Flyers Battle Back

In typical Philadelphia hard-nosed hockey style, the Flyers managed to claw out a win at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Philadelphia Flyers avoided elimination, scoring three times in the first period in a 4-2 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final at the Wachovia Center.

Pittsburgh spotted Philly a 3-0 lead that lasted until the third period when Jordan Staal and his Easton Stealth S17 took over! Staal managed to pot two goals in the final frame, both assisted by linemates Tyler Kennedy and Max Talbot, but it was too little too late for the Penguins. This was a gutsy performance turned in by Staal, who just returned from Thunder Bay after attending funeral services for his grandfather.

Where Were Crosby and Malkin?

Evgeni Malkin was a dominate force early in the series, but if you watched game four with your television muted, you would swear Malkin was in the press box with Gary Roberts and his flu bug!

Sidney Crosby had a decent game, but was mentally beaten by Mike Richards, who was successful in agitating Crosby almost from the drop of the puck. It was clear that Sid had lost his focus and was unable to dominate the play as he had in game three. A prudent fan will also notice that Crosby tends to whine to the officials more often and will get involved in unnecessary shoving matches after the whistle when he is mentally off of his game. There is no better evidence of this fact than watching the tape of last night’s game four.

Here is what Sidney had to say following the game:

“We really believed we’d come back here tonight,” said Penguins star Sidney Crosby, who was held pointless. “We came up a little short. But you never want to put yourself behind the eight ball like that.

Richards Plays Both Sides

I have been extremely impressed with the play adn the character of Mike Richards throughout these playoffs. He has had some very clutch performances offensively and game four proves that he can play just as well in a defensive role. What a great all around player!

Here is what fuels the fire for Richards:

“It is frustrating to hear Pittsburgh this and Pittsburgh that,” said Flyers captain Mike Richards. “We have a good team in here and we wanted to come out and prove it tonight.”

A class act and a great player.

Looking to Game Five

It will be interesting to see if the young Penguins can find their killer instinct and finish off the Flyers in game five, or if this was just the momentum boost that the Flyers needed to start a rally in this series.

Zubov’s Spinning Backhand Pass

Zubov Returns To Dallas

One of the premiere blueliners in the National Hockey League, Defenceman Sergei Zubov, made a triumphant return featuring a picture perfect spinning backhand pass that was remisiscient of his days with the 1994 Stanley Cup champion Rangers. Modano took that perfect pass from Zubov and promptly beat Nabakov with a wrist shot, completing the highlight reel play with style.

Brad Richards also collected four third period points to lift the Dallas Stars to a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks Sunday night.  Brad Richards is turning out to be a great addition in Dallas after being acquired from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline.

Here is what Dave Tippett had to say about Zubov’s Spinning Backhand pass:

“That’s ‘shinny’ hockey at its finest, but with Zubie, that’s part of his game,” Tippett said. “That’s pretty special right there, to find a guy right on his tape, spinning around like that, that’s a special play. But we’ve seen that from Zubie around here for a long time.”

Is Price Really Ready?

Many Montreal fans are still shaking thier head a tthe inconsitency shown by their extremely talented goaltender, Carey Price.  Some have even gone so far as to say it was a huge mistake for Carbonneau et. al. to thrust the youngster into the starting role heading into the playoffs.

Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette has an level headed view of the situation:

Price is still learning his craft. No matter how large his talent

or how bright his future, he is a 20-year-old playing a man’s game.

There will be nights when it all comes together, as it did during Game 7 against the Bruins – and there will be nights like Saturday’s game against the Flyers, when a couple of pucks go in over his left shoulder and the kid goes to work to adjust his position, doing the things he will do automatically as he matures.

Canadiens Catch a Break

As a known Canadiens fan, I am overjoyed at the outcome of Game 1 between the Habs and the Flyers. That said, I will admit that the Canadiens caught a break from the boys in stripes.

No, I am not talking about the goal that Alexei Kovalev scored to tie the game at two. That goal was legitimate and it was proven that the puck was struck by Kovalev’s stick below the crossbar. The following video includes the slow motion replay that proves the goal is legitimate.

An NHL Digest subscriber (and obvious Habs Hater) sent the following quote after watching this video:

“Not only can’t I understand anything in the video… the Habs are pure Euro-rubbish.” 

While he is obviously concerned about Kovalev’s goal, I am more concerned with the questionble kneeing call on Richards when he caught Kovalev cutting to the inside near the blueline.

I will not deny that Richards’ knee was out, but it was that way because he was cutting back to make the hit. I will ask you to focus on the contact between Richards and Kovalev. The following video (about 6-7 seconds in) clearly shows that Richards’ lower arm and hip made contact with Kovalev’s hip.

This penalty sparked the downfall of the Flyers.

Making Kovalev angry is like waking a sleeping giant! Just ask the Boston Bruins, who felt the wrath of a helmet-less and angry Kovalev after being mulled by Chara along the boards.

I expect this series to be a hard fought battle that will last several games. The Flyers should be out for revenge in Game 2 and Carbonneau will have the Canadiens on point with something to prove to the hometown fans!

If you can locate the CBC feed for Game 2, I highly suggest that you watch it – It’s going to be a dandy!