Penguins rout Philly, should Flyers be worried?

Image courtesy of AP

So let me get this started by saying that, while I wanted the series to end last night, I thought there was a pretty good possibility of the series heading back to Pittsburgh. While the Flyers, for the most part, dominated the first three games, a sweep seemed too good to be true.

That being said, a 10-3 loss is not at all what I expected. It was an embarrassing performance and basically showed that the team was extremely overconfident and uncaring. Once they got a 3-2 lead after coming back from being down 2-1, it was as if they had won the game already. They had the lead first, lost it and got it right back. They had the Pens right where they wanted them, but they didn’t account for penalties and goaltending getting Pittsburgh back into the game.

The Pens got the lead back at the end of the first period and the Flyers were held scoreless for the final two periods, the longest period of time they didn’t score all series. In the meantime, Pittsburgh quickly transformed a competitive hockey game into a rout, scoring eight unanswered goals as both Ilya Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky gave up 5 goals each.

Now that the series is heading back west, there are a few things for the Flyers to think about. While I’m sure they won’t give up even five goals, much less 10 again, the fact that they couldn’t score on Penguins goalie Marc Andre-Fleury for two-plus periods to end the game may have done wonders for Fleury’s confidence. After giving up 14 goals in the two games prior, it was imperative for him to have a good showing to give Pittsburgh life. Now that he has, it could carry over, and if it does and Bryz is still slumping, it could spell trouble for Philly.

Also, according to reports, winger James van Riemsdyk is cleared to return to the Flyers. He practiced with them today and it’s unknown whether or not he’ll play tomorrow. There’s no question that he’ll raise the team’s talent level, but there are questions about whether or not it’ll affect the team’s chemistry, which is why the team can’t just stick him back in and expect everything to go smoothly. While I think it’ll work out well, it’s no guarantee.

It sort of reminds me of Kimmo Timonen’s return from injury in the playoffs four years ago against Pittsburgh when the team suffered their worst loss of the series, 6-0, and was eliminated in the Conference Finals.

The situation this year is obviously different—they’re up 3-1 instead of down 3-1—and there’s not much pressure. It could be helpful to ease JVR back by putting him in a non-pressure situation and playing him on the fourth line with Matt Read and Jakub Voracek, but chemistry will definitely be a factor in making the decision to play him.

Then again, after Zak Rinaldo showed his true colors last night, receiving a well-deserved game misconduct, it could be a lot easier to replace him with JVR… and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone that would disagree with that decision.

Nothing in Game 4 went the Flyers way. The confidence level was extremely high, probably too high, because they played without any sense of urgency. The Penguins obviously wanted it more, and rightfully so. They absolutely needed the win, while the Flyers, for the final two periods, played their worst hockey in a while. They gave up penalty after penalty and, while the refs might be to blame for the extremely strict nature, they didn’t get the message.

The Pens got hit hard with penalties in the first period, but their only penalties afterwards were two offsetting minors. The Flyers, meanwhile, had five penalties called in the first 11 minutes of the second period; three resulted in power play goals. The goaltending was bad, but when your team is on the penalty kill as much as the Flyers were in the second period, it’s hard to only blame the goalies.

All of Philadelphia was rooting for last night’s game to end since the middle of the second period. Now, a day later, it’s easier to look back and see it as just a bump in the road. The Flyers were hit hard yesterday… really hard. It would be a demoralizing loss in any other situation. But in this situation, Philadelphia is still up 3-1 in the series. They’re still in the driver’s seat.

The Pens might have gained some confidence, but they’re heading back to an arena that the Flyers own. They haven’t lost a meaningful game at the Consol Energy Center since it opened in 2010. Bryzgalov left yesterday’s game after giving up five goals, but Fleury gave up six the game before. He came back and played pretty well. Who’s to say Bryz won’t do the same?

There are some Flyers fans that panicked after yesterday’s loss, as well as some Penguins fans who gained confidence, thinking this game was a turning point. The bottom line right now is that the Flyers hold a 3-1 series lead. Last night’s game will mean nothing if the Pens don’t come all the way back, a very unlikely scenario. Some people might say the Flyers lost momentum, but this is the eye-opener they needed. The Flyers played like they had a mulligan last night, but they have no more. If they lose Game 5, then there may be some reason to worry, but they should have a much bigger sense of urgency. If they do, no one should have any doubt that the Flyers will advance to the next round tomorrow.