Confidence can be a tricky thing in sports.
Sometime, you have so much of it, you take it for granted.
The Flyers had a 11 third period comeback wins this season. A franchise record. And yet their last one came on March 2 at Washington.
They went another month without getting one and they could have used a few. Why? Because sometimes you become too dependent on allowing things to slip and convince yourself you'll be fine in the end because you've done it before.
That's where the Flyers find themselves tonight in Game 6 against the Rangers. They are confident because they are on home ice and because they've overcome a lot of adversity this season.
Problem is, they have not overcome the Rangers in the third period in three of their losses thus far.
"There’s still a chance, but the mindset has to be on," Kimmo Timonen said on Monday. "We all know what we have to do, but we just have to think about [Tuesday] and win the game.
"I think we have to be more aggressive. We have to get more shots and when we are more aggressive, we create more turnovers. We score more. we get more shots on the net."
Team captain Claude Giroux, who finally scored a goal in the series but it didn't have an impact, predicted a win in Game 4 (he was right), but would not go out on such a limb for Game 6, saying he wanted to keep it to himself. Yet he seemed confident.
Giroux said everything the Flyers have overcome this season just to get here is something the team can fall back on.
"When times are hard, I think guys stick together and play a team game," he said. "Our chemistry as a team on the ice got really better since the start of the year and that’s what we’re looking for.
"It’s [confidence level] good. It’s better than you guys think. I think we’re pretty confident in
how we have to play. We can’t be looking at Game 7 right now. We’re playing at home Game 6. We know they’re going to go. It’s going to be an exciting game."
It remains to be seen whether coach Craig Berube keeps Brayden Schenn on his line in place of Scott Hartnell, who goes to Jason Akeson. Berube needs to make some line changes to generate a scoring spark somewhere.
This far into the series, the Flyers seven 20-goal guys has been a non-factor. Hasn't helped them. Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds have had no real impact on the series, like Giroux, from an offensive standpoint. The lines have to change.
Giroux's face lit up when asked about Schenn.
"He’s fast," he said. "He obviously can hit pretty good. He’s really smart with the puck and
he can make plays."
I had the Rangers winning this series in 7 games. For the Flyers to win it, they not only have to win tonight but also a 2nd game at Madison Square Garden which I don't feel is realistic.
Two things stand out. One, this series hasn't been full of the nastiness, physicality, emotions that many of the other playoffs series have had so far. Some of these games didn't even feel like playoff atmosphere.
The Flyers in-your-face brand of hockey has not been a constant factor.
Second, I don't feel Henrik Lundqvist has stolen a game, nor do I feel he's worked hard to get his three wins.
“He kicks out a lot of pucks," Simmonds said. "Maybe we have to stand a little farther from the net with a double screen. First guy screening and the second guy a little deeper out toward the hash marks to pick up those rebounds. It’s something we have to look at."
Time's running out.
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