During a break in the Penguins’ 5-0 Game 4 thumping of the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center last night, play-by-play announcer Steve Mears turned philosophical.
“Cherish every moment,” he said.
He was referring to the outstanding play of our nonpareil captain, Sidney Crosby. Moments earlier, Sid had undressed Philly defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to notch his playoff-leading fifth goal and establish a new team postseason scoring mark, breaking the previous record held by a pretty good player named Mario Lemieux. However, ‘Mearsy’ may have been referencing our quest for a three-peat, too.
As the old Seals and Crofts song goes, We May Never Pass This Way Again. We won’t have Messrs. Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel to cheer forever. Enjoy it while it lasts.
The Pens’ virtuoso performance reflects their Cup-winning heart. Minus net-front wrecker and power-play demon Patric Hornqvist, the big guns—mentally tough and thoroughly battle-tested—rose to the occasion in true champions fashion. Indeed, Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and Kris Letang each scored to lead the way.
Goalie Matt Murray made 26 saves—several during a critical two-minute stretch of sustained Philly pressure in the first period—to register his sixth career playoff shutout and second in a week. Put in perspective, black-and-gold great Tom Barrasso posted the same number of shutouts in 111 postseason games. It’s taken ‘Murr’ all of 36.
The locals played a sound defensive game, too. In particular, they did an excellent job of taking the air out of the barn…and the Flyers…limiting their somnambulant rival to nine shots during a non-eventful third period.
In fairness to Philly, they skated without two-way linchpin and Selke Trophy finalist Sean Couturier, injured two days ago in practice. Packed with talented but green players like Gostisbehere, Chris Kunitz clone Travis Konecny, Nolan Patrick and Ivan Provorov, the Flyers are building with an eye toward the future under general manager Ron Hextall at the expense of the present.
Yet in many ways, the Flyers seem irretrievably chained to their past. In an effort to connect with their far-removed glory days, Lauren Hart…daughter of late Hall-of-Fame announcer Gene Hart…sang a stirring rendition of God Bless America…a traditional Flyers good-luck charm. Although a wonderful singer in her own right, Ms. Hart was forced to share the spotlight with video clips of a ghost from the past, Kate Smith.
Likewise, the inexperienced Flyers seemed almost robotically conditioned to finish their checks…a mantra hearkening back to ‘Freddy’s Philistines’ and the 1970s…even if it meant taking themselves out of the play. To say nothing of the usual litany of ill-conceived penalties, such as Wayne Simmonds’ mindless slash on Brian Dumoulin eight seconds into a crucial power play.
Ditto Matt Read. With his team trailing by four goals and the game clock winding down, the Philly forward decided to make creative use of his stick. Sneaking up behind Pens counterpart Derick Brassard, he whacked his unsuspecting victim behind the knee in classic ‘Mad Squad’ (or Sopranos) fashion.
When in doubt, give ‘em the lumber. Somewhere Bobby Clarke is smiling.
You can take the Flyer out of the Broad Street Bully. But you can’t take the Broad Street Bully out of the Flyer. Or something like that.
Ever classy, the few remaining faithful cheered Riley Sheahan’s third-period goal and chanted “Fire Hakstol! Fire Hakstol!” in the closing moments, shattering the tomb-like ambience.
Thankfully, we’ll be spared another Philly victory celebration.
Hi Rick,
The current iteration of this team gives me fits unlike any previous team. I have mixed feelings and wild mood swings, one game thinking they’re the best Pens team I’ve ever watched, then the next cursing them for lazy, lackluster play.
I don’t think they played a horrible game last night. They were gripping their sticks a bit tightly, and they didn’t come out ready to roll. And, they apparently have some weird mental block about finishing a series at home.
The short-handed goal off an ill-advised Kessel pass was the fatal bullet. Then they fell to a lucky ricochet off Dumoulin’s leg. Add a few unlucky bounces, too may missed opportunities to shoot, several brain-fart, ill-advised passes, and far too many errant shots that missed the net, and there you have it, game six. I also think they really missed Hornqvist in this one. No one went near Neuvirth most of the night and that’s a blatant omission. I thought that was going to be an Aston-Reese task, but he’s on a line where it makes little difference. But, that line has been pretty good. I guess that’s the trade off.
It’s a fine line between complacency and urgency and they cross it almost every other game, so it seems. Philly was down. Now they’re up. They weren’t given 98 points and a playoff berth in some lottery. The Pens better come out dead serious, and firing, in game six. No one, and I mean no one, wants a game seven except Philly.
Tips to win for game six:
1 – SHOOT THE DAMNED PUCK. ON NET. ALL NIGHT LONG. THEIR GOALIES SUCK.
2 – Somebody please go to the net, even Oklesiak. Don’t work around Hornqvist’s absence, emulate him. I repeat: Their goalies aren’t that good.
3 – Oh, did I mention shoot the puck?
Yeah. That is an oversimplification, but I like simplicity. There are any number of tips to win, like how about some skating on the PP? Just the same, we know they have questionable goal tending and it needs to be exploited, just like in the three wins. They can’t afford the I-don’t-want-to-score-the-winning-goal-here-you-try attitude that overcomes them every now and then. Just shoot the damned puck.
– 55
Hey 55,
Funny you mention go to the net, ask my wife, all game long I was screaming, put Guentzel back on the second PP unit and put Aston-Reese or Kuhnhackl in front of Neuvirth and take away his eyes.
No the Flyers’ goalies are not their strength. Yet how many times do you still see Penguins pass up shots looking for the perfect play?
Hey Rick,
Like you, I have had luck, or what ever you want to call it, to be around to watch to incredibly talented Penguin Teams, and the Noll era Steelers. I have also been in the unique position to be surrounded by a great group of players that I once coached in a recreational league as well as in a couple of work sites. All things are temporal and I always try and appreciate those good times while they are happening. As much as I like some of the softer side of the 70s, I don’t want to wait until after the fact to muse about the good times to the tune on the radio, or I guess now, my computer or smart phone.
As much as I complained during the regular season, I am (to quote Mike Lange) “smiling like a butchers dog” enjoying this first round so far. It is still early, but Sullivan and crew are doing their level best to allay my fears and trepidation.
However, I am not going to count the Flyers out until the fat lady sings. Granted she is warming up her pipes but I will wait until she begins her song. Or at least until I hear “Dandy Don” start singing turn out the light’s the party is over.