VOORHEES, N.J. -- It was a simple statement. It was a true statement. It was also a gross understatement.
Its kind of blah out there, Scott Hartnell said.
He was shaking his head slowly from side to side as he talked, as though he couldnt believe that it had come to this: The Devils have thoroughly dominated the Flyers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and because of that the Flyers will face elimination on Tuesday in Game 5. It is the first time this postseason that they have been in danger of having their year come to an untimely end. If youre looking for reasons why that happens to be the case, there are plenty.
I can count on how many battles we won in four games, Hartnell said. Its no surprise were losing 3-1 in the series now. We play that way, its going to be a long summer to sit and think about what could have been.
Soft plays lead to their chances and their goals. I made a couple of soft plays. You look around the room, thats losing hockey. Thats almost embarrassing hockey. Its not Flyers hockey, thats for sure.
After an excellent first-round series against Pittsburgh, many of the Flyers' key players have struggled against the Devils. Hartnell is minus-6 against New Jersey; Claude Giroux is minus-4; Jaromir Jagr is minus-2; Wayne Simmonds, Max Talbot and Danny Briere are all minus-1. The list goes on.
On Sunday night, Giroux said that he and his teammates were frustrated because they had out-worked their opponents all season, but were getting out-worked by the Devils in the semifinals. On Monday, after the Flyers held a team meeting, but didnt take the ice, Kimmo Timonen said that wasnt quite right.
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I dont think were not working hard. I think were not working right, Timonen said. Were out of sync.
Timonen added that the Flyers werent doing the little things that helped them win games earlier in the playoffs and in the regular season. He also said the Flyers need to do a much better job with taking care of the puck and avoiding turnovers. In Game 4, the Flyers had 20 giveaways while the Devils had just five.
Thats an area we need to improve on, Briere agreed. Our composure with the puck the last few games hasnt been what it needs to be or where it should be on a team like ours. Weve seen all year that we can make plays. Sometimes, you start going down that slope and its tough to recover. It seems like its been getting worse and worse for us. Hopefully, this will give us a chance to take a step back and play with a little more urgency. Thats certainly one of the areas we need to improve.
E-mail John Gonzalez at jgonzalez@comcastsportsnet.com