Good game and a playoff caliber atmosphere thru and thru. I tuned it a tad late and it was already 2-0. I was told that it looks like this one was over already but I said no, the Flyers have them where they wanted them and laughed. Didn't think it would be easy and it wasn't but the Flyers showed why they are a team not to be taken lightly.
On the other hand, so did the Pens. They shelled Bob with a lot of rubber and kept up a good amount of pressure on the Flyers for the 2nd game in a row. The Flyers really need to address that as I feel the special teams won't be as active when the playoffs begin. If the zebras swallowed whistles yesterday it portends a differently officiated game to come. I hate when they officiate one way all year long and then decide to 'let them play' & officiate differently when it matters the . Maybe it's just appearances but it seems that way.
Did the Flyers only retaliate yesterday? Of course not. There was plenty of 'cheap' extra curricular stuff going on all game long by both teams. It was to be expected. That being said, I did think that the Pens got away with a good bit more (Malkin punches, Crosby slashes)that should have called. The knee hit? I thought the knee on knee wasn't on purpose but the bottom line is it still happened.
I agree that even without Pronger and Meszaros the Flyer D unit seems to be better than the Pens & that the Flyers get the edge in overall depth. I'm not ready to say Couts is the answer on Malkin. He played a very good game yesterday but Malkin wasn't invisible or erased. Not to belittle his effort but I think that Bob had a lot to do with how some of the other guys were perceived.
Afraid? As in shuddering, quaking or shaking? Heh heh heh. I can't speak for anyone else but I lean more towards it being a healthy respect for a strong team that is easily a peer. They can be hated & I'm quite sure the Flyers feel that way but you can't just dismiss them and the Flyers won't. No love lost for the individuals but you still need to be wary of the Pens game.
I imagine the rest of the East wants the Flyers and Pens to keep it up and destroy each other in their 1st round war. I guess they'd be fools not too.
Outs
Posted on Apr 2, 2012, 9:14 AM from IP address 72.23.65.160