Ann 22008 NHL Playoffs - Eastern Conference Finals: Penguins vs. Flyers Game 1 Preview
May 9th 2008 19:35
Let's make one thing clear: these two teams hate each other. The Penguins hate the Flyers' brainless thuggery along with their pitiless hits along the boards. The Flyers hate the Penguins' infuriating diving and the confidence in the young hotshots' eyes. Both teams were at the receiving end of a severe beating by the other team during the regular season – The Pens lost 8-2 to the Flyers in December while the Flyboys lost 7-1 to the Penguins in March. Both teams are from the same state (Pennsylvania) and division (Atlantic) and had to face each other eight times during the season, splitting the match-ups evenly with four wins each. The Penguins were also rumored to purposely lose the last game of the season against Philly in order to face Ottawa in the playoffs' first round (and thus, avoiding a confrontation with Philadelphia). All those reasons make this playoffs series 'The War of Pennsylvania.'
But let's compare the teams separately, shall we?
Along with the Wings, the Penguins are the only purely offensive team left in the playoffs. They have big guns in Crosby, Malkin, Hossa; medium guns in Malone, Sykora, and Pascal Dupuis; and small-arms fire in Jordan Staal and Jarkko Ruutu. Like the Wings, their offensive firepower hide the fact that they're also pretty good in defense. With offensive-minded Sergei Gonchar playing alongside shutdown defenseman Brooks Orpik, Hal Gill with Rob Scuderi, Kris Letang with Ryan Whitney, the Pens were able to create balance in their blue line and frustate the New York Rangers in the previous round. It also helps that goaltender Marc-André Fleury is in great form posting a 1.76 GAA and a .938 save percentage.
Philly, on the other hand, is a team based on physical. They've been slowly changing their mentality for the past few years by acquiring different players such as small center Daniel Brière, but their core mentality stays the same. One only needs to look at players like Steve Downie and Derian Hatcher to realize that Philadelphia hasn't completely given up on the Broad Street Bullies. The stellar play of Martin Biron has propelled them past the Canadiens and they'll be hoping that R.J. Umberger continues his surprising scoring streak (8 goals in the last five games). The loss of defenseman Kimmo Timonen (blood clot in the ankle) will hurt on the D. Timonen was assigned the role of shutdown against Ovechkin in the first round, and Kovalev in the second round. John Stevens will have to find someone else to watch both Crosby and Malkin.
But let's compare the teams separately, shall we?
Along with the Wings, the Penguins are the only purely offensive team left in the playoffs. They have big guns in Crosby, Malkin, Hossa; medium guns in Malone, Sykora, and Pascal Dupuis; and small-arms fire in Jordan Staal and Jarkko Ruutu. Like the Wings, their offensive firepower hide the fact that they're also pretty good in defense. With offensive-minded Sergei Gonchar playing alongside shutdown defenseman Brooks Orpik, Hal Gill with Rob Scuderi, Kris Letang with Ryan Whitney, the Pens were able to create balance in their blue line and frustate the New York Rangers in the previous round. It also helps that goaltender Marc-André Fleury is in great form posting a 1.76 GAA and a .938 save percentage.
Philly, on the other hand, is a team based on physical. They've been slowly changing their mentality for the past few years by acquiring different players such as small center Daniel Brière, but their core mentality stays the same. One only needs to look at players like Steve Downie and Derian Hatcher to realize that Philadelphia hasn't completely given up on the Broad Street Bullies. The stellar play of Martin Biron has propelled them past the Canadiens and they'll be hoping that R.J. Umberger continues his surprising scoring streak (8 goals in the last five games). The loss of defenseman Kimmo Timonen (blood clot in the ankle) will hurt on the D. Timonen was assigned the role of shutdown against Ovechkin in the first round, and Kovalev in the second round. John Stevens will have to find someone else to watch both Crosby and Malkin.
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