This one's for you, Philippe.
Apparently Kris Letang suffered an injury in Game 4 and was kept out of the lineup in Game 5 tonight. He was replaced by Philippe Boucher.
Sure, the Pens could have capitalized on one of their four power plays, or found a way to beat Marty Biron, but Boucher's failure to clear the puck out of his own zone before the Giroux goal and his inability to get the puck deep into the Flyers' zone before the Knuble goal sure didn't help.
Bobby Boucher makes those plays with his eyes closed... So does Kris Letang.
The Pens came out firing in the first period, trying to get an early start on pounding the final nail in the Flyers' coffin.
If there was ever a time the phrase "weathering a storm" applied, it was the first period of this hockey game.
Biron made some big saves, but the Pens' third line kept coming, possessing the puck in the offensive zone and generating solid scoring chances every time they hit the ice.
Mike Richards got a chance to put the Flyers ahead early in the period, but his initial attempt was thwarted by Fleury, and his second chance sailed wide of the net. What a leader.
Richards teamed up with some other joke to sandwich Sidney Crosby in the corner on the next shift. What a captain.
Crosby responded by exposing Kimmo Timonen as the average defenseman he really is by inside-outing Timonen all the way down the ice, but Toast was there to make the save.
The Flyers got a power play, and their final shot of the period around the nine minute mark.
The Pens' top line turned in an unreal shift near the end of the period, but neither Chris Kunitz nor Bill Guerin could put one of Crosby's perfectly placed passes past Biron. Alliteration 101 in that last sentence.
At the end of the same shift, Crosby beats Bernie Parent to a spot on the ice and draws the penalty. Sid wins that battle for open ice every time, what a terrible defensive play by Bernie.
The Pens fired five shots on the ensuing power play, and Crosby won four faceoffs, two of them against Mike Richards. What a penalty killer.
Richards got a shorthanded opportunity near the end of the penalty, but couldn't get a good shot away. What a puck handler.
What a shirt. Of course I'm talking about Mike Richards.
The period ended, with the Pens carrying the play, and leading on the shot clock by a 15 to five margin.
Crosby was 6-0 in the faceoff circle in the first period. Too bad faceoffs don't win hockey games. Whooooooooooo.
The second period started and.............
Due to some badass hail and a lightning strike in Atlanta, Georgia (the headquarters of Fox Sports Network), FSN lost its' feed for almost the entire second period of the game.
Before the shock wore off and you realized to go turn Mike Lange on the radio, Arron Asham snuck a shot past Fleury to give the Flyers the lead.
Judging by the replay version of the goal, this was a shot Fleury probably should have stopped. Then again, he just stopped 45 of them in the last game, so where is the goal support?
The Pens thought they had found that goal support when Sergei Gonchar fired a puck toward the net and it deflected in off of Malkin's skate.
The play was reviewed and the goal was disallowed, as it was ruled that the puck entered the net as a result of a kicking motion off the foot of Evgeni Malkin.
FSN regained consciousness in the third period, just in time for John Stevens to slip Philippe Boucher a few crisp Benjamin Franklins as he skated past the Flyers' bench.
Boucher responded to the bribe with the weakest attempt at clearing a puck out of the defensive zone in the history of professional hockey.
You can get away with these kinds of plays in Dallas, but this ain't the Western Conference, Jack.
The Flyers made him pay for the mistake as Giroux scored his second goal of the playoffs to make it 2-0 Philly with 16 minutes to go.
The Pens pushed, well kind of, for the next 10 minutes, but it was easy to see that it just wasn't there tonight. Whatever "it" is, the Penguins didn't have it.
Boucher handed the Flyers another insurance goal around the 13 minute mark when he pinched a few feet inside the blue line to hold the puck in the Flyers' zone, but instead of banging it deep, he halfheartedly chipped it down the boards, where Matt Carle quickly turned it the other way.
Knuble picked up the garbage, but Richards started the play by firing a hard shot to the leg pads of Fleury, looking to create a rebound. What a human.
That was it. The Pens threw their weight around late in the game and took a couple of penalties out of frustration.
Fleury should not be falted in any way shape or form for this loss. If you think Fleury had anything to do with the outcome of this game, kill yourself.
Biron turned aside all 28 shots he faced to pick up the shutout. You don't get a shutout in an NHL playoff game if you aren't playing some good hockey, but bullet proof vests have been more agile while stopping shots than Biron had to be tonight.
Flyer fans will claim they are "back in the series" after this win, just as they did after their victory in Game 3.
Penguin fans will claim they only need to win one out of two games while the Flyers need to win two out of two.
Some people will claim that Mike Richards is not a great leader and captain. Those people are pathetic excuses for competent human beings and should be ashamed of themselves.
Whatever claim you make, your claim, like ours, means absolutely nothing.
The only thing that matters now is when these two teams hit the ice on Saturday afternoon at the Wajokeia Center to play Game 6 of this series.
Until then, Let's Go Pens.
If there was ever a time the phrase "weathering a storm" applied, it was the first period of this hockey game.
Biron made some big saves, but the Pens' third line kept coming, possessing the puck in the offensive zone and generating solid scoring chances every time they hit the ice.
Mike Richards got a chance to put the Flyers ahead early in the period, but his initial attempt was thwarted by Fleury, and his second chance sailed wide of the net. What a leader.
Richards teamed up with some other joke to sandwich Sidney Crosby in the corner on the next shift. What a captain.
Crosby responded by exposing Kimmo Timonen as the average defenseman he really is by inside-outing Timonen all the way down the ice, but Toast was there to make the save.
The Flyers got a power play, and their final shot of the period around the nine minute mark.
The Pens' top line turned in an unreal shift near the end of the period, but neither Chris Kunitz nor Bill Guerin could put one of Crosby's perfectly placed passes past Biron. Alliteration 101 in that last sentence.
At the end of the same shift, Crosby beats Bernie Parent to a spot on the ice and draws the penalty. Sid wins that battle for open ice every time, what a terrible defensive play by Bernie.
The Pens fired five shots on the ensuing power play, and Crosby won four faceoffs, two of them against Mike Richards. What a penalty killer.
Richards got a shorthanded opportunity near the end of the penalty, but couldn't get a good shot away. What a puck handler.
What a shirt. Of course I'm talking about Mike Richards.
The period ended, with the Pens carrying the play, and leading on the shot clock by a 15 to five margin.
Crosby was 6-0 in the faceoff circle in the first period. Too bad faceoffs don't win hockey games. Whooooooooooo.
The second period started and.............
Due to some badass hail and a lightning strike in Atlanta, Georgia (the headquarters of Fox Sports Network), FSN lost its' feed for almost the entire second period of the game.
Before the shock wore off and you realized to go turn Mike Lange on the radio, Arron Asham snuck a shot past Fleury to give the Flyers the lead.
Judging by the replay version of the goal, this was a shot Fleury probably should have stopped. Then again, he just stopped 45 of them in the last game, so where is the goal support?
The Pens thought they had found that goal support when Sergei Gonchar fired a puck toward the net and it deflected in off of Malkin's skate.
The play was reviewed and the goal was disallowed, as it was ruled that the puck entered the net as a result of a kicking motion off the foot of Evgeni Malkin.
FSN regained consciousness in the third period, just in time for John Stevens to slip Philippe Boucher a few crisp Benjamin Franklins as he skated past the Flyers' bench.
Boucher responded to the bribe with the weakest attempt at clearing a puck out of the defensive zone in the history of professional hockey.
You can get away with these kinds of plays in Dallas, but this ain't the Western Conference, Jack.
The Flyers made him pay for the mistake as Giroux scored his second goal of the playoffs to make it 2-0 Philly with 16 minutes to go.
The Pens pushed, well kind of, for the next 10 minutes, but it was easy to see that it just wasn't there tonight. Whatever "it" is, the Penguins didn't have it.
Boucher handed the Flyers another insurance goal around the 13 minute mark when he pinched a few feet inside the blue line to hold the puck in the Flyers' zone, but instead of banging it deep, he halfheartedly chipped it down the boards, where Matt Carle quickly turned it the other way.
Knuble picked up the garbage, but Richards started the play by firing a hard shot to the leg pads of Fleury, looking to create a rebound. What a human.
That was it. The Pens threw their weight around late in the game and took a couple of penalties out of frustration.
Fleury should not be falted in any way shape or form for this loss. If you think Fleury had anything to do with the outcome of this game, kill yourself.
Biron turned aside all 28 shots he faced to pick up the shutout. You don't get a shutout in an NHL playoff game if you aren't playing some good hockey, but bullet proof vests have been more agile while stopping shots than Biron had to be tonight.
Flyer fans will claim they are "back in the series" after this win, just as they did after their victory in Game 3.
Penguin fans will claim they only need to win one out of two games while the Flyers need to win two out of two.
Some people will claim that Mike Richards is not a great leader and captain. Those people are pathetic excuses for competent human beings and should be ashamed of themselves.
Whatever claim you make, your claim, like ours, means absolutely nothing.
The only thing that matters now is when these two teams hit the ice on Saturday afternoon at the Wajokeia Center to play Game 6 of this series.
Until then, Let's Go Pens.
1 comments:
this blog was completely stupid. richards is a hell of a captain , & constantly leads the team to loads of victorys. the pens started the season off terrible, and has a captain who is afraid of his own shadow...is that good leadership? One player doesnt make a hockey team, shame on you pathetic fans for trying to blame ONE man for your loss. you knew coming into the game that we werent going to go down easy, shame on you once again, for already planning the funeral. Take your NAILS and COFFIN somewhere else . .the game being a shut out was a perfect example of how terrible the pens played . 4 powerplay chances, and many other chances should have allowed them to score at LEAST one goal. . they should have came into the game a little less confident ..the fact that they were home, and up in the series means SHIT ....and to comment on your crosby sentecnce, he is a little bitch and very rarely even defends himself , due to them getting their ass kicked, he decided to retaliate for once, wow real good leader, your right i think richards should strive to be more like him !
lets go FLYERS, game 6 is all ours !
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