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| The Flyers embarrassment of the Penguins, might just signal that they're "warming up for June." |
When it was made clear that major instate rivals, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, were going to play in the first round of the NHL playoffs the whole hockey world was bursting with excitement. "This is going to be an insane series"or "best series in all of the playoffs here," they would say. And while this series has lived up to the excitement it has done so in a way no one expected.
The Penguins came into this series as the favorites, hotter than ever with Sidney Crosby recently returning and Evgeni Malkin well on his way to a Hart Trophy. Philadelphia on the other hand was the hated team, playing a style that reminisced just slightly to their Broad Street Bullies days in the 70s. This series had all the making of a bang 'em up, drag 'em out, seven game slugfest. But it just hasn't turned out that way.
After the Penguins exploded to a 3-0 lead in Game 1, it looked as if the Penguins were clearly the superior team. But as the Flyers had done several times this season, they chipped away at the lead, tied it in the third and won in dramatically in OT. To watch it live and say it was shocking would be an understatement. Philadelphia had just ripped the Penguins heart out in their own building, but most importantly the series had begun in the exact fashion everyone predicted. Game 2 was certainly going to be the Penguins game; it had to be right? Not so fast. Pittsburgh blew leads of 3-1, 4-3 and 5-4 on their way to getting shellacked in the third period 4-1, finishing the game at 8-5. The seed of doubt had been planted in the Penguins locker room. What happened? Why was the sexy pick looking like a victim of the broom? Game 3 explained it all.
As expected the Wells Fargo Center was popping off before the puck even dropped. The sea of orange looked more like a group of blood-thirsty individuals rather than a bunch of faithful fans. Pittsburgh struck first, not like that matter to anyone in the building. The Flyers were going to answer right back. Maxim Talbot answered with a weak shorthanded goal that somehow got by the newly discovered sieve Marc-Andre Fluery and instead of just skating back to the center dot, the Penguins answered with fisticuffs. This was the moment when Pittsburgh had lost it, and everyone realized that once the red light went on for Philly, Pittsburgh was going to dip deeper and deeper into the realm of insanity. Briere scored twice in the next four minutes, and the Penguins again starting pushing and shoving battles that were meant for the elementary schoolyard. But the defining moment in all of the games shenanigans came before Briere scored his second goal, when Brayden Schenn destroyed Paul Martin with a totally clean hit. Aaron Asham took an issue with Schenn and retaliated with a monster two-hand to Schenn's neck, dropping him to the ground. Once Schenn was on the ice and basically helpless Asham threw a right hook to his head. The refs were having none of it and sent Asham to the dressing room immediately.
What happened in the rest of the game doesn't even really matter. The game was settled already. As the Flyers coasted to an 8-5 win, James Neal added to the Pittsburgh immaturity by blindsiding Sean Couturier who didn't even have the puck. But none of this mattered, the Flyers had already burrowed deep inside of the minds of the Penguins and were beating their psyche into the ground. The Penguins were supposed to be the mature team, chalk full of wily veterans who weren't interested in being tough, just winning the cup. Instead they went out there in Game 3 with their backs against the wall and acted with inappropriate vengeance. This isn't the USHL, there is no room for childish actions like Asham and Neal's hits. Pittsburgh acted like a bunch of spoiled kids who weren't getting what they want. Yes, they are the more skilled team, but heart is trumping skill in this series. Philadelphia is playing like a team that wants a drink of PBR out of Lord Stanley, while Pittsburgh has drifted far away from their ways that won them the cup in 2009.
I will say that I cannot guarantee to anyone that this series is over. If there is any team that knows how to turn the ship around fast, it is certainly the Pittsburgh Penguins. But if they even ponder the idea of playing a vengeful style game on Wednesday they will surely become the victim of the broom. All in all, the Flyers have embarrassed the Penguins in every facet of the game. They're 16 goals in the last two game is more than what most teams score when they win a playoff series. It's been an absolute shellacking and it's been done by the team that no one thought would. This series might end on Wednesday night, but it has shown us just enough about this Flyers squad's attitude; they're coming for blood, so watch out Eastern Conference.
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