The Sports Illustrated jinx is alive and well. Seven days after SI posed the question—“Who Will Stop the Penguins?”—on the cover of its April 15 issue the new-look Flyers provided the answer. Paced by Claude Giroux’s three-point effort and some stingy defense (40 blocked shots), the Flyers eliminated their surprisingly subdued rivals in Game 6 on Sunday afternoon before a capacity crowd at Wells Fargo Center.
For the Penguins, who hoped to become the fourth team in NHL history to rally from an 0-3 series deficit, it was a bitter end to a season filled with promise. But the black and gold fell behind the relentless Flyers early and remained a step behind throughout a long and fruitless afternoon.
“Being down 3-0, we were confident, and we remained confident, but we just ran out,” Pens center Jordan Staal said.
It was clear from the opening faceoff the home team was locked and loaded. Seconds into the contest Giroux flattened Pens captain Sidney Crosby at the Pittsburgh blue line to set the tone. Moments later, the redhead ripped the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury on the short side to stake his team to a 1-0 lead.
Taking full advantage of an interference call on Matt Cooke, the orange and black widened the gap to two at the 13-minute mark. Following an initial save, the puck trickled between Fleury’s pads. Typifying the Flyers’ intensity, Scott Hartnell dove headlong to the ice and jabbed the rubber across the line for Philly’s 12th power-play goal of the series.
While the Penguins struggled to find their rhythm, the Flyers continued to tighten the screws. At 5:25 of the second period rookie Erik Gustafsson stunned the Pens with long-range goal that glanced off Zbynek Michalek’s stick and past Fleury.
Desperate to light a fire under his sagging troops, Dan Bylsma gathered his team during a TV timeout and exhorted them to refocus. Encouraged by their coach, the Pens finally showed some life. Seconds after dodging a bullet on a dreadful Crosby giveaway, Evgeni Malkin sliced through the Philly defense and beat Ilya Bryzgalov for a power-play goal at 8:34.
Unfortunately for the locals, Fleury continued his erratic play between the pipes. On the next rush Daniel Briere slipped the puck beneath the shaky netminder through heavy traffic. Fleury sat back in an effort to smother the disk, only to propel it across the goal line.
Down 4-1 entering the final 20 minutes, the Pens had the unenviable of trying to come back against a foe that had outscored them 8-2 in the third period. Malkin made a terrific play out of the corner at 12-minute mark, but his diving shot was denied by Bryzgalov. With Gustafsson serving a delay-of-game penalty and Fleury pulled for an extra attacker, James Neal jammed the puck past Bryzgalov at 16:58. However, the referees waved off the apparent tally, citing goaltender interference.
As the Flyers’ faithful chanted, “You Can’t Beat Us,” Brayden Schenn picked Malkin’s pocket in the neutral zone and scored into an empty net to make the final score 5-1.
“We needed to play perfect hockey to stay in this series, to win this series, and we didn’t get the kind of start we needed today,” Crosby said. “We felt like we could get it back to Pittsburgh, and now we have some time to think about why we didn’t.”
Ice Chips
Malkin (a goal) paced the Pens with a game-high six shots … Matt Niskanen registered five shots … Chris Kunitz led the way with six hits … Fleury made 18 saves … Crosby (three shots) and Brooks Orpik were minus-3 … Pascal Dupuis, Kris Letang, Michalek, Staal, and Steve Sullivan each were minus-2 … Pittsburgh outshot Philadelphia (31-22) … The Pens out-hit the Flyers (33-32) … Philly controlled the faceoff circle (34-28) … Joe Vitale dressed in place of Eric Tangradi … Arron Asham, Dustin Jeffrey, Ben Lovejoy, Paul Martin, Richard Park, and Tangradi were scratches.
*Be sure to check out Rick’s new book, “100 Things Penguins Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” at TriumphBooks.com. It features 296 pages of bios, stories, anecdotes and photos from the team’s colorful past in a compelling, easy-to-read style. Whether you’re a die-hard booster from the days of Jean Pronovost or a big fan of Sid and Geno, this book is a must have for any true Penguins fan.
Don’t forget to check out Rick’s first book, “Total Penguins,” at TriumphBooks.com. A complete and comprehensive book on the team’s rich and storied history, it’s filled with season-by-season summaries, player profiles and stats, bios on coaches, general managers and owners, photos from the “Post-Gazette” archives, and much, much more.
It so sad to see penguin eliminated at first round, hopefully they win the Stanley cup next year.
..will you post this …hmmm. the sports I cover is not why Cindy ,and Flower lost the series ..if you think it is ..id like to place some wagers against you and your Penguins style sports accumen ..lmao Sports Illustrared ,.. go flyers …
RT
They post everything here! They aren’t biased like the Flyers owners NBC.
Could it be as simple as we are a great regular season team, and a poor play-off team? Regular season and playoff hockey are two differently played games. I think there are going to be some changes next year. First started with defense. This group isn’t going to be together much longer….And if we want a chance, we need to make some tweaking.
LETS GO PENS!
We got down too early in the series, that we gave all the last two games.
Im just hoping Dany Heatley dirves the Flyers bus back to the ghetto after the game.
The classless Pens go down…..hard….next year if you play with class, you might get out of the first round, you have been schooled…….you are dismissed.
1975…1975…1975
Doesn’t matter if you go to the 2nd or 3rd round, if you can’t win the big one. Flyers have too many issues with their goalies to take the cup.
I hear Crosby is saving a tee time for Talbot.
I could care less if they win the cup or lose the next 4 games. The Flyers beat the classless Pens and that is ALL I care about. Send the babies home early and everything after that is cake. The crap the Pens pulled in all of these games showed their true colors, and The Flyers sent them home where they belong.
So let me get this straight, you aren’t a Flyers fan, because you don’t care if they lose the next four? You are just a hater! I guess that’s where Pens fans differ. We want to win the cup! Your fans are not classy, which was proven in this series!
Beat the classless! Send them home! Flyers haven’t won anything since the 70’s, so, yes, call me a hater if you wish, why not, but, the job of the Flyers were to send home the classless and it is MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Now go pound some sand.
It sounds like he is even mad, when his team beat us. GO FIGURE!
Chill Jon M. – Remember, one day at a time. Take deep breaths. You will calm down eventually. WOW!
Jon M. Congratulations on achieving all of your aspirations as a Flyers fan!
I’m not even sure Anger Management classes could help this guy calm down. Maybe an Ativan? Relax dude, it’s hockey, nothing more, nothing less. So, now that the Flyers are the most classless team remaining in the playoffs, whose job is it to send them home?
The Flyers owners are the one who scheduled the Game at noon knowing full well the Penguins abysmal play in early afternoon games. On the other hand, I have never seen a team come out and play less inspired hockey in a game that meant so much. I have seen them give better effort in a preseason game against Columbus than they gave today. The Flyers owned them from the minute Giroux hit Crosby 5 seconds into the game. You saw the Flyers do whatever it took to win, hit people, block shots, race to loose pucks and dig in the corners. I’m not even sure who you can blame when an entire team looks like it couldn’t care less. Changes need to be made to the roster next season. This team needs to get tougher, grittier and get an infusion of heart. The window with this roster gets one season closer to closing every year we get knocked out early in the playoffs.
Really. Thats your plan? Blame it on the schedule? Take a look at the regular season their PENS. Flyers were horrible during day games.
Nice try. Just admit you guys got outplayed and very few penguins showed up for game 6.
Blaming it other crap is just…..Crosbyish.
It is funny that the Flyers fans were cowards when their team lost the last two games, but come out of the closet when they win.
Agree. Great comment. Love the Mercury comment also. The guy spent all day on PenguinPoop trolling yet didn’t read past your first sentence. 1975.
Anytihing past the first sentence, and he would have been over his quota of not reading more than 10 words a day. That’s pretty much all the typical, feeble Flyer mind can comprehend. 1975!!!!!
Why in the hell would a person be expected to read beyond the first line of a Pens post where the postee started with the timing of the game being a conspiracy?…..should we think that the paragraph gets better from there or can the reader make the assumption that maybe the post gets stranger? I am amazed how bitter you fools are. Pens played dirty, refer to games 1 thru 3….and open your eyes.
To be honest Joe m people don’t expect people from the murder capital of the world to be able to read. I’m sure You can image why they are surprised. I’m also sure you didn’t read this far.
LOL.
12:00 game conspiracy. OMG, how desperate do you fools get? I don’t blame them for not reading any further. Are you kidding me with this? Wow, I though the team was classless, looks like it flows outward to the fans as well. Makes The Flyers win that more satisfying. 12:00 conspiracy…..LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Well, when the people that own your team are the ones who have the TV contract with the league, it does make you go Hmmmmmm.
The game time had nothing to do with who won or loss… That’s a copout… Bottom line is that the Flyers did play better, and Fleury forgot to show up… That being said, I’m a Pens fan and am surprised I haven’t seen the following referred to… I played the game for over 25 years, including the Nova Scotia Senior Hockey League, and Philly’s second goal was CLEARLY goaltender interference… Hartnell literally dove into Fleury, stuffing the puck under him at the same time… I still can’t believe the Pens didn’t protest and request a review… And THAT goal set the pace for the rest of the game… Simple as that, and coming from a “Canuck”… Cheers All… wB… PS: And with the goaltending “Philly” is getting, I’m skeptical they’ll go much further… Just Sayin’…
Watch the replay a few more times and if you know the game, you’ll be making the same comment… DEFINITELY goaltender interference!!!!!!! wB…
Funny, they called it when the Pens scored the same way late in the game
The puck was in long before any contact was made to Flower power. He never had control. Bryz did. And your guy came in and made contact that started the puck into the net. Seriously. If you guys took your beatings like a champ I woudn’t be here. But it is so much damn fun watching you guys create excuses. Its is so entertaining! Lets see. NBC conspiracy to start at Noon…..check….. Missed call in game two on the offsides (which he was but how about the icing that led to one of your goals that was mysteriously waved off? Hmm)…..Goalie interference and no interference…..check…..Flyers diving….check….We got the calls….check……The league wanted the pens to lose….check….
Yep…Heard all those.
How about this…..
Pens gave up HOW MANY short handed goals? Atleast three.
Who lost control in game three? Pens did.
Whose goalie failed to show up in most games in the series? Pens
Who failed to show up at ALL in game 6? Pens.
You guys had TONS of chances. You didnt capitalize on them. Your defense wasn’t there all the time. Your goalie choked. And your own player (Malkin) checked your golden boy so hard that it probably made him ineffective in game six.
Stop pointing the fingers at EVERYTHING else and admitt your team screwed up. Once you get by that, you might sleep better at night.
I will admit that it embarrasses all of Philadelphia when Hartnell says “He Pulled My Hair” I will admit Giroux is a bigger diver than Crosby ever was. I will admit that Philadelphia has the worst fans in North America. I will admit that I have no life and the sore winner in me likes to go to Penguins websites and rub it in. I just ask that you admit the Penguins lost the game.
Don’t forget the offside goal in game one and the goal the Pens scored in game two that didn’t count. The fix was in early in the series. I love watching professional sports but the more I watch the more I realize that it is all about the almighty dollar. Hockey is turning into Studio Wrestling. 🙁
Several differences between the goals there PENS fans. First, Flower never had the puck covered it was sitting right there in the open which is why the whistle never blew. Bryz had the puck in his body, not laying loose on the ice. Second, Hartnell took his stick into the five hole and knocked it in, NOT knocking in the goalie WITH the puck. Your playing came in and rushed the Bryz, running into him knocking the puck loose and in.
You say you played for 25 years? And you can’t tell those two goals apart? Really?
When I saw the game time was noon I could have cried. I knew it was over.
Afternoon games suck for the PEn’s and always will, Regardless of the early, easy goal the Cooke penalty is what did the boy’s in.