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Playoff oddity: Flyers struggle when scoring first

Brayden Schenn

NEWARK, NJ - MAY 03: Brayden Schenn #10 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates after scoring a goal against Martin Brodeur #30 of the New Jersey Devils in the first period in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Prudential Center on May 3, 2012 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

People like a good comeback, but Flyers’ fans would probably appreciate it if their team could hold onto a 1-0 lead sometimes too. Philadelphia has a 4-0 record in the playoffs when their opponent scores first, but they’re just 1-4 in games were they’ve taken a 1-0 lead.

Wednesday’s contest was another example of that anomaly. Brayden Schenn scored the opening goal for the Philadelphia Flyers, but Patrik Elias and Ilya Kovalchuk both found the back of the net to give the New Jersey Devils a 2-1 lead going into the first intermission. The Flyers managed to send the game to overtime, but they never retook the lead.

The only other teams that have won just two or fewer games after scoring first have been eliminated from the playoffs. The flip side is that no squad has successfully overcome more 1-0 deficits.

Of course this is a relatively isolated statistic. It’s not that the Flyers are incapable of holding onto a lead in general - although they certainly could use a bit of work in that department too. They have a 2-2 record when leading after one period and a 2-1 record when leading after 40 minutes.

Really, it’s probably more of a product of a small sample size than a genuine area of concern, but the Flyers scoring first is starting to turn into a bad omen.