PITTSBURGHAfter missing 19 games because of a broken foot, James van Riemsdyk returned to the Flyers lineup for Game 5. He just probably would have preferred a better outcome.
Definitely a little disappointed, van Riemsdyk said after the Flyers 3-2 loss (see game recap). We let our foot off the gas there a little bit and its a team like that if you dont play a full 60, it comes back to bite you.Van Riemsdyk broke his left foot March 1 blocking a shot by New York Islander Milan Jurcina. Hed been practicing with the team for only a few days, but had been skating on his own a while.His return Friday night was sooner than expected, though, and he was clearly not the player he was last postseason, when he was the best on the ice through most of the Flyers two series. He played just 7:31 Friday night, had no shots and was credited with one hit.He didnt want to talk about it, though.Its not about me at this time, its about the team, van Riemsdyk said. And weve got to be better next game, and well respond.
No mo'Momentum? What momentum?The Flyers won the first three games of the series in fairly convincing fashion. Since then, the Penguins have won back-to-back games. If you believe that equates to a shift in momentum from Phillys locker room to Pittsburghs, the Flyers would disagree with you.
Over the last few days, Danny Briere has been asked several times about all thatand several times he said he doesnt believe in momentum from game to game. After their Game 5 defeat, his teammates echoed that refrain.
"Ive said it before, Max Talbot reiterated, I dont believe in momentum.
Claude Giroux went with the same nothing-to-it talking point.
I dont think theres momentum in the playoffs, Giroux said. They won 10-3 in Game 4. The game was over. Put it behind us. Now they won 3-2. Weve got to put it behind us. Im not worried about the guys showing up in Game 6 because we always find a way to get the job done.Game 6The only other series in Flyers franchise history that has reached a sixth game after the Flyers went up 3-0 was the 1975 semifinals against the New York Islanders. The Isles forced a seventh gamewhich the Flyers won 4-1 en route to their second Stanley Cup.Power playsThe Flyers tied a franchise record for power-play goals in a single playoff series with their 10th and 11th in the first period. They also had 11 in the 1989 Division Finals against Pittsburgh, a series they won in seven games. Points recordGiroux is one point away from tying the Flyers franchise record for points in a playoff series (12). This happened twice in the past. Briere during the 2010 Stanley Cup Final and Bill Barber in the 1980 semifinals.MinutesMatt Carle played a game-high 29:40. Braydon Coburn played 29:11 and Kimmo Timonen got 25:01. Pavel Kubina, Andreas Lilja and Erik Gustafsson played 25:52 combined. This was all necessitated by Nicklas Grossmanns absence with a concussion.On FleuryPens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stole the game for Pittsburgh with 24 saves.Flower was on and he made some huge ones, Sidney Crosby said. It definitely was the difference in the game. It's the time of year when you need those and he came up big for us.
That was echoed by coach Dan Bylsma.Key times in the game he was outstanding, said. In the third with the penalty kill and late in the game, he stood strong. He played really hard and really strong in the crease. He certainly was the guy who kept it out of there.E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net, Sarah Baicker at sbaicker@comcastsportsnet.com or John Gonzalez at jgonzalez@comcastsportsnet.com.