I will no longer fall victim to the inclination of saying Philadelphia Flyers games versus opponents in the top 8 of the Eastern conference, or the league for that matter, are statement games. As Florida showed a few nights ago and the Islanders reiterated last night in the Flyers’ 4-3 shootout win, EVERY game is a measuring stick… EVERY game is a statement game… EVERY matchup is important. The Hurricanes and Penguins continue to keep pace with the 4th place Flyers. This team has the talent to play twenty minutes of a sixty minute game, and still win, at least against the Isles. Can the same be said about the Bruins?
It took a welcome but surprising two goal effort from Joffrey Lupul, a career high 29th goal by Hartnell, and some “juke left, go right” shootout magic from Briere and Richards to get two points last night. The Bruins hit Philly ice without leading scorer Phil Kessel, a factor which didn’t seem to bother the B’s in their rout of Toronto. The “Care-bears” apparently love to play in Philadelphia, having won three straight against the Flyers on the road. Former Inquirer beat writer and current Hockeybuzz/CSNPhilly blog-god, Tim Panaccio, claims that after last night’s win, the Flyers magic number to clinch a playoff birth is 6 points. The Flyers gain 6 or the Panthers fail to and we’re automatically in the big show. But wouldn’t you rather ENJOY the end of this season by comfortably closing these final games out with momentum, the fourth seed, and home ice advantage?
Two of the four T-shirt winners (Erk and Joe) from the other night have provided their mailing information to MattP, but just for the other two I will repost the winning caption contest winners. Keep your eyes peeled for the next contest!
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“This is what we call a ‘Thoresen’…” posted by Gerry.
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“Braydon Coburn’s goal celebrations are a little more extreme than Alex Ovechkin’s.” posted by Steve.
Go Flyers!
Original Story:
http://www.the700level.com/2009/03/fl...
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May 31, 2008
