Friday, May 16, 2008

If the West Goes Five, Why Not the East?


A new vogue for the Conference Finals? Win the series at home. The Penguins thought that the Red Wings were really on to something on Wednesday night, by dropping their possible series-ending game in order to play the real one back at home. The other conspiracy theory could be that the hockey gods wouldn't let them win (or the Red Wings for that matter), because their hockey pool is also lacking a large amount of points. It's possible, I suppose.

The Flyers did have a rawkus crowd behind them in Game 4 and the home team didn't disappoint in the end. A 4-2 victory gave the team at least some pride as their season could very well come to a halt on the other side of the state.

As for points, the bonus point happened to come to Jeff Carter (Box 18). It was his second game-winning goal of the playoffs and it came at a most opportune time. Carter's first period goal, managed to hold up through the remaining 40 minutes of play and then was helped out by a late third period empty netter. For Carter, that was his 6th goal of the playoffs and he now has 13 points in Box 18, far and away the best one available. There's a good chance he will make the perfect team, that will likely be assembled before the Cup Finals. You know, the team that would have achieved the most amount of points, thus far.

There was a clear winner for best night in the pool last night. Scott Hartnell (Box 19, pictured right) finished the game with three assists to lead all players in points. Hartnell now has 7 points in the playoffs this Spring. Martin Biron (Box 24, pictured left) registered his 9th win of the playoffs for the Flyers and was the only other multi-point player for the Flyers in their win. Biron now has 21 points in the playoffs, but has a series win to go before he can catch up to his Pittsburgh counterpart for the box lead.

On the Pittsburgh side of the ledger, there were a pair of goals scored in the third by Jordan Staal (Box 19), which brings his playoff total for goals to five. Both goals actually had the same scoring line with Tyler Kennedy (non-pool) and Maxime Talbot (Box 18) both getting assists on the goals. Staal was actually the most impressive Penguin on the ice, besides having scored both goals. You certainly wouldn't have been able to tell he is a sophomore player this year with that kind of effort.

Well, if the Flyers are going to start making a series of this, starting Sunday afternoon, then they will need some more help. This is what they will likely be getting, as it's being reported that both Kimmo Timonen (Box 20) and Braydon Coburn (Box 21) are both likely to return to the line-up from injury. Timonen reportedly received full medical clearance to return from his blood clotted ankle, while the swelling around Coburn's eye will have likely gone down enough for him to resume playing. There is the possibility that it all could be 'too little, too late.' See you all on Sunday!

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