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Five Thoughts: Home ice advantage myth, Flyers goaltending a recurring nightmare

Michael Leighton, Andrej Meszaros

Philadelphia Flyers’ Michael Leighton, left, and Andrej Meszaros, skate off the ice after the 4-3 overtime win by the Buffalo Sabres in Game 5 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoffs hockey series, Friday, April 22, 2011, in Philadelphia. They now have a 3-2 lead in the best of seven series.(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

AP

As proof that there’s always something to talk about in the playoffs, with only two games last night there’s more than enough on our plate this morning as we head into a non-stop hockey Saturday. Coming into focus today, how home teams and Flyers goaltending are stinking up the house in the playoffs, Tyler Ennis’ emergence, David Legwand’s bad night, and the comeback story of Jordin Tootoo.

1. Two nights in a row we’ve seen zero home teams hold down the fort and end up losing at home. Just how bad are home teams doing so far? Home teams are 14-21 in the playoffs and in the Montreal-Boston series, a home team has yet to win a game. Considering how hard teams fight to get home ice advantage in the playoffs it’s proven to be very unhelpful to most teams. It’s stunning to think that anyone can win anywhere at anytime but that’s how it’s gone so far. Whether or not that’s a trend we’ll see continue throughout the playoffs remains to be seen but one things for sure, home ice guarantees nothing.

2. At some point in the future the Philadelphia Flyers will figure out their goaltending. While it’s still very possible they’ll move on to the second round, the one thing that’s clear is that they’re not about to win the Stanley Cup this year with such a mish-mash mess in goal. After seeing Brian Boucher wilt in the first period of a 4-3 overtime loss to Buffalo and end up replaced by last year’s playoff hero Michael Leighton, a guy who hadn’t played in an NHL game this year, it summed up every Flyers playoff run the last 20 or so years. A great team, and this Flyers team is very good, backed by highly suspect goaltending.

Last season the Flyers won in spite of their goaltending and this year they haven’t yet been able to do that. Playing without Chris Pronger and Jeff Carter doesn’t help that any, but Boucher’s performance yesterday and Sergei Bobrovsky’s in Game 2 are examples of what can happen without that ace goalie. I wonder if Ilya Bryzgalov would hate the weather in Philadelphia.

3. With how the Sabres have done this year, who knew that Tyler Ennis would become their latest big game player. Sure they’ve got Thomas Vanek and yes they’re without Derek Roy (and possibly Jason Pominville now as well) but Ennis is emerging as one of their most consistent offensive threats. That’s not too bad for a guy who was a late season call-up last year and after scoring 20 goals this season to breakout as a big game player. Considering they’re not getting goals from minutes eaters like Tim Connolly and Paul Gaustad, Ennis is coming up big.

4. We raved about Bobby Ryan’s goal last night and it’s honestly one of the best goals we’ve ever seen, but how many posters would you see David Legwand end up on after that display? He gets his pocket picked by Ryan and then deked out of his skates twice on the same rush that turns into the highlight of the playoffs. Legwand is a lifelong Predator and while you’d think that would end up his lasting impression on the game, he made up for that set of errors by assisting Joel Ward’s goal that made it 2-2 right after Ryan’s stunner. Shaking off getting exposed that badly speaks a lot of Legwand’s ability to just keep moving on and not let it get him frustrated. The Predators getting the win in overtime makes it all the sweeter.

5.Speaking of the Predators, give it up for Jordin Tootoo. Tootoo took a leave of absence earlier this year to check into the league’s substance abuse and behavioral health program. After weeks away to get well, he’s come back a different player. The dirty hits and all-around jerky play have dissipated and in Game 5 he made two spectacular passes that led to Predators goals, including the primary assist on Jerred Smithson’s game winner.

If he can keep himself in check, having a grinder like that making pretty plays makes him the sort of player that can give Nashville an upper hand later on in the playoffs. Good for him on getting healthy and straightened out and turning himself into a tremendous feel-good story.