5. Philadelphia Flyers defeat 4. Pittsburgh Penguins in 6 games
Game 1: Phi 4 Pit 3 OT
Game 2: Phi 8 Pit 5
Game 3: Pit 4 Phi 8
Game 4: Pit 10 Phi 3
Game 5: Phi 2 Pit 3
Game 6: Pit 1 Phi 5
When you look at these scores, you can probably tell what type of series this was. It was a series with all offense and no defense and goaltending. These types of games clearly do not favor a team made like Pittsburgh's which is a team (supposedly) built on chemistry. Philly's offense is more of a powerhouse type and I gave their offense the nod in my series preview. And in a series with all offense and slim-to-none defense and/or goaltending, this translated poorly for the Penguins.
So what went wrong for Pittsburgh exactly? Rob Rossi of the Tribune-Review pointed out 3 things that could have led to this loss.
1) SIDNEY CROSBY COMING BACK:
All year long the Penguins showed that they were not to be affected by Crosby's absence. True, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal stepped up big time for the Pens but it was also their role players filling in here and there. Pascal Dupuis had a very good season and Matt Cooke played pretty well also. Once Crosby came back a couple of things happened: 1) Crosby expected to fit right into the Penguins chemistry which was clicking just about all year and 2) Everyone else expected Sidney Crosby to play like Sidney Crosby. These two things just were not able to happen at the same time. Crosby's intrusion into the Pittsburgh lineup kind of slowed down the play of some of the role players there and it wasn't as sparkling as it could have been. Also, Crosby was in the awkward stages of testing to see what he could do returning from another concussion. The combination of these two things definitely had an impact on the way they played in the first round against the Flyers.
2) THE STARS DISAPPEARED:
The stars of Pittsburgh, with the exception of Jordan Staal, simply did not show up to play this series. Let's face it; Staal, Crosby, Malkin, and M.A. Fleury all have the ability to win at least one game on their own. Staal pretty much won his game in game 4. Fleury provided great goaltending and won his game in game 5. But Crosby and Malkin did not really do anything to earn a victory for the team. Fleury was also a disaster. True he finally had a great game in game 5 but he just simply was not there for Pitt when they needed him. Malkin and Crosby simply didn't contribute offensively. It's as simple as that. Some are saying that Crosby was not quite himself this series. They said he looked hesitant at times and wasn't playing like he should, like a captain should. Obviously in a playoff loss, the blame should not land entirely on only three players but these guys were for sure a reason they lost this series.
3) FACE IT PENGUIN FANS; THE FLYERS ARE BETTER:
I know it hurts for Pen fans to hear this (and it hurts me as a Devil fan to say this). The Flyers have the better team here. Philly is a tough, physical team yet they are deep and posses a strong will to win. They are built with talented all stars and promising rookies and everybody did their part to advance. People hated on Ilya Bryzgalov but he played well in big moments and was one reason Pitt had trouble scoring. But this is a Flyers team that's extremely difficult to matchup against and the Penguins witnessed that first hand.
I just wanted to point out one more thing about this series. Let's call it point 4.
But hey Pitt fans. It's only game. Why you heff to be mad?
Game 1: Phi 4 Pit 3 OT
Game 2: Phi 8 Pit 5
Game 3: Pit 4 Phi 8
Game 4: Pit 10 Phi 3
Game 5: Phi 2 Pit 3
Game 6: Pit 1 Phi 5
When you look at these scores, you can probably tell what type of series this was. It was a series with all offense and no defense and goaltending. These types of games clearly do not favor a team made like Pittsburgh's which is a team (supposedly) built on chemistry. Philly's offense is more of a powerhouse type and I gave their offense the nod in my series preview. And in a series with all offense and slim-to-none defense and/or goaltending, this translated poorly for the Penguins.
So what went wrong for Pittsburgh exactly? Rob Rossi of the Tribune-Review pointed out 3 things that could have led to this loss.
1) SIDNEY CROSBY COMING BACK:
All year long the Penguins showed that they were not to be affected by Crosby's absence. True, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal stepped up big time for the Pens but it was also their role players filling in here and there. Pascal Dupuis had a very good season and Matt Cooke played pretty well also. Once Crosby came back a couple of things happened: 1) Crosby expected to fit right into the Penguins chemistry which was clicking just about all year and 2) Everyone else expected Sidney Crosby to play like Sidney Crosby. These two things just were not able to happen at the same time. Crosby's intrusion into the Pittsburgh lineup kind of slowed down the play of some of the role players there and it wasn't as sparkling as it could have been. Also, Crosby was in the awkward stages of testing to see what he could do returning from another concussion. The combination of these two things definitely had an impact on the way they played in the first round against the Flyers.
2) THE STARS DISAPPEARED:
The stars of Pittsburgh, with the exception of Jordan Staal, simply did not show up to play this series. Let's face it; Staal, Crosby, Malkin, and M.A. Fleury all have the ability to win at least one game on their own. Staal pretty much won his game in game 4. Fleury provided great goaltending and won his game in game 5. But Crosby and Malkin did not really do anything to earn a victory for the team. Fleury was also a disaster. True he finally had a great game in game 5 but he just simply was not there for Pitt when they needed him. Malkin and Crosby simply didn't contribute offensively. It's as simple as that. Some are saying that Crosby was not quite himself this series. They said he looked hesitant at times and wasn't playing like he should, like a captain should. Obviously in a playoff loss, the blame should not land entirely on only three players but these guys were for sure a reason they lost this series.
3) FACE IT PENGUIN FANS; THE FLYERS ARE BETTER:
I know it hurts for Pen fans to hear this (and it hurts me as a Devil fan to say this). The Flyers have the better team here. Philly is a tough, physical team yet they are deep and posses a strong will to win. They are built with talented all stars and promising rookies and everybody did their part to advance. People hated on Ilya Bryzgalov but he played well in big moments and was one reason Pitt had trouble scoring. But this is a Flyers team that's extremely difficult to matchup against and the Penguins witnessed that first hand.
I just wanted to point out one more thing about this series. Let's call it point 4.
4) PITTSBURGH HAD NO DEFENSE:
Pittsburgh's defense was literally like Swiss cheese out on the ice. People criticized Fleury all series long but he literally received no help from his defense. By the end of the season it came out that teams had figured out how to beat Fleury. But what it seemed like teams were actually saying was "Hey guys. Pitt has no defense so we can literally get any type of chance we want against Fleury." And it worked. Down the stretch? Fleury was awful. In this series? Fleury was awful. But the Penguins defense literally let the opposition walk right in and get chances. Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek were god-awful for the Penguins. This was something that separated these teams. Granted, Philly also had weak-ish defense at times. But they definitely did a good job clearing up the middle for Bryzgalov and made his job a lot easier in doing so. Fleury just didn't have the support.But hey Pitt fans. It's only game. Why you heff to be mad?
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