Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers 7:00 p.m. EDT, May 14, 2010 Live on VERSUS
Don’t forget, join us here at PHT for a live chat during tonight’s game.
It’s only happened three times in the history of major professional sports, twice in the NHL.
With a win tonight against the Boston Bruins, they will join the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, the 1975 New York Islanders and the 2004 Boston Red Sox as the only teams to ever come back from being down 0-3 to win a series in the playoffs.
The Flyers were the most improbable of postseason teams in the NHL a month ago, having squeaked in thanks to a shootout victory over the New York Rangers in the final game of the season. Considering they injuries the team had dealt with, the absolutely horrid record in the middle of the season and the carousel that became the goaltending position, it’s no surprise that many never considered the Flyers to even get out of the first round.
After all, who would expect that Brian Boucher would play not only better, but much better than Vezina-finalist Martin Brodeur, that the Flyers would take the defensive hockey that the New Jersey Devils are known for and turn it against them? Yet that’s exactly what happened, and the Flyers were the first team in the postseason to secure a series win.
Of course, it seemed that the team fell back to reality when they lost the first three games of the series to the Boston Bruins. As I had thought would happen, the Bruins played the Flyers much tougher and with much better goaltending than the Devils, against a team that failed to overcome the injuries to Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne. The Bruins looked like a team that was confident and sure of it’s system after a series win against the Sabres, and it showed in three straight victories.
Then the Flyers were victorious in a big overtime win in Game 4, staving off elimination while planting the seeds for the issues that would plague the Bruins in the next two games.
The Boston Bruins have departed from what made them so successful against the Sabres and in the three wins versus the Flyers, abandoning their solid approach for emotionally vicarious outbursts. They’ve lost the mental edge over the Flyers, a team that has managed to get under their skin with physicality and timely goals. The Bruins, on the other hand, have played emotionless and timid, choosing only to have an outburst at the most inopportune times.
While many thought that his return would be the spark the Bruins needed to go deep into the playoffs, you have to wonder if Marc Savard’s presence has been more of a hindrance than anyone expected. He scored an improbable overtime goal in his first game back, but since then the Flyers have played on his emotions to the detriment of the rest of the team; you have to wonder if anyone other than Savard had been a part of these antics what the response around the league might be.
All eyes are on the Philadelphia now as they head into Boston, with the Bruins showing so far that playing on home ice isn’t necessarily the advantage it should be. They’ve played safe at home, and the Flyers took advantage of that in Game 5. With the fans ready to turn on their team at the slightest appearance of a choke, you have to expect for the Flyers to jump at any chance to set the Bruins behind as early as possible.
The Flyers are poised to make history tonight, in what will surely be one of the most-watched hockey games of the season.
Can they do it? They certainly have the confidence and momentum to do so.
What are the coaches saying about tonight’s Game 7? Look no further than right here.