Eastern Conference Finals Set as Pens Blow Through Rangers

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It was bound to happen. If the Flyers played well enough for long enough, they'd be rewarded with a battle against their newest rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins.


Pittsburgh closed out their series with the Rangers on Sunday, and the Battle of Pennsylvania headlines started flying. Although the Pens needed extra time to seal Jaromir Jagr's Rangers (NHL?) coffin, at no point did it seem as though any other outcome were possible. Their opening round series against the Senators ended in a four-game flash, and the first three of the second round went Pittsburgh's way as well.

The Pens faltered in game 4, falling 3-0 at Madison Square Garden, but sometimes a wake-up loss can actually be a good thing—especially if you have a three-game comfort zone. Crosby & Co. responded, going up 2-0 in the second period of game 5 before letting the Rangers tie it up on two quick goals in the third. Trade deadline acquisition Marian Hossa netted the overtime winner though, and like the Senators before them, the Rangers simply had no answer for the far superior team.


How do the Flyers match up against a team that is 8-1 in the playoffs so far? Not too bad, actually. The Flyers have proved their mettle in two tough, hard-fought series that most experts had them losing. My guess is everyone but the monkey with the dart board will have the Pens taking this one, and I imagine the Flyers will be just fine with that. Both the Caps and the Canadiens were believed to be too fast, too fluid, too skilled, for the bruising Flyers to keep pace. But John Stevens seemed to tailor his game plans to control the tempo, slowing things down at times to stifle scoring threats, taking goalies out of their games, and turning the Flyers' scoring rushes on in spurts and barrages. One thing I heard quite a few times in both series, but particularly in the second round, was that the Flyers won despite being outplayed. I agree they won despite being outshot, and at times things appeared to be dicey, but the Flyers never let that get to them—whereas the Habs certainly did when they were down. Ultimately, the Canadiens went out with far less of a fight than I'd anticipated.

Home ice advantage belongs to the 2nd seeded Penguins, which is critical, because as the Pens Blog points out, they haven't lost at Mellon Arena since February. February. It's freakin May now. The Flyers need to break that streak by winning one of the first two games, or they'll be in serious trouble when the series comes to Philadelphia.


In the regular season, the Flyers won five of the teams' eight match ups. But the fifth win came in the last game of the season, in which many people, myself included, thought Pens coach Michel Therrien may have pulled the horses up to (A) rest Sidney Crosby and (B) prevent a first-round match up with the hard-hitting Flyers in favor of the plummeting Senators. By losing the game, the Pens missed finishing first in the conference by 2 points. There's no avoiding the Flyers this time around.

Things got pretty rough in the season series, especially in this game. However, it's not necessarily a foregone conclusion that that trend will continue in the playoffs. The Flyers have noticeably toned down that aspect of their game, and they haven't even been dressing an enforcer for most of the postseason. Similarly, Scott Burnside points out that Georges Laraque, the league's top bruiser, drew only his first penalty of the entire playoffs on Sunday.

Call me crazy, but I still think we're in for a battle.


But it won't be all blood, not by a long shot. Through two series, the Flyers have shown that they have the firepower to hang with the likes of Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa. Danny Briere is near the top of the league in goals and points in the postseason, and with 8 goals against Montreal, Pittsburgh native R.J. Umberger leads the Eastern Conference in lighting the lamp (9 total). Umberger torched the Pens in the regular season, so there's no reason to think he'll slow down.


In Pittsburgh, despite piling wins upon wins, some are wondering what happened to Sidney Crosby's finishing touch.

Crosby is generating chances for teammates but has just two goals on 24
shots in the playoffs and just two power-play goals (both April 2
against Philadelphia) in his past 38 games.

Great... Sooo, he's due to go off? Let's hope not, but even when he's not leading the scoring, Crosby is still an enormous factor to be accounted for on the ice. Burnside also tells us that Hossa has been something of an anomaly of inconsistency, though he's obviously as dangerous as they come.

Can Marty Biron continue to be the best goalie in the playoff field? He'll have to if the Flyers are to beat the Pens, and we've seen nothing to indicate he isn't up to the task.

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