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Eastern Conference Finals Game Discussion Thread

Bmwolf21

By Bmwolf21
in The Aud Club

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Bmwolf21 First Liner

Bmwolf21

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Eastern Conference Finals

 

No. 2 Pittsburgh vs. No. 6 Philadelphia

 

Penguins win series, 4-1

 

SERIES SCHEDULE

Game 1: Fri., May 9 -- Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 2

Game 2: Sun., May 11 -- Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 2

Game 3: Tues., May 13 -- Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 1

Game 4: Thu., May 15 -- Philadelphia 4, Pittsburgh 2

Game 5: Sun., May 18 -- Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 0

 

Series Home Page @ NHL.com

 

Series Preview @ NHL.com

 

Players to Watch

 

CRYSTAL BALL

 

Pittsburgh will win if -- It wins the battle on special-teams. No team has been shorthanded more in these playoffs than the Flyers, who have faced 57 man-disadvantage situations in a dozen playoff games. The Penguins are one of the most dangerous power-play teams in the NHL. Pittsburgh?s 23.4 percent conversion rate is fourth among playoff teams. Philadelphia is clicking at 24 percent on the power play, but Pittsburgh is loathe to take penalties and has killed 89.5 percent of the 38 shorthanded situations it has faced.

 

Philadelphia will win if -- It can hold a lead and wear down the Penguins physically. The Penguins have faced little adversity in the first two rounds, reeling off seven-straight wins before finally losing. Philadelphia needs to win an early game to rattle the Penguins and can only do that by holding a lead. The Flyers surrendered three two-goal leads in their first eight playoff games. Philadelphia must also impose its physical will on this series, hoping to wear down the more-skilled Penguins.

 

FAST FACTS:

* Since allowing four goals in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Philadelphia goalie Martin Biron has played to a .930 save percentage, stopping 133 of the 143 shots he faced in the final four games of the series.

 

* The Flyers have a huge overall lead in regular-season games between the two clubs -- 130-76-30. The Penguins once went 15 seasons without winning in Philadelphia. The Flyers have won all three playoff series between the teams, as well, taking 12 of 18 games.

 

* Pittsburgh has booked its last two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals with OT goals. This season, it was Marian Hossa?s OT tally in Game 5 that sent the Rangers packing. Back in 2000, Darius Kasparaitis scored at 13:01 of OT against Buffalo in a Game 7 to advance to play New Jersey.

 

* These two teams played one of the most-famous playoff games of all time in 2000. In Game 4 of the conference semis, the teams played five overtimes ? 92:01 of extra hockey ? before Philadelphia?s Keith Primeau scored the winning goal. It is the third-longest game in Stanley Cup Playoff history.

 

* In the last four games of the Eastern Conference semifinal against Montreal, Philadelphia trailed for all of 30 minutes and seven seconds of play, all in Game 5, which the Flyers went on to win, 6-4.

Bmwolf21 First Liner

Bmwolf21

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very nice write up! can't wait till Friday :chris:

Thanks, but I can't take credit. I just picked through the NHL.com previews for the most interesting bits.

bob_sauve28 All Star

bob_sauve28

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This is going to be an excellent series I bet. I want to especially watch for how Darien Hatcher plays. I thought Malken and Crosby were able to use their size to great advantage against the Rangers. I had thought that Hatcher was finished years ago but he keeps hanging around. In a series like this he might prove to be a very valuable player

Bmwolf21 First Liner

Bmwolf21

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The loss of Timonen is going to hurt, what with all the offensive firepower the Pens have. The Cryers' D was going to have their hands full as it was, but without Kimo? Gonna be tough on Marty and co....

Bmwolf21 First Liner

Bmwolf21

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Marty is back to his old tricks of mishandling the puck and causing more problems for himself...he's misplayed at least two (that I've seen) and one led directly to a goal (Crosby's goal.)

tasker48b Prospect

tasker48b

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The TSN turning point was the Malkin SH goal which was set up by a .... ahem .... Briere turnover at the blueline. It was also set up by Mike Richards clobbering Malkin with a huge hit (after the two goals he scored I was ready to join the Mike Richards fan club ... great player!) that led to Malkin trailing the play so badly (and therefore being open for the breakaway).

 

Also noticed that the Pens had Crosby's line out against Briere's line where possible (at least in the 1st). The Flyers could be in trouble as 5-5 I think the Staal line - or the Mallin line - or the Crosby line is better than Briere-Prospal-Hartnell. If the Flyers pull off the upset, though ..... it would say alot about their team.

 

Without Timmonen and limited depth on D to start with .... could be challenge for the Orange and Black

R_Dudley Second Liner

R_Dudley

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Looking forward to game two and watching some potential future Sabres; Orpik, Malone or Ruutu. I believe the Pens have the ability to sweep the flyers but I think 5 games ought to do it...... One interesting thing the Pens have stole from the Sabres is they televise games now outside the Arena on Big TV for fans who can't buy tickets to game to come down and root there team on... That's something I've had to enlighten Pgher's that Bflo was doing 2 years ago..

tasker48b Prospect

tasker48b

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That was great! Orpik just tossed Briere like a dwarf into Fleury and Danny got the interference penalty. Hah!

 

How the refs called Hatcher for hooking in the 2nd and didn't call Orpik for holding/interference/roughing on the play referenced by carpandean .... inconsistent officiating = the bugaboo of many a fan.

 

)))))

 

Great game tonight! Good flow. Scoring chances at both ends with lots of physical play. A little chippy at times, but I can always get a specialty sports channel and watch cricket if things get too rough.

 

I'll give the Flyers points for hustle but the D sans Timonen/Coburn could run out of gas in a hurry.

wjag All Star

wjag

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Pitt is just owning the Flyers. Their defense is overlooked. They're not giving the Flyers that many chances. I figured Game 2 was the pivotal game for the Flyers having dropped Game 1 in all their series. They just look out of sync. And for the record, if Toronto can't call that a goal, you might as well scrap instant replay.

 

Looks like RJ Umberger has returned to normal..

tasker48b Prospect

tasker48b

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That was the right call. He tried to sell it too. Ref no likey.

 

Call Briere for goaltender interference but .... What about when Orpick wrapped his arms around Briere (when he didn't have the puck) behind the net right before?

 

They call chintzy holding calls like that all the time ... defender takes one hand off his stick and hugs the guy he is covering = holding. If they are going to call Hatcher for separating the man from the puck in the 2nd ... how they missed that hold is mind boggling ....

 

Then again, Hatcher can't hit anybody without punching the "hitee" in the face so the refs miss about 5 roughing calls against him per game. Does nobody hit with their shoulders anymore?

Buffalo Wings Third Liner

Buffalo Wings

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Pitt is just owning the Flyers. Their defense is overlooked. They're not giving the Flyers that many chances.

 

And yet the Flyers were hanging around through 2+ periods. I had a feeling that a bounce would have gone the Flyers' way and we'd be going back to Philadelphia tied at 1, but maybe not.

 

This could be one of those series where the Flyers just hang around - Pitt clearly looks like the better team, but something tells me Philly will make this interesting.

Buffalo Wings Third Liner

Buffalo Wings

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Call Briere for goaltender interference but .... What about when Orpick wrapped his arms around Briere (when he didn't have the puck) behind the net right before?

 

They call chintzy holding calls like that all the time ... defender takes one hand off his stick and hugs the guy he is covering = holding. If they are going to call Hatcher for separating the man from the puck in the 2nd ... how they missed that hold is mind boggling ....

 

Then again, Hatcher can't hit anybody without punching the "hitee" in the face so the refs miss about 5 roughing calls against him per game. Does nobody hit with their shoulders anymore?

 

I thought the officiating was questionable at best. The Hatcher penalty was legit *by definition*, but Malkin made that into a penalty by twisting around. But there were several other holds and hooks that I thought could have easily been called on the Penguins.

 

Hatcher is looking like he's trying to catch up with everyone - a step behind the play of sorts. Anyone think that the Flyers fans are calling for his release?

Kristian First Liner

Kristian

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Call Briere for goaltender interference but .... What about when Orpick wrapped his arms around Briere (when he didn't have the puck) behind the net right before?

 

They call chintzy holding calls like that all the time ... defender takes one hand off his stick and hugs the guy he is covering = holding. If they are going to call Hatcher for separating the man from the puck in the 2nd ... how they missed that hold is mind boggling ....

 

Then again, Hatcher can't hit anybody without punching the "hitee" in the face so the refs miss about 5 roughing calls against him per game. Does nobody hit with their shoulders anymore?

 

That's one of the downsides to being a player who is notorious for diving.

 

Ref's get irritated in the end when a player repeatedly embelishes, and Briere has a history of doing that.

 

Hence, if they're the least bit in doubt when it comes to these players, the whistle stays silent.

 

This is not another "I hate Briere" thread, we have enough of those. You could say the same about Roy last season. Personally I didn't see him dive as much this year, so hopefully he'll still be able to shed his somewhat questionable reputation down the line.

tasker48b Prospect

tasker48b

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That's one of the downsides to being a player who is notorious for diving.

 

Ref's get irritated in the end when a player repeatedly embelishes, and Briere has a history of doing that.

 

Hence, if they're the least bit in doubt when it comes to these players, the whistle stays silent.

 

This is not another "I hate Briere" thread, we have enough of those. You could say the same about Roy last season. Personally I didn't see him dive as much this year, so hopefully he'll still be able to shed his somewhat questionable reputation down the line.

 

Good points. Similarly, somebody other than Ruutu maybe avoids the diving call after getting clocked by Biron in the third.

Strow Fourth Liner

Strow

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Heard today coach stevens ask the refs to call it both ways "our team has some super stars too" Sounds like the coach knows they are out classed and can't keep up. We have seen and heard this card played before sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Go PENS!

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