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Flying High in Philly
Photo Credit: Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images
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Written by Bryan Rubin, Online Sports Editor
After seven months of traveling to other venues, waiting on the tarmac at two in the morning for the bus, and playing in the toughest division in the NHL, the Philadelphia Flyers’s season came down to one game. At the time the Flyers held on to seventh place in the Eastern Conference. The New York Rangers were just one point back in ninth place. And wouldn’t you know it, the two teams were scheduled to play each other in the last game of the regular season. It was winner take all, one game to decide which team would keep its Stanley Cup dreams alive.
In the most pivotal game of the year, Henrik Lundqvist, goalie of the Rangers, did everything he could to keep the Flyers off the board. But in the third period, the Flyers were finally able to crack Lundqvist and tie the game up at 1-1. Philadelphia ended up victorious in a shootout in front of their home crowd to advance to the playoffs, and secure a matchup with the New Jersey Devils.
After splitting the first two games in New Jersey, the Flyers took control of the series behind goalie Brian Boucher. Boucher allowed just three total goals in the final three games of the series as the number seven seeded Flyers upset the Devils four games to one.
Moving on to the second round, the Flyers faced the Bruins, who were also coming off a first round upset. But after destroying one of the best teams in the East, the tides turned. Boston won the first two games at home and then continued the slaughtering of the Flyers with an overtime victory on the road in Game 3 to push the series lead to 3-0. Only two NHL teams have ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series. Not to be the spoiler or anything, but the Flyers did come back to win the series and make history as the only teams to come back from 3-0 besides the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and ’75 New York Islanders.
And now in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Philadelphia Flyers are looking to win the Stanley Cup, the prized possession of the NHL that they haven’t won since 1973. And the only team left in their way in the Eastern Conference is the Montreal Canadiens, the biggest surprise of this year’s postseason and the number eight seed. Through the first two games of the series, Philadelphia has dominated the Habs, shutting them out in games one and two by a combined score of 9-0.
With game three tonight in Montreal, the Flyers are looking to put the series away. Philly is in the opposite position it has been throughout the playoffs. There is no more battling from behind. They are up 2-0 in the series. And with a win tonight, the Flyers would be one more victory away from defying the odds and making it to the Stanley Cup Finals.
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"No NHL team in history has come back from a 3-0 hole and it looks like the reigning Western Conference Champions, the Detroit Red Wings, will be booking an earlier tee time than usual this year. "
The End of the Red Wings?
Photo Credit: Don Smith/NHLI via Getty Images
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Written by Bryan Rubin, Online Sports Editor
As Logan Couture’s shot from the corner beat Jimmy Howard five hole, the crowd at Joe Louis Arena was silent. In Detroit’s attempt to get back into the series after losing two close games in San Jose, they blew a 3-1 third period lead and in theory the series too. No NHL team in history has come back from a 3-0 hole and it looks like the reigning Western Conference Champions, the Detroit Red Wings, will be booking an earlier tee time than usual this year.
From the start of the season, the Red Wings faced a disadvantage. Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson, and Jiri Hudler, who combined for 86 regular season goals, were gone. With the emergence of rookies, Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Wings were confident they could somewhat fill the holes these playmakers left behind. But injuries plagued Detroit in a way never before. Johan Franzen missed 55 games, Jason Williams 38, Jonathan Ericsson 20, and Thomas Holmstrom 14. And after Chris Osgood, the goalie who led them to two straight Stanley Cup Finals appearances struggled out of the gate, the team turned to rookie goalie Jimmy Howard. After spending five years with the Red Wings AHL affiliate, Grand Rapids Griffins, Howard got more playing time then he ever imagined, starting in 63 of 82 games. In an up-and-down regular season, the Wings who were on the outside of the playoff picture looking in before the Olympic Break soon elevated their game to a whole new level.
Arguably the hottest team in the NHL from late February to the end of the regular season, the Red Wings posted a league best, 16-3-2 record to move all the way up to the fifth seed in the Western Conference. So after the regular season scare, the Wings were ready to make another Stanley Cup run – right? Not exactly.
In a first round matchup with the number four seed and the biggest surprise of the season, the Phoenix Coyotes were rewarded for their historic season with a matchup with the Red Wings. Phoenix came out as if they were the team to beat and escaped Game 1 with a 3-2 victory. In a grueling back-and-forth series, the Wings and Coyotes took it all the way to a Game 7. The experience of the veteran Red Wings proved to be no match for Phoenix in the finale, as Detroit cruised to a 6-1 victory, taking the series and avoiding a first round disappointment.
But it was going to get no easier as the number one seeded, San Jose Sharks, awaited the Wings. Penalties killed Detroit in the first two games as they never could manage to stay out of the box. The Red Wings had no answer for Joe Pavelski in games one or two as he torched Detroit for four goals in the first two games. In Game 2, the Red Wings once again saw a third period lead disappear as San Jose took advantage of Nicklas Lidstrom’s blue-line gaffe as they raced down towards Howard with a three on one and then scored.
Detroit left San Jose empty handed and returned home to save the series. But between the combination of missed scoring chances and Jimmy Howard’s below par performance, the Red Wings watched as the Sharks erased a 3-1 deficit in the third period to inevitably end the game with a 4-3 overtime victory.
Now in a 3-0 hole, the Red Wings’ season is hanging on a thread. Their only chance is to pull some 2004 Boston Red Sox magic in order to save the S.S.S Detroit Disappointment.
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