Pens-Flyers Game 1

All through last night and most of this morning, I went back and forth between believing that the Penguins played really well last night and believing that the Flyers just played really crappy last night.

I finally decided that the Flyers played really crappy last night. They committed too many dumb penalties, were on the wrong side of too many idiot plays, and Marty Biron certainly did not have a great game. Actually, two of the goals the Pens scored were pretty cheap, with Kennedy's goal sneaking past Biron -- who looked like he must've been staring at the large, perfectly rounded breasts of the girl in Row D -- and the weird bounce/Biron brain fart that surrounded Malkin's goal.

And, even though we won 4-1, it should've been a lot worse. I think that boils down to the fact that the Pens don't have a killer instinct -- and haven't had one since the first incarnation of the Lemieux-Francis-Jagr lines. We've got three guys that have a bunch of points in Malkin, Crosby, and Staal, but everyone kind of cocooned and seemed satisfied when it was 2-0. Even the fourth line guys -- who always seem to miss the memo that you shouldn't pile on, because they understand that this is their best chance to score in a big game -- bought into this idea. And there was no sense of urgency, no killer instinct, no sense that our guys were going to keep scoring no matter how many goals they already had.

They could've scored much more. When the score got to be 4-0, I texted my buddy Laszlo and said, "They're starting to fall apart. We could win this thing by six." Well, the Flyers did completely implode when it got to be 4-0, the Pens lost focus enough to let up a goal, then they slammed the door shut. But they didn't take off any fingers when they did and they didn't open the door back up and slam it back down for emphasis.

Unless I'm mistaken, that's exactly what they needed to do. They needed to completely and utterly assassinate the confidence of this Flyers team and, while they beat Philly pretty good, they didn't pop a cap in them, so to speak.

But, let me make the following things clear:

1. I don't think the Flyers are this bad.
   
2. I don't think the Pens are this good.
   
3. I still think the Pens will win.
4. If we had assassinated their confidence last night, we would have swept the series. No doubt in my mind.
5. Since we didn't, Pens in six.

Here's why I think it goes to six:

1. Once again, there's no way there's that much of a disparity between the 4th and 5th seed in the Eastern Conference. Especially since both teams finished with 99 points.
2. Let's not forget that the Flyers made the Eastern Conference Final last year. With a rookie head coach and a bunch of young players that weren't supposed to be ready to make any postseason noise until at least next season.
3. Now, even though we handled them fairly easily in the playoffs last year, they had a ton of injuries and were already starting to hit a wall. With all of their players gaining a ton of playoff experience last season, a coach that now knows what to expect from the NHL playoffs, and a team that is one year older and wiser, I did not see the Flyers laying this big of an egg in the first game of the series. Not even close. I actually thought that we were going to lose this game and the first game in Philly coming into the series, which would still make it six games. My theory is that last season they overprepared and were overly conscious of everything and, as a result ended up being exactly as prepared and pumped/conscious as they needed to be. Couple that with the fact that the teams they played probably overlooked them and you've got an upset waiting to happen. For last night's game, they probably came into it with the mindset of, "Well, we kicked ass last year and had no clue what we were doing. So we'll be in great shape this year!" And then they didn't bother to overprepare and pump themselves up. And they fell flat on their faces. I don't think that John Stevens lets that happen again.
4. Which means that all the talent, all the youth, all the young legs and powerful sticks that are on the Flyers will be out in full force for the rest of the series. They have a ton of talented, young, skilled players that can skate, check, and score with the best of them. Again, they got to the Eastern Conference Final last year. They finished with the same number of points as the Penguins -- and didn't need an insane rally in the last 25 games to get there. They're also significantly healthier than they were last postseason. And we don't have Marian Hossa.
5. I bet they win Friday and one game in Philly. Which puts us at six games.

Why the Penguins will win...

Because of everything you saw last night, just to a lesser degree.

1. The Flyers have talent, but they're too young and they're too reckless. They can't flip a switch and change that at this point in the season, so they're stuck with a very talented team that makes too many dumb mistakes and commits too many unnecessary penalties for the duration of this postseason.
2. And the Penguins are too talented, too disciplined, and too well coached to not take advantage of the mistakes that Philly will make.
3. Look, the Flyers lost last year because of a handful of downright idiotic plays on their part... Well, that's most of the reason they lost. And they had a lot of players with ailments and injuries. Those players are healthy, but they're also out there doing dumb stuff, like Hartnell did last night. Enough of those mistakes will be made -- and capitalized on -- that the Penguins will win.
4. Special teams is too much of a strength for us and a weakness for them.
   
5. When you've got two evenly matched teams going against each other in a seven game series, it comes down to little things... like, not being stupid or careless, playing sound fundamental special teams, and momentum. Right now, the Pens have all of those things in their favor in a BIG way.
6. But, all of that can change very, very quickly in the NHL playoffs. And it will. And that's why the series will go to six, but the Penguins will win.

One other thing:

Gary Bettman needs to do something about the sloppy, crappy way the game ended last night. Philly had three guys in the penalty box and just kept picking fights and attacking guys in the hopes of hurting someone.

I have no problem with that, since the best way to stop that from happening is to take your stars off the ice if you have a three goal lead with 30 seconds left. However, I think a rule should be added to the books that, if you are in a playoff game, you commit a penalty, and time expires before the penalty ends, the clock starts over when the next game begins.

So, the Flyers would've had three guys in the box to start Friday and it would've been 5-3 for about two and a half minutes, then two minutes of power play. That would've kept the extracurricular stuff in line in the last minute or so.

And, hey, if the Penguins get out of line in the last couple minutes of a game, they deserve to get punished for it at the start of the next game.

Sure, this would affect momentum, it would make the game less emotional and passionate since most of these penalties are committed by frustrated white dudes who realize they'll have to spend the offseason in Eastern Europe, but it would also cut down on injuries and cut down on fines and all the rest of the crap that comes with guys with big wooden sticks having nothing to lose.

There's only one real issue I see in this: The elimination game in each series is going to be awfully chippy. If that elimination game is a game seven, that means a bunch of frustrated white guys with sticks and nothing to lose going after each other, but they haven't had the previous seven games to let off steam, so they've all been saving it for the elimination game. That could get very ugly.

But, it's better than the current system. So, while I'm making rules, can I get some cheerleaders?