, once upon a time he was a serious Flyer killer, allowing only two goals in five games in the first round of the 2002 playoffs. Yikes.
• When was the last time a Flyers goalie put together two solid games back to back? Not since at least 2008.
• No idea why Mike Richards missed practice yesterday.

Why Everybody Wins:

• The game is on Versus, so it will be in HD and seen nationwide, AND that horrible Sabres announcer will have the night off.

There is definitely going to be an anything you can do I can do better moment from Riley Cote aimed at Carcillo at some point during this win for the Flyers. I see four goals.

Mike Knuble wears The Hat tonight.

Game #62 Review: Flyers 4 @ Bruins 2 3/3/09

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Huge.

Huge.

Huge.

Big big game. Right to it.

• This was a real reassuring game for a team with a whole lot of drama surrounding it. The drama won't necessarily end in these last fifteen or so hours before the deadline, but this game might take away some of the urgency Holmgren is probably feeling.
• I'm one to play favorites, but I really haven't had one Flyer stand out for me since Sami Kapanen left. I'm not looking for like a Carter or Richards who everyone knows is awesome, but somebody whose name isn't on a lot of jerseys. And damn, Scottie Upshall sure was that guy tonight. He's not big but absolutely leveled people out there, and he's not known for being a great goal scorer, but he had a real nice goal tonight, and if you remember he got a game-tying goal in Game 7 against Washington and the series winning goal vs Montreal in Game 5. He gets stuck on the third line mostly, but if he was on one of the top two lines he'd most certainly have ~25 goals a season.
• The NESN announcers made some reference to Scottie Upshall complaining that the media is obsessed with his good looks and should focus more on his hockey abilities. Did I miss his anointing as the Anna Kournikova of the NHL? Someone more informed on puck bunny culture needs to catch me up here.
• If they trade Scottie Upshall tomorrow after my above slurping, I won't be amused.
• Simon Gagne had a huge game too, with two goals. Overshadowed now by the younger guns, but Gagne is a real reliable veteran presence that will be huge come playoff time, guaranteed.
• Kimmo Timonen makes such a huge difference. It still makes me slam my head into walls thinking about how that Penguins series would have gone had he been healthy for all of it...
• Here's how it had gone the previous four games. Great Niittymaki game, great Biron game, bad Niittymaki game, bad Biron game. And now, on the eve of a trade deadline game, a great game from Niittymaki. It might just be luck of the draw for Niittymaki, sort of a "she loves me, she loves me not" situation where his name happened to come up on the last petal. Biron's name has been swirling around more than anybody's most recently, and he's awfully pricy to be a backup. Niitty getting the start tonight and capitalizing on it might be the straw that puts Biron on a plane tomorrow night.
• Randy Jones might have been the only player with a real bad game tonight. I haven't been as hard on him as a lot of people have, but this was bad. He has to be pretty distracted by the trade rumors, and his morale is probably low from seeing the results of the poll here (53% of the vote as of now...ouch).
• But right after I write that, I see that Jones was a team leading +3 on the night. I'm full of crap, clearly.
• Daniel Briere, the biggest name potentially on the trade block, had a pretty decent game given that it was only his second back. That Giroux-Briere-Upshall line is a thing of beauty, and should definitely see more time together.

Predicted 4-3, got 4-2. Not bad. The most Flyersy Western Conference team, the Calgary Flames, come to town on Thursday. Should be a good show.

Knuble, Richards, Timonen, and Stevens post-game reactions here for ya