Today we will look at the the forwards:

Forwards: In the offseason Philadelphia shipped off two of it’s biggest names in Jeff Carter and captain Mike Richards.  The Flyers in return got Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn, and a draft pick who became Sean Couturier.  Also, Philly signed two former Pittsburgh Penguins player in Jaromir Jagr, who was returning from playing in Russia, and Max Talbot.

Simmonds had a career year notching 28-goals and 21-assists which gave him 49-points which was tied for fourth on the team along with Danny Briere and Voracek.  Combined with his scoring prowess and his fearlessness playing in front front the net, the Wayne Train made himself a fan favorite in Philly.

Another surprise on the year was Scott Hartnell.  Hartnell started the year on the fourth line, but due to an injury to James van Riemsdyk he was shuffled to the top-line.  Hartsy took advantage of this and made his first all-star team and led the team goals with 37.

You cannot forget about the rookies this year.  Schenn, Couturier, and Matt Read were a huge part of the Flyers success.  Also, the Flyers got contributions from Eric Wellwood, Marc-Andre Bourdon, Erik Gustafsson, and Harry Zolnierczyk in a limited capacity.  Zac Rinaldo basically only contributed in the penalty department.

Of course you cannot forget the superstar emergence of one Claude Giroux.  With Richards and Carter gone, Giroux seized the chance presented to him.  G quickly became a household name and was named to his second consecutive all-star game.  Giroux finished third in league in points with 93 and was snubbed of a Hart nomination.

The Flyers were second in the league in goals per-game with 3.17 and were tied for fourth in shots per-game with 32.2.  Philadelphia was never out of a game this year with the fire power they possessed, they led the league in come from behind wins with 20.

Offense was easily the biggest strength of this team, as they had so many weapons at their disposal.

Grade: A+

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The Flyers were without star Claude Giroux last night who was serving a one-game suspension.  With how the game went last night, he could have made an impact.

Philadelphia took the lead and sealed their fate when Max Talbot banged home a puck 7:18 in the first period.  The lead would not last long as Bryce Salvador scored just over two-minutes later.

Just under three-minutes later the Devils scored a goal that would be hard for Flyers fans to swallow.  Ilya Bryzgalov attempted to clear a puck, but instead of clearing the puck he played it off David Clarkson and the puck deflected back into the net.  This would end up being the game-winning goal for the Devils.

New Jersey would get another from Ilya Kovalchuk and would go on to win the game 3-1 and the series 4-1.

This is a series many thought the Flyers would would win (myself included) and it seems like the players thought that as well.  ”I think we were thinking we were going to walk over to New Jersey and they’ll fall a little bit,” Giroux said. “I guess we’ve got to learn from it. They are a good hockey team. They are well balanced and they played a pretty good series.”

Bryz made some nice saves to keep the team in games in this series, but most the goals he let in were soft.  He seemed to have to fight off pucks or had bad positioning.  Bryzgalov isn’t the only reason the Flyers lost this series, the defense was terrible as well.  They allowed players to walk right in and shoot and did not block many shots.

It will be another long offseason in Philadelphia, as the organization wonders what it will have to do to get over that hump.

Stay tuned all summer as we will follow the Flyers offseason moves and rumors.

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Brendan Shanaban Shanahan decided to suspend Giroux today.  As always these things are puzzling with Shanny and good luck trying to figure out his logic.  Giroux has no prior history and it hard to say for sure he is targeting the head, so shouldn’t he get the benefit of the doubt?  According to Shanahan the answer is no.

Let’s breakdown the video.  The puck is gone without a doubt, so it is a late hit.  Giroux is loading up to hit Zubrus and when he unloads he does make contact with his head.  While he does make contact with Zubrus’ head, he had just leaned down as Giroux is going for the hit and G never leaves his feet.

This as I stated is a late hit, but I see no need for a suspension on this hit.  Giroux did deserve a fine for the hit because it was a late hit.  Zubrus seemed to be fine afterwards, which is another reason I don’t see the need for a suspension.

New Jersey and the Pittsburgh Penguins seemed to play better when they lost their star player, so maybe this is the jolt the Flyers need.  With their back against the wall and a sense of urgency all ready this gives them even more.  Every man is going to have to dig in deep and want this so much more.

Game-five is on Tuesday in Philadelphia

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Matt Read struck first for the Flyers just 2:53 into the game.  That would be the last time Philly would see the back of the net, not so much because of the play of New Jersey Devils netminder Martin Brodeur but because of Philly’s ineptitude on offense ability to generate shots.

The best power play in the first round was shutdown last night and held to just one-shot and finished o-for-5.  Philadelphia just seemed to be going through the motions last night.

Not everyone played like that last night though.  Bryzgalov was on his game last night and stopped all 25-shots from the Devils through the first two period.  In the third he was hung out to dry by his defense.  He made the initial saves on shots, but his D failed to clear any pucks for him.

“Bryz was phenomenal tonight, but we have to do a better job in front of him,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. “We were not skating the way we needed to be, but I don’t think it was because of the fact that we were relying on him to win a game for us.”

“It is all about the will and desperation. We have to get that back,” Danny Briere said. “So far in this series we have only had it for about three periods. There is no sense in me telling you how good we are. One thing I can tell you is that we need to have more desperation if we want to get back to winning games.”

I think this is maybe how Bryz felt last night:

The Flyers will travel up the Jersey Turnpike and take on the Devils Thursday night in game three.

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Philadelphia as usual fell behind in the first when Zach Parise scored 3:16.  If it was not for the play of Ilya Bryzgalov in the first period, the Devils could have easily ran away with the game in the first.  New Jersey had the first 11-shots in the game and Bryz only allowed one-goal.

In the second period Philly notched two-goals in the span of less than 40-seconds.  Danny Briere struck first on a beautiful breakaway goal at 8:07 into the second.  Then at 8:44 James van Riemsdyk scored on a snap-shot to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead.  ”Nobody liked the first period. The players didn’t like it. I didn’t like it. No one liked it,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. “So, it was good to get through the first period, only down 1-0. And then for me, it started in the second period. We had the fire it took to be successful.”

Travis Zajac would tie it at two in the second.  The two team would trade goals in the third as Claude Giroux scored his seventh of the playoffs and Petr Sykora scored his first.  Bryzgalov who played great in the first struggled later on, as the Zajac and Sykora goals were both softies.

In overtime Briere scored, but it was determined that he kicked the puck in.  ”When you look at the replay, it’s kind of obvious,” Briere said of the reversal. “But I needed to stop pouting and get back my focus in overtime. I ended up getting a break.”

Danny B then buried a slapper from the point that beat Martin Brodeur, who was screened by JVR.  There was no need for a review here, the Flyers took game-one 4-3 in OT.  Here is a video clip of the goal, showing why fans around here refer to him as Mr. Playoffs:

“He has his ups and downs, but he just picks it up in the playoffs. And that’s what matters,”  Laviolette said about Briere. “He’s a guy who consistently gets it done.”

“Is it pressure? I think it’s fun,” Briere said of playoff hockey. “When I have the opportunity, like I’ve had the past few years here, I try to take advantage of the opportunities.”

Lavy was excited about the win, here is a clip of his celebration:

Game two comes at you tomorrow night the Flyers will try to get a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.

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1. Ilya Bryzgalov: This is going to be the most important factor for the Flyers to have any success in this round.  Bryz was terrible in the first round but showed up big in game six.  This year he has been fantastic against the Devils with a record of 3-0, a 0.29 GAA, a .987 save percentage, and two shutouts.  For him to have success he will need help from the second key to success.

2. Defense Wins Championships: If it wasn’t for the play of the offense, there is no way the Flyers advance to the second round.  You cannot allow four-goals a game and expect to win a series, or have a game where you give up 10-goals.  The one bright spot was game six when Philadelphia blocked 40-shots to close out the series.  Philly needs that play to carry over.

3. Ain’t Nuttin But a G Thang: Claude Giroux put this team on his back last round and scored 14-points and currently is the playoff points leader.  It really showed during the clincher when he set the tone with a big hit on Sidney Crosby and then scored a goal.  After the goal Giroux said ‘Let’s Go’ and pounded the glass.  Players will be looking towards G to set the tone for them.

4. Now You’re Playing with Power: A problem in the past has been a strength thus far for the Flyers.  Philadelphia had an amazing power play percentage of 52.2%, which was easily the best of the first round.  The Flyers were 12-of-23 with the man advantage.  You can’t expect them to keep up those numbers, but even half of that will be more than enough.

5. I’m Gonna Break My Rusty Cage:  One of the biggest questions out there is how much rust will the Flyers have?  It will be seven-days between their last game and puck drop on Sunday.  The rest could be a good thing, it leaves the Flyers fresher and able to heal some wounds.  Philly need to come out and play with some jam, you can’t give away games in the playoffs.

1. Kill them with kindness – The Devils possessed a record setting penalty kill during the regular season but it’s been an entirely different story in the playoffs. Florida picked them apart to the tune of nine power play goals in the seven game series. On the other side the Flyers led the NHL in power play goals with 12 through round one. The Devils are a much more effective time at 5-on-5. They must keep their composure against Philadelphia and stay out of the penalty box.

2. Back to the drawing board – Had New Jersey been able to win face-offs with any kind of regularity they would have dispatched Florida much sooner. Coming into the series with Philly, Jersey is a league worst on the draw, winning just 45.5% of the face-offs taken. Outside of Travis Zajac, not a single Devils center has even looked remotely competent from the circle.

3. Last line of defense – Martin Brodeur will be 40-years-old by the time we drop the puck on game four of this series. He was sensational against the Panthers despite being pulled in the game three loss. He finished with a GAA of 2.06 and a save percentage of .920.  His counterpart Ilya Bryzgalov was the exact opposite with a GAA of 3.89 and sub-par save percentage of .870. This is the one arae in which the Devils may hold a clear and distinct advantage in the series.

4. Oh Captain, My Captain – Zach Parise had a decent first round. He collected four points (2g 2a) and led the team in shots with 32. If Ilya Kovalchuk truly is banged up than Parise must step up and start burying some of these chances. I believe he has to be New Jersey’s best offensive weapon form here on out.

5. Regulators, mount up – Calder Trophy finalist Adam Henrique finally woke up in game 7 with two goals including the double-overtime winner. He has to build on that experience and have it carry over into the Flyers series. Philadelphia boasts a formidable posse of young guns themselves with Matt Read, Brayden Schenn and Sean Coutourier. Read led all rookies in goal scoring during the regular season with 24. Many Philly faithful believe Read should have been nominated for the top rookie honors instead of Henrique.   The 22-year-old Devils center has a chance to step to the forefront and show the world that his nomination was no fluke.

It is no secret that both teams put up a lot points in this series and both teams struggled on defense.  The Flyers allowed 4.33 goals per-game, while they have scored five-goals per-game.

Defense and the goaltending looked terrible all except for game six.  Ilya Bryzgalov at times made some beautiful saves, but allowed some very soft goals.  The defense also allowed Penguin players to skate in and get some very high scoring chances.

A lot of this had to do with the fact that you had the top two scoring offenses going head-to-head.  Also, you had two goalies that looked very shaky.  The biggest factor may have been the fact this was an intense rivalry, players looked more like they wanted that big hit rather than playing fundamental hockey.  Players were looking for the body and when they wouldn’t get it led to high quality scoring chances.

Philadelphia had a huge breakthrough in the clinching game on Sunday.  A solid game was played by all especially the defense who blocked 40-shots, led by rookie Erik Gustafsson who blocked seven-shots.

The Flyers will not face another team with the fire power that Pittsburgh has and that has got to be a relief.  Whoever Philly plays next it should be a much lower scoring series.

If the d plays like it played in game six, the Flyers will be fine.  That game could be a turning point for the defense the rest of the way.

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Let’s be honest Bryz hasn’t been great in this series, but tonight he was flat out horrendous.  He was beat twice when he had to move side-to-side and looked very slow doing so.  This is an elimination game, not game 32 of the regular season so there is no reason to blame it on not caring.

I think the injury might have happened in the early stages of game-three on Sunday.  Jordan Staal scored the opening goal just about four-minutes in.  When he scored Kimmo Timonen got pushed back into him and it looks like Bryz got his left leg caught under him a little bit.  The cam in the net shows Bryz grimacing while on his back, it didn’t look like a face of frustration.

Here is a copy of the video (sorry, it’s in Russian):

Watch the two-goals that Bryz gave up moving side-to-side here.  Check out the goal Matt Niskanen (PPG, 08:05 in 1st) and Kris Letang (PPG, 03:07 in 2nd).

Both times Bryz had to move to his right, which means he would have had to push off with his left foot.  If that leg is hurt it is going to effect his ability to get good drive off of it.  This could be why he was extraordinarily bad tonight, but then again Sergei Bobrovsky wasn’t much better in net as he gave up five-goals as well.

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UPDATE 5:04 PM EST

It seems Bryz wasn’t on the ice long at practice today.  Tim Panaccio tweeted this about four-hours ago:

Bryz left ice early; Now Leighton in net

April 19, 2012 11:13 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@tpanotchCSN

Tim Panaccio

Another update has Howard Eskin saying Bryz has a lower-body injury.

got some flyers injury news. I'm told Bryzgalov has hip injury. Game time decision. JVR cleared to play. And nick grossman not likely to pl

April 19, 2012 5:14 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@howardeskin

Howard Eskin

Philadelphia has really frustrated Crosby in the series and they are up 3-0 and are looking to sweep the series tonight at home.  Crosby hasn’t really played his game and has resorted to various dirty tactics, such as slashing and grabbing players by the back of the jersey.

In reality a lot of Pittsburgh players have played like goons, but Crosby is the face of the organization so it easier to lump it on him.  Craig Adams, Aaron Asham, and James Neal have all be suspended for tonight’s contest for their actions in game three.

Crosby himself has acted like a coward, taking cheap shots and making sure the a referee or linesman is close when he does something.  Look at Sunday, he batted the glove of Jakub Voracek when a zebra was right there and then didn’t throw a punch in a fight with Claude Giroux until they were trying to be separated.  In the third he grabbed Scott Hartnell from behind and drug him down, then got some help from Adams as they double teamed a defenseless Hartsy.

Tonight should be interesting to see if the cowardly Pen is finished off or like the Wizard of Oz he find out he had the courage all along.

***
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The game started just as every game in this series has with the Penguins scoring first.  The game would end just as every game in this series has with a Flyers victory.

Pittsburgh struck first on a Jordan Staal goal 3:52 into the game, but the Flyers would answer just about three minutes later.  Former Pen Max Talbot would score an awkward shorthanded goal, where the puck slowly slid past Marc-Andre Fleury.

After Talbot scored Mr. Playoffs Danny Briere would get going and added two more goals.  Matt Read and James Neal would both score and the Flyers lead 4-2 at the break.  Goals would be plentiful and the Flyers cruised to an 8-4 win.

The goals were not the story of the game, the headlines were the fights and penalty minutes.  It all started with surprise, surprise Sidney Crosby.  He decided rather than letting Jakub Voracek pick his glove he would knock it away.

Crossing Broad posted a transcript of Crosby’s post-game interview:

Q: When you knocked Voracek’s glove on the ice and hit it away was that just out of frustration?

“I don’t like any guy on their team there. It was near me and he went to pick it up and I pushed it.”

Q: Why don’t you like them?

“I don’t like them, because I don’t like any guy on their team so.”

Q: The fighting and such was that you trying to spark their team a little bit?

“Yea, guys are emotional and there is a lot of stuff going on out there. There is no reason to explain. I don’t have to sit here and explain why I pushed a glove away they are doing a lot of things out there too. You know what, we don’t like each other. Was I going to sit there and pick up his glove? What was I supposed to do?”

Q: You could skate away.

“Skate away? Oh well I didn’t that time.”

The worst of this was Aaron Asham with a dirty cross-check to Brayden Schenn and then punched him in the back of the head.

This would not be the end of the rough stuff, towards the end of the game it sparked up again.  Of course Crosby had his nose in it (and he wonders why people call him dirty).

My favorite moment is when someone, maybe assistant coach Craig Berube yelling to Schenn when he was tangled up with Crosby, “Schenner, f*** him the f*** up!”

It should be interesting to see on Wednesday, if the Pens are out of it early if they try to start some rough stuff again.

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