A Little Gamesmanship in Philadelphia; Penguins Advance

We all know how the Flyer faithful can be obnoxious. For once, something they've come up with (other than the Orange Crush) that isn't either annoying or stupid.

One of hockey's best players, Sidney Crosby, is once again locked in their crosshairs as the Penguins have dominated the Flyers and take a 3-1 series lead back to Pittsburgh tonight. Should the Penguins win Game 5 tonight in Mellon Arena, it will be the second consecutive season that the Flyers have been embarrassingly eliminated by their in-state foes.

And they did.

On a Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia, the home-standing Flyers raced out to a 3-0 lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins. All was well in Flyerdom, and all the Flyers had to do was play simple, straight-ahead hockey for the final 40 minutes and they would be going to Game 7.

Then, Daniel Carcillo happened.

But first, some background.

The Flyers acquired tough-guy and figher Carcillo from the Phoenix Coyotes on the day of the trading deadline (March 4). They sent Phoenix one of their promising young players in Scottie Upshall for Carcillo, who has never been known to possess the best brain in the NHL.

With his team leading and in total control of the game, Carcillo decided to fight Maxime Talbot of the Penguins, and it completely changed the game. The Penguins bench came alive, and shortly after the fight Ruslan Fedotenko popped in a loose puck in the crease to get Pittsburgh on the board, trailing 3-1.

Mark Eaton joined a rush with Tyler Kennedy just minutes later, batting a puck out of mid-air past Flyer goalie Martin Biron and cutting the once-large Flyers lead to 3-2. Sidney Crosby also batted the puck out of the air to tie the game at three, silencing what was a boisterous crowd in the Wachovia Center. The two teams went into the second intermission deadlocked at three, when it seemed a certainty that Philadelphia would need just one more period of strong hockey to even the series.

Wrong.

Sergei Gonchar rifled a slap shot past Biron early in the third period to give the Penguins their first lead of the game at 4-3. The Flyers, with only minutes left to save their season, gave their best punch to the reigning Eastern Conference champions, but Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was sensational, making key stops on Mike Richards and a ten-beller on Joffrey Lupul late in the third. Crosby's second goal of the game was scored into the empty net to seal it.

So, another series down. Who's left?

--Washington and New York will tangle for Game 6 in NYC today, and the Rangers will be without their head coach John Tortorella, who was suspended for throwing a water bottle at fans in D.C. last week.

--The Devils and Hurricanes meet up for Game 6 of their quarterfinal series, with the Devils looking to close out with a win on the road in Raleigh.

--The Blackhawks dominated the Flames in Game 5 tonight at the United Center, leading 3-0 after the first period and going on to win 5-1. They can advance to the second round with a win in Calgary tomorrow night.

--Anaheim's surprising run took a hit last night, as they fell 3-2 in overtime to a desperate San Jose Sharks team. The Ducks still lead the series 3-2, and can also advance with a win on their home ice tomorrow night in southern California.

Does it Get Any Better Than This?

Of course, you've heard the phrase countless times. But for those who have closely followed the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, can you disagree?

Every series, regardless of games won or lost, has been wildly entertaining.

Let's start with the past weekend.

The Flyers-Penguins series has been just like any battle of the Keystone state rivals--bloody, brutal and relentless. Both teams entered the league in 1967 and have met up on many occassions in the playoffs.


Perhaps the highlight of this series so far has been the hit by Chris Kunitz on Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen. In the words of a wise man, he got "erased."

Take a look:



It's hits like these that set the tone for not only the game at hand, but future games in the series. The Penguins didn't win this one (game 3), but they came back two nights later to win game 4 and take a commanding 3-1 series lead back to Pittsburgh, and should they win tonight, they will advance to the second round of the playoffs.


The Washington Capitals missed a golden chance to even their series with the New York Rangers last night, but were shut down by a seemingly impenetrable Henrik Lundqvist in goal for the Rangers. Capitals rookie Simeon Varlamov turned in another strong performance in goal, but a fumble on Chris Drury's shoot-in led to the eventual game-winner. The #2 seed Capitals go back home to D.C. in a sudden-death situation, down 3-1 to New York and on the brink of elimination.


Wednesday's game 4 between the Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary Flames was one of this postseason's most spirited contests. The Flames squeaked out a 6-4 win on home ice in the Saddledome, thanks to Eric Nystrom's game-winner with just over six minutes remaining. Calgary jumped to a 4-1 lead in the second period, but the Blackhawks responded by scoring three of their own in the seven-minute span to tie the game, capped off by Sami Pahlsson's power play goal late in period. The bruising, nasty series now goes back to Chicago for game 5, and there will be 22,000 ruckus 'Hawks fans ready to explode.


On the docket tonight:

--The Penguins look to eliminate the Flyers at home.

--The Blue Jackets look to stave off elimination from the Red Wings in game 4.

--Anaheim looks to extend its 2-1 series lead over the top-seeded Sharks in SoCal.

--New Jersey looks to rebound from a last-second loss and regain the series lead over Carolina at home in Newark.