|
Flyers Playoff Gameday: Game 2 vs. Habs |
|
|
|
|
|
WRAPUP AND THIRD PERIOD COMMENTARY
It wasn't always pretty and the Flyers needed Martin Biron to make numerous tough stops and once again got some friendly bounces off goal posts, but the bottom line is all that counts.
Let's harken back to something from the series preview: If there's one criticism of Carey Price in his young career, it's that he's sometimes too casual in the net. That has cost him a few times in this series.
The 4-on-4 four at the start of the period was, indeed, a nightmare scenario for the Flyers. Montreal pressed the attack, Andrei Markov pinched up into the slot and Joffrey Lupul never picked him up.
There were also several anxious moments, especially with Lasse Kukkonen turning the puck over twice, on the Flyers kill of Umberger's interference penalty. The penalty was created by Jeff Carter breaking his stick (yet again) along the boards, and the Flyers scrambling around their end of the ice. On the powerplay, only a friendly goal post saved the Flyers from blowing another two-goal lead.
There were about five and a half minutes of whistle-free hockey after the hit post and the Flyers got their coverages set much better and blocked about six or seven shots. But Philly hardly forechecked at all during that time. Finally, they got some attack zone time, and Umberger (barely) provided the insurance the Flyers needed by knocking a puck out away from Price and pinballing a soft backhanded off the post, off Price and in.
Shots in the third period were 7-7 (36-23 in Montreal's favor for the game).
Faceoffs were lopsided in Montreal's favor in the third period (10-4) but the Flyers won 32 of 60 (52%) for the game. Daniel Briere (8-for-12) was tops for the Flyers. Koivu led the way for Montreal with an 11-for-19 night.
Hits were 10-10 in the final period, with Montreal leading 32-28 for the game. Begin led the way with five for the Habs, while Higgins and Lapierre each had four. Hartnell led the Flyers with four and five players had three.
The Flyers had a remarkable 32 blocked shots for the game (18 in the third period alone) to
19 for Montreal. Kukkonen and Timonen each had five, and a dozen different Flyers had at least one. Josh Gorges led Montreal with four, while Mike Komisarek had three.
Final turnovers: 25 for the Flyers (15 giveways and 10 Montreal takeaways) to 18 for Montreal (12 giveaways, 6 Flyers takeaways). Markov was charged with a game-high three gives. Also, Montreal missed the net on 21 attempts. The Flyers had 11 misses.
******
SECOND PERIOD COMMENTARY
So much for Marty Biron looking a tad shaky. He was absolutely magnificent in the middle period, as the Habs generated a host of quality scoring chances. Huge stop on Plekanec on the breakaway and from point blank range on the powerplay.
Nice plays all the way around by the Briere line on the Flyers' third goal: Hartnell made a deft move to get onside. Prospal had some slick standhandling to keep the rush onside and and get the puck to Briere. Finally, Briere made a great hard move below the circle to beat Andrei Markov, cut in front and score.
The Flyers would do best to stay out of 4-on-4 situations with the Habs, and need to avoid third period penalties. Every time Montreal gets a little space, they make things happen. The third period will begin with 4-on-4 play.
R.J. Umberger had two prime chances for his second goal of the game but was denied by Price both times. Price's stop on Umberger on a 2-on-1 rush may have been his best save of the series so far.
Second period shots were 13-9 in favor of the Habs, faceoffs 13-10 in the Flyers favor, Flyers charged with 6 giveaways to 4 for the Canadiens. Hits are 23-18 in Montreal's favor through 40 minutes (Hartnell and Begin leading the way for their clubs with four). Flyers with 14 blocked shots to 13 by Montreal (three for Timonen, three for Komisarek).
*****
FIRST PERIOD COMMENTARY
Good first half of the period for the Flyers but it was pretty much all Montreal over the latter part of the stanza.
Both goaltenders looked a bit shaky in the first period. Carey Price gotten beaten twice on stoppable shots, albeit on a play where Saku Koivu screened him on R.J. Umberger's goal and a short-side Jef Carter goal that went into the top corner. Price also skated to the bench on a delayed penalty on his own club.
Meanwhile, Martin Biron left out about a half dozen fat rebounds, took himself out of position several other times and didn't get over on Koivu's semi-wraparound powerplay goal where he stepped out in front and stuffed the puck into a half empty net. On the goal, it looked like Lasse Kukkonen had caught a high stick in the face from Alexei Kovalev behind the net.
The Jim Dowd line continues to be the Flyers' best line at 5-on-5, getting pucks in deep and forechecking effectively.
Shots were 16-7 in favor the Habs, faceoffs 15-8 in the Flyers favor (but Koivu is 6 for 7), and the Flyers had 8 giveaways (including three in a single shift) to 4 by Montreal. Scoring chances were 8-4 in Montreal's favor. All totaled, Philly is lucky to have the 2-1 lead.
******
Within a span of 77 seconds of play at the end of Game One, the Flyers went from assuring themselves of no worse than a split in Montreal to staring at a virtual must-win tonight. The Canadiens can -- and probably will -- play better for 60 minutes than they did on Thursday, so Philly will also have to elevate its own play over the course of the entire game.
Lost amidst the debate over two controversial calls in the game are several areas that Philadelphia must improve to have success in this series:
* Avoiding break-out and neutral zone turnovers. Two of Montreal's four goals in Game One were directly caused by Philadelphia turnovers. In addition, Andrei Kostitsyn's penalty shot was created by the Flyers not getting the puck all the way in, and then getting caught changing lines as Patrice Brisebois hit Kostitsyn in stride with a lead pass.
* Faceoffs. You're playing with fire when you can't win faceoffs, especially in the defensive zone. The Flyers won only 27 of 68 faceoffs in the game, and Montreal got two outstanding scoring chances -- and Alexei Kovalev's game-tying goal -- directly off faceoffs.
Jeff Carter, who broke his stick on the draw, was a mere 5 of 18 (28%) on the faceoff for the game. He's now won just 41.5% of his faceoffs through eight playoff matches. For a big, strong player with fast hands, that's simply unacceptable.
With Mike Richards in the box and no viable lefthanded option to take the right circle draw on the PK, Carter took the draw against Saku Koivu instead of Jim Dowd (just 1 for 5 in the game, but 58.5% for the playoffs). Dowd was also on the ice at the time in case Carter was tossed from the circle.
Koivu won 17 of 24 faceoffs in the game, mostly against Carter. Regardless of the broken stick on the draw that led to Kovalev's goal, Koivu may have won the puck cleanly anyway.
* Top line. Vaclav Prospal in particular had a poor game on Thursday night. Faced with tight checking, he did little to create time and room for himself or his linemates. The decision to move Scott Hartnell off the Briere line and install Joffrey Lupul did not work out particularly well in 5-on-5 play. While Daniel Briere individually had some chances, including a 2-on-1 rush, his line as a whole was shut down. Tonight, Hartnell will be back on the Briere line to start the game.
* Rebounds. Martin Biron made several huge saves for his club over the first 30 minutes of the game: most notably the penalty shot pad save and a tough stop in the final second of the first period. But later on, he got into trouble by failing to handle routine shots cleanly. Carey Price also struggled in this area in the third period of the game (leading directly to Lupul's go-ahead goal off his shinpad).
* Playing with the lead. The Flyers' failure to protect two-goal leads three times in these playoffs is a problem that goes back to the second half of the regular season. It's why the team is just 4-4 through eight games and stands to be in major trouble if they don't win tonight. This time of year, you need 60-minutes of focus and execution to win. Anything short, and you're arranging tee times.
For the Habs, I think we'll see more complete games out of goaltender Price, and defensemen Roman Hamrlik (four giveaways) and Mike Komisarek(two awful penalties, two nearly costly giveaways).
I don't know if there will be a lot of games where the Flyers get 30-plus shots in the series, so the Flyers as a team need to mirror what the fourth line did in providing two of the team's three goals: move their feet, forecheck hard and get people moving to the net and slot. That's how you create your own good luck.
Flyers lines and scratches (Subject to change)
Prospal - Briere - Hartnell
Umberger - Richards - Lupul
Upshall - Carter - Kapanen
Thoresen - Dowd - Downie
Coburn - Timonen
Hatcher - Jones
Smith - Kukkonen
Biron
[Niittymäki]
Scratches
Cote (healthy)
Tolpeko (healthy)
Parent (healthy)
Modry (bereavement leave, returning Tuesday)
Knuble (hamstring)
Gagne (concussion)
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»