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Flyers Playoff Gameday: ECQF Game 6 vs. NYR |
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Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 6: Flyers vs. Rangers
Needing a win to stay alive in the Eastern Conference playoffs and force a seventh game, the Philadelphia Flyers will play host to the New York Rangers in Game Six. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:30 p.m. EDT. The match will be televised locally on Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia, nationally in the U.S. on NBCSN and across Canada on TSN.
If the Flyers win this game, Game Seven will be in Madison Square Garden tomorrow night.
Series Progression
In Game One, the Flyers had trouble generating any sort of attack on the Rangers end of the ice but defended well enough and received strong enough goaltending from Ray Emery to keep the game at 1-1 until near the midway point of the third period.
Philly's undoing in the third period was a double-minor penalty that resulted in back-to-back New York goals. Subsequently, a hit post on a Kimmo Timonen shot resulted in a Rangers counterattack and a goal that sealed a 4-1 final. The Flyers ended up getting outshot by a 36-15 margin. Andrew MacDonald notched the lone Flyers goal.
In Game 2, the Rangers got off to a quick 2-0 lead only the see the Flyers roar back for four unanswered goals as Philadelphia evened the series at one game apiece. A first-period line rush goal by Jakub Voracek started the turnaround. Second period goals by Jason Akeson (power play) and Luke Schenn (scored on a delayed penalty) put the Flyers ahead.
Emery, who had to make tougher saves in the first two periods of Game Two than in periods one and two of the series opener, got help in the third period. The Flyers did an outstanding job of protecting their one-goal lead without losing their aggressiveness. Finally, after a late game too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty by the Rangers, Wayne Simmonds scored an eventful empty net power play goal to seal the win for the Flyers.
In Game 3, the Rangers once again got off to a quick 2-0 lead. The Flyers got a goal back late in the first period as Mark Streit converted a pass from Voracek during a 4-on-4. Philly dominated the second period territorially but the only goal was a partially screened shot by Dan Girardi from the point. Former Flyers pest Dan Carcillo added additional insurance in the third period as New York won, 4-1.
The Flyers went 0-for-5 on the power play in Game 3. Despite outshooting the Rangers by a 32-23 margin for the game, the real story for the Flyers was the 28 shot attempts they had blocked and the other 20 attempts that missed the net.
Additionally, of the four goals Emery allowed in the game, three could have been played better by the goaltender. Steve Mason, who backed up for the first time in the series, played the final seven-plus minutes. At the other end of the ice, Lundqvist had to make about four to a half-dozen tough stops in Game 3. He had no chance on Streit's goal.
In Game 4, the Flyers rode a stellar 37-save performance by Mason to overcame an early deficit and a shaky first period to capture a 2-1 regulation victory in Game Four at the Wells Fargo Center.
Dominic Moore opened the scoring with a wraparound goal at the 4:38 mark of the first period. Matt Read's first goal of the series knotted the score at 1-1 near the midway mark of the first period. On the play, Jason Akeson banked the puck off the end boards and it went directly to Read on the other side.
In the middle period, Jakub Voracek deflected home a power play goal at 7:22 for what proved to be game-winning tally. Brayden Schenn fired a low, deflectable shot on net from high in the zone, and Voracek tipped it upstairs over Henrik Lundqvist.
Lundqvist (23 saves) played a solid game in net for the Rangers in Game Four. He had no chance on either Philadelphia goal and thwarted several good scoring chances when Philly had a chance to get an insurance goal. Mason was spectacular at the other end of the ice.
Apart from Mason helping to steal Game Four, the Flyers won the game largely due to winning the special teams battle. Philly went 1-for-2 on the power play. They also killed all three of their own disadvantages, including a lengthy 4-on-3 disadvantage late in the second period and early in the third.
In Game 5, the Flyers had early opportunities to take control of the game. They failed to do and wound up having to chase the game in the first period for the fourth time in five games.
New York built a 3-0 lead in the second period. Philly battled back to shave the deficit to one goal but could not find an equalizer. A late empty net goal sealed a 4-2 win for New York.
Marc Staal, Brad Richards, Dominic Moore and Brian Boyle (empty net) scored for the Rangers. Lundqvist stopped 24 of 26 shots for New York. For Philadelphia, Vincent Lecavalier and Claude Giroux each scored their first goal of the series. Mason (18 saves on 21 shots) was ordinary in net in Game Five after a spectacular performance in Game Four.
Flyers Outlook
Do not look for many lineup changes from the Flyers tonight as they attempt to stave off elimination. Although yesterday's practice was an optional one with just 12 skaters and two goaltenders, the signs pointed to coach Craig Berube using the same forward line combinations that have been featured for most of the series.
The Flyers switched Brayden Schenn from the second to the first line for part of Game Four, with Scott Hartnell moving into Schenn's spot. It remains to be seen how the Flyers will line up in Game Six.
There may or may not be a change on defense, as the Flyers look to substitute for the injured Nicklas Grossmann (right knee injury). Berube may opt to start Erik Gustafsson instead of Hal Gill in order to look for more offensive push from a team that has scored more than two goals only once (Game Two) in the series.
Not surprisingly, Berube was noncommittal when asked whether Gill or Gustafsson would start in Game Six. The coach tap-danced around a question about the potential benefit of playing Gustafsson, noting that the diminutive Swede brings speed and the ability to move the puck up the ice and then adding "but we've got other guys that can do that, too."
Yesterday, Berube was asked what the Rangers have been doing at even strength apart from neutral zone containment to stymie the attack. The coach noted that the Rangers, apart from being a quick team, are getting overloads down low in the defensive zone. Berube team needs to do things faster as well as do a better job of generating rebound opportunities.
In the first three games of the series, the Flyers got goals from defensemen pinching up on the play. That wasn't there much in Game Five.
Moving ahead to Game Six, it is crucial for the Flyers to do three things that will go a long way toward determining whether there will be a Game Seven in New York on Wednesday:
1) The Flyers need Steve Mason to play to the level he did in Game Four. Philly has only scored three-plus goals once in the series (Game Two, which included an empty net goal). That gives the goaltenders very little margin for error. If it's stoppable -- even if it's a tougher-than-average chance -- Mason needs to come up with the save.
2) Philly needs to score first, preferably early. Yes, the Flyers have won two games in the series when they've trailed early. Yes, they've been an excellent comeback team this season. Nevertheless, a club can only go to the comeback well so many times. The Rangers are a decent offensive club but not a great one. They are a very strong defensive team with a great goaltender in Lundqvist. Not having to chase the game early will keep the crowd into it and, even more important, help the Flyers stay on system.
3) For all the special teams talk in the series, the Rangers have been winning this series primarily at even strength. The Flyers need to at least hold even at five-on-five tomorrow night. Additionally, Berube may have to shorten his bench except in the (unlikely) event of the Flyers building a comfortable lead. The Flyers can't worry about what's left in the tank in the event of a potential Game Seven. They need to pull all the stops.
Rangers Outlook
The Rangers have had things their way from a territorial standpoint for the majority of the series. Game Five was the fourth game in which New York dictated more of the play than the Flyers, at least after a bit of a sluggish start from the Rangers. Once they got their feet moving, the Rangers got on their game.
New York pretty much cranks out the same game, night after night. They will use their speed and play a solid positional game, often having numbers on the other team in the defensive zone and pressuring the puck. There is no reason to believe the Rangers will do anything differently tonight or, if need be, tomorrow.
The Rangers have dominated this series at five-on-five, which has made up for a struggling power play. Including Brian Boyle's empty netter in Game Five, New York has outscored the Flyers at even strength by a 12-6 margin. The Flyers own the series' lone goal (Streit in Game Three) at four-on-four but have scored just four goals at five-on-five and one with goaltender Mason pulled for a 6-on-5 late in Game Five.
After starting the series by cashing in power play goals on three of their first seven opportunities, the Rangers have come away empty on each of their last 16 power plays. The Flyers have done a strong job at taking away the passing lanes and New York has not been getting much traffic to the net in the last couple games. New York did lose a deserved power play goal in Game Five as a result of a referee being out of position to see a loose puck in the crease.
Rangers coach Alain Vigneault used former Flyers forward Dan Carcillo to stir the pot in the two previous games in the series played in Philadelphia. Carcillo was effective in Game Three in getting under the skin of both the Flyers and the Philadelphia crowd but his antics started to become a distraction to his own team in Game Four. In Game Five, Vigneault scratched Carcillo in favor of young forward J.T. Miller.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
Flyers
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
10 Brayden Schenn - 40 Vincent Lecavalier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 42 Jason Akeson
36 Zac Rinaldo - 12 Michael Raffl - 18 Adam Hall
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
26 Erik Gustafsson/ 47 Andrew MacDonald - 32 Mark Streit
47 Andrew MacDonald/ 26 Erik Gustafsson - 22 Luke Schenn
35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]
Potential scratches: Nicklas Grossmann (right knee injury), Steve Downie (upper body), Hal Gill (healthy), Jay Rosehill (healthy), Chris VandeVelde (healthy), Tye McGinn (healthy), Cal Heeter (healthy), Yann Danis (healthy), Brandon Manning (healthy), Brandon Alderson (healthy), Scott Laughton (healthy), Petr Straka (healthy), Nick Cousins (healthy), Oliver Lauridsen (healthy), Mark Alt (healthy).
Rangers
61 Rick Nash - 21 Derek Stepan - 26 Martin St. Louis
67 Benoit Pouliot - 16 Derick Brassard - 36 Mats Zuccarello
62 Carl Hagelin - 19 Brad Richards - 10 J.T. Miller
22 Brian Boyle - 28 Dominic Moore - 15 Derek Dorsett
27 Ryan McDonagh - 5 Dan Girardi
18 Marc Staal - 6 Anton Stralman
17 John Moore - 8 Kevin Klein
30 Henrik Lundqvist
[33 Cam Talbot]
Potential scratches: Jesper Fast (healthy), Raphael Diaz (healthy), Justin Falk (healthy), Chris Kreider (hand surgery), Dan Carcillo (healthy).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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