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| Image courtesy of AP |
You could tell in the first period that the Flyers were
coming off a 7-day layoff. They didn’t get a shot off until eight minutes into
the period, when the Devils had already put the puck on net 11 times. They were
outshot 15-6 in the first. It was clear the team was rusty, not awake and outmatched
by the fresh Devils, who took a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
But Coach Peter Laviolette must’ve given a hell of a
speech during the intermission because after that, they picked up right where
they left off against Pittsburgh. They beat the Devils 4-3 in overtime, outshooting
them 30-11 after the first and outplaying them the rest of the way.
“There’s so much intensity in playoff hockey and sitting
back for a week, not being in that mood set us back a little bit,” said Danny
Briere.
The team still wasn’t happy about their start, as it was
a continuation of the Pittsburgh series where they had to come back in the
first three games. But the end result is what matters.
“We just didn’t follow the gameplan,” remarked Claude
Giroux. “We didn’t play the way we played in the first round [but] you saw in
the second and third we kind of picked it up a little bit.”
If it weren’t for future Hall-of-Famer Martin Brodeur, the
game probably wouldn’t have even gone into overtime because he robbed the Flyers
on more than one occasion. A Max Talbot one-timer attempt was denied by Brodeur
and a James van Riemsdyk breakaway was stopped.
Zach Parise got things going for the Devils less than
four minutes into the contest, putting one past Ilya Bryzgalov on a nice pass
from long-time Flyer killer Patrik Elias. But Briere, who seems to always pick
up his game come playoff time, came back in the second period with a goal of
his own off an absolutely beautiful lead pass from Jakub Voracek. It was his
seventh goal in seven playoff games.
The line of JVR-Briere-Voracek continued to make its mark
on today’s game, as JVR gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead just 37 seconds after Briere’s
goal on a rebound shot into an open net. Travis Zajac tied the game up on a
power play that had Flyers fans furious, as Matt Carle was called for hooking
on a play that had, what seemed to be clean contact.
Giroux broke the tie in the beginning of the third period
on a power play one-timer from Scott Hartnell, blazing the puck past Brodeur.
The Flyers seemed to have the game in hand, but Petr Sykora tied the game up
once more with less than ten minutes to go.
In overtime, the Flyers thought they had the game won on
a Briere goal, but the play was reviewed and the goal was disallowed as Briere illegally
kicked the puck into the net.
“It’s just a letdown, but it kind of stuck in there and I
[still] believed we were going to score that [game-winning] goal,” Giroux
remarked.
It was pretty clear and Briere agreed with the call in
the post-game press conference, but when you score anyway two minutes after, it’s
much easier to get over a close call like that. That’s what Briere did, getting
a slap shot through the five hole of Brodeur, who was near perfectly screened
by van Riemsdyk, 4:16 into overtime. The Flyers took a 1-0 series lead and the
fans went home happy.
The one negative taken away from today’s game was the
Flyers power play unit; they went just 1-for-6 after a downright dominating
power play performance against Pittsburgh the round before. They did get a goal
from Giroux, but they were, for the most part, outplayed on the Power Play.
They didn’t even get a shot off on their first two attempts with a man
advantage. They need to continue to be more consistent on the attack if they
want to bring home the trophy.
I mentioned earlier the success of the second line and it
can’t be stressed enough. The biggest x-factor in this series is JVR. He’s
coming off an injury that kept him sidelined for two months. He was able to get
some minutes in the final two games on the first round series against
Pittsburgh, but this series is the one where he’ll be tested. Today, he played
as well as he could’ve. Briere played like he does in any playoff game. Voracek
played very well. All the lines seemed on point, but this one seemed to do best
today.
If JVR continues to play up to his level, this is a scary
team for anybody to face. He scored a goal today, but it was clear he had his
legs back.
“The way [van Riemsdyk] skated in the second, third and
overtime was great to see,” remarked Briere.
Flyers owned the Cup-favorite Penguins without him. He was a huge asset in last
year’s playoffs and had a great year overlooking the injuries. He’s an integral
part of the Flyers present and future. The Devils looked like they would be able
to take advantage of the team’s long layoff and steal a victory early, but the
Flyers showed how quickly they were able to bounce back. The Devils stayed
close, but they didn’t show any dominance after the first period. That made it
clear that the Flyers were just the better team who had to wake up. JVR was a
big part of today’s victory and he will continue to be a big part as long as
the Flyers remain in the playoffs.
The Flyers are looking to make quick work of the Devils,
and to do that they’ll have to win Game 2 on Tuesday. But at least one Flyer seem
to take these games as they come, as Briere turned his head when one reporter
asked how pressured he felt during these playoffs.
“You try to make the best of [this opportunity] and you
try to enjoy it as much as possible… it’s not really pressure. It’s a fun time,
[an] exciting time.”
That it is, and wins make it even more fun and exciting.
As of now, it seems like there are more of those coming for the Flyers and
hopefully they won’t stop coming until they have the Stanley Cup in hand.
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