First off, I took the Flyers over the Bruins in this series in 6 games.
I figure a split in both cities, too.
Now I saw something the other day that struck home for this upcoming series. Dave Molinari's final game story in PGH - 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay - surrounded the Penguins awful power play that series and how it was cost the Pens in three games at the end.
What struck me is that the Flyers were pretty bad on the PP nearly the entire season, but got a reprieve in Games 6 & 7 against Buffalo to win the series.
Then you had the Bruins going 0 for 21 and still beating Montreal. No NHL team has ever advanced in a 7-game series without scoring at least one power play goal. Until now. Boston.
I made two predictions on CSN before the playoffs began. One, was that James van Riemsdyk would make that next jump in his development as a player on the ice. He did against Buffalo. Had a couple monster games. Looked more like the young Scott Hartnell the Flyers are hoping he becomes.
I also said that the Flyers PP would either save them or sink them as some point in the playoffs. I still believe that. The PP hurt the Flyers a lot more than the goalie switching in round 1.
Now given the Bruins are having an awful time on the PP, and the Tim Thomas and Brian Boucher have very similar stats in goal, I think special teams will be the deciding factor in this series.
During the regular season, the Flyers were 0 for 7 vs Boston; Boston was 4 for 12 against them.
I like what Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli had to say about the Bruins' power play Thursday in Boston:
“This is a topic that we have addressed all year, every day,” he said. “And I see a group of guys that, beaten down is the wrong word, we’ve been on them so much to succeed and have different looks. And you reach a point where you are diminishing returns as far as trying to make changes so it’s been a frustrating exercise.
“We tried to change the entry [to] a delayed entry, and it didn’t work. Because we’re having trouble getting set up. So it’s frustrating for me to watch, I know these guys want to succeed at it, I know the coaching staff, that’s been at the top of their list and it’s been at the top of your list too, everyone’s list.
“And we’re going to figure it out. I know Tomas [Kaberle] has been under some heat too and it’s not his fault. He’s in the mix with everybody and we’re trying to figure it out.”
I asked Kimmo Timonen about the Flyers PP and Boston's, since he works both power play and penalty kill and I thought he summed it up nicely in a couple of words:
“We can’t go into the series thinking they’re going to suck on the power play because I don’t think they’re going to do that again,” Timonen said.
“It’s not easy. Every team is bearing down and it’s harder to score in the playoffs. They’re going to get better and we’re going to get better. Sometimes, it doesn’t click one series but another series it might be hot.”
Whoever gets hot on ST is going to win this series.
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