Lewis
Member
And I worked at the game tonight, talk about crowded, but anyway we are the best on the planet right now. My guy's have not allowed a goal in over a week.
PHILADELPHIA --- The Flyers played Game 1 of the Stanley Cup semifinals both with confidence and caution, winning it and then worrying.
They were dominating and they were proud of it, shoving the Canadiens around like the couch pillows, plopping on then to make themselves comfortable. Yet no one would better understand the hidden beauty of the best-of-seven series, which is that is before one is over, both sides will play some shifts their way.
Some will be rugged and edgy.
Others will be smooth and open.
And only the team able to win both ways will still be standing whenever the commissioner emerges from a tunnel trailed by a wagon dragging a silver cup.
The Flyers, two games into the semifinals, proved to be that kind of team Tuesday, winning 3-0, but not winning it by their preferred methods. Unlike Game 1, when they forced themselves to the personal space of Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak, they spent much of Game 2 skating backward, looking side to side and monitoring where the Canadiens were headed.
“We knew they were going to try to play that way tonight,†Michael Leighton said. “And in the first period, they did. They were throwing it from all angles.â€
The Habs took 16 of the 24 first-period shots in an effort to re-inflate their sagging self-worth, let alone their championship chances. And in the game, they would out-shoot the Flyers, 30-23. “We didn’t play our best game,†Danny Briere said. “And we know it.â€
The Flyers scored twice on the power play, and their third goal rode in on the back-end momentum from one. Nor did they offer many of kind of chances that make the fog-horn technician spring to attention. Yet they won, even if they won the game Montreal wanted to play. And that’s what champions do --- they win by punching, they win by boxing, they win by the long ball, they win by the bunt. They win.
“They are a tough team to contain on the rush,†Blair Betts said. “They have a couple of guys who like to free-wheel and dish the puck. They showed that tonight.â€
The Canadiens did that, which might keep them motivated as they try to smuggle an 0-2 deficit back through customs. But they did that and lost, which means that unless Plan C includes making Briere, Chris Pronger, Leighton and Simon Gagne ineligible, the Stanley Cup finals will not roll across that border.
“We had some good chances,†said Habs coach Jacques Martin, who had the look of a man who had just misplaced his car keys. “I think we had some real good chances there. You know, I think we played a much better game. We competed, and we made some progress.â€
The Flyers may have been less-than-special Tuesday, but no one turns down any kind of victory on election day. Yet when he was interviewed on TV during the game, Peter Laviolette announced that unless his team began to play better, it were going to lose --- and at that point, the Flyers still hadn’t permitted a goal since last week.
Laviolette’s message, though, came through unscrambled: The style of play was tilting in the Habs’ favor, and frankly, he was finding it less than entertaining. Manageable, yes. But less than entertaining. Ultimately, though, the Flyers won by one hockey style, then won again by another. And it is kind of how it works when a goaltender is as peaceful and productive as Leighton has been.
“Obviously, when our goaltender stands on his head, we are capable of winning,†Blair Betts said. “Every team is. I thought our first game was a better effort. We all felt we could play better after the first game, but we didn’t come out with a very good start. I thought we were a little better in the third period, holding onto the lead. But there is big room for improvement on our game.
“At this time of year, though, it is all about the result at the end. We would rather have a game where we didn’t have our best effort and still win than have a better effort and lose. But if we are going to continue moving on, we are going to have to have a full 60-minute effort.â€
The theme was familiar, and was beginning to hint of being scripted. For even after Game 1, the Flyers hummed the same tune. “We just felt that we didn’t play the best game we can,†Briere said after that 6-0 victory.
They didn’t play their best game, but they did play their game.
In Game 2, they didn’t play either.
“Well, it may be 9-0,†said Claude Giroux, citing the composite score. “But at some point in this game, they were playing better than us.â€
As they moved to within six W’s of a Stanley Cup, that was the Flyers’ position. They are worried. Wink, wink.
PHILADELPHIA --- The Flyers played Game 1 of the Stanley Cup semifinals both with confidence and caution, winning it and then worrying.
They were dominating and they were proud of it, shoving the Canadiens around like the couch pillows, plopping on then to make themselves comfortable. Yet no one would better understand the hidden beauty of the best-of-seven series, which is that is before one is over, both sides will play some shifts their way.
Some will be rugged and edgy.
Others will be smooth and open.
And only the team able to win both ways will still be standing whenever the commissioner emerges from a tunnel trailed by a wagon dragging a silver cup.
The Flyers, two games into the semifinals, proved to be that kind of team Tuesday, winning 3-0, but not winning it by their preferred methods. Unlike Game 1, when they forced themselves to the personal space of Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak, they spent much of Game 2 skating backward, looking side to side and monitoring where the Canadiens were headed.
“We knew they were going to try to play that way tonight,†Michael Leighton said. “And in the first period, they did. They were throwing it from all angles.â€
The Habs took 16 of the 24 first-period shots in an effort to re-inflate their sagging self-worth, let alone their championship chances. And in the game, they would out-shoot the Flyers, 30-23. “We didn’t play our best game,†Danny Briere said. “And we know it.â€
The Flyers scored twice on the power play, and their third goal rode in on the back-end momentum from one. Nor did they offer many of kind of chances that make the fog-horn technician spring to attention. Yet they won, even if they won the game Montreal wanted to play. And that’s what champions do --- they win by punching, they win by boxing, they win by the long ball, they win by the bunt. They win.
“They are a tough team to contain on the rush,†Blair Betts said. “They have a couple of guys who like to free-wheel and dish the puck. They showed that tonight.â€
The Canadiens did that, which might keep them motivated as they try to smuggle an 0-2 deficit back through customs. But they did that and lost, which means that unless Plan C includes making Briere, Chris Pronger, Leighton and Simon Gagne ineligible, the Stanley Cup finals will not roll across that border.
“We had some good chances,†said Habs coach Jacques Martin, who had the look of a man who had just misplaced his car keys. “I think we had some real good chances there. You know, I think we played a much better game. We competed, and we made some progress.â€
The Flyers may have been less-than-special Tuesday, but no one turns down any kind of victory on election day. Yet when he was interviewed on TV during the game, Peter Laviolette announced that unless his team began to play better, it were going to lose --- and at that point, the Flyers still hadn’t permitted a goal since last week.
Laviolette’s message, though, came through unscrambled: The style of play was tilting in the Habs’ favor, and frankly, he was finding it less than entertaining. Manageable, yes. But less than entertaining. Ultimately, though, the Flyers won by one hockey style, then won again by another. And it is kind of how it works when a goaltender is as peaceful and productive as Leighton has been.
“Obviously, when our goaltender stands on his head, we are capable of winning,†Blair Betts said. “Every team is. I thought our first game was a better effort. We all felt we could play better after the first game, but we didn’t come out with a very good start. I thought we were a little better in the third period, holding onto the lead. But there is big room for improvement on our game.
“At this time of year, though, it is all about the result at the end. We would rather have a game where we didn’t have our best effort and still win than have a better effort and lose. But if we are going to continue moving on, we are going to have to have a full 60-minute effort.â€
The theme was familiar, and was beginning to hint of being scripted. For even after Game 1, the Flyers hummed the same tune. “We just felt that we didn’t play the best game we can,†Briere said after that 6-0 victory.
They didn’t play their best game, but they did play their game.
In Game 2, they didn’t play either.
“Well, it may be 9-0,†said Claude Giroux, citing the composite score. “But at some point in this game, they were playing better than us.â€
As they moved to within six W’s of a Stanley Cup, that was the Flyers’ position. They are worried. Wink, wink.