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Posts Tagged ‘Scott Hartnell’

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“The View from the Philly Pressbox ” Flyers-Penguins, Game 1

In Philadelphia Flyers on April 12, 2012 at 10:06 pm

In today’s “View from the Philly Pressbox” we look at the outcome of Game 1of the 1st Round series between the Flyers and the Penguins.

In our series preview we identified the four keys for the Flyers to win the series.

  • ·        Don’t fall behind early in games
  • ·        Ilya Bryzgalov
  • ·        Staying out of the penalty box
  • ·        Stay healthy

Don’t fall behind early in games. Obviously, the Flyers didn’t get our post and came out and got crushed in the 1st period, falling behind 3-0. They were outshot, 13-6, and severely out hit. The Penguins took their foot off the gas and the Flyers showed tremendous resiliency in holding their composure while the Consol Center was in a frenzy. As we stated in our series preview the Flyers must figure out a way to come out of the locker room ready to play and control the energy of the game. Everyone knew that the building would be crazy and that Pittsburgh would come out ready to play. The Flyers had no way of slowing them down, let alone stopping them. Don’t expect the Penguins to let their foot off the gas again if the same situation occurs. Although the Flyers survived Game 1 we still feel, more than ever, that this is critical to the Flyers winning the series. When asked what you’re thinking in the locker room behind 3 goals after one period, Danny Briere said, “Sitting here after the first period all we were saying was that we’ve done it all year. Let’s start with a goal and you never know what can happen.”

Ilya Bryzgalov – We’re going to give Bryz a pass on the bad third goal, since we won the game. That goal was soft and looked like it was the final straw in the game; however, Bryz played very well the remainder of the game. The Pens ended up with 28 shots, only 15 after the first period and Bryz turned them all away. Any lose of concentration and a fourth goal would’ve put the game out of reach. The Flyers tightened up the defense and Bryz stepped-up his game

Stay Healthy – Of course another obvious key in the run to the Stanley Cup is staying healthy throughout the brutal playoff run. The Flyers appear to be as healthy as a team can be at this point. All indications are that the Flyers did not suffer any injuries in the game and will be at full strength for Game 2 Friday night.

Staying out of the penalty box will be critical. The Flyers were called for only three minor penalties in the game and killed all of them. Interestingly enough, of the 6 minutes in penalties, Sydney Crosby was on the ice for 5:00, Evgeni Malkin for 5:12, Kris Latang for 5:34, James Neal for 3:39 and  Chris Kunitz for 3:55. These are the big guns for the Penguins and they don’t need to be on the ice that long while the Flyers are shorthanded. Offensively, the Flyers were only on the power play one time and Brayden Shenn made them pay by scoring the game tying goal at the 12:23 mark of the 3rd period by redirecting a perfect pass from Scott Hartnell. Special Teams are critical to the playoffs, and the Game 1 advantage goes to the Flyers.

We stated that for “the Flyers to win they need to get contributions from all of their lines. Obviously, the Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Jaromir Jagr line needs to be good. Danny Briere needs to step up as he has in past playoffs. Wayne Simmons, Max Talbot and Jakub Voracek will need to contribute as they have all season. Just as important will be the play of the Flyers rookies, Matt Read, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn. These rookies have played very well throughout the regular season; however, they need to lift their game to the next level that is playoff hockey!” I think it’s safe to say we hit the nail on the head with that statement. Briere scored 2 goals; Shenn added a goal and 2 assists and Voracek scored the overtime game winner by positioning himself in behind what looked like two confused Penguins. It should be pointed out that Matt Carle, 27minutes, 13 seconds of ice time and Brayden Coburn, 26:49, turned in fantastic efforts for the Flyers defense as well. Kimmo Timonen and Nic Grossman also logged more than 20 minutes of ice time. It was a total team effort.

Our prediction is still the Flyers in 6 games. The Flyers are in the Penguins heads. This is why the meaningless game on the last day of the season was so important for the Penguins to win at home. They needed to prove to themselves that they could beat the Flyers, and they can’t. It will be interesting to see how the Penguins respond at the start of Game 2. Can they put the Game 1 collapse behind them or can the Flyers come out with the energy early and put them away and take a 2-0 lead back to the Wells Fargo Center? We thought there would be a split in Pittsburgh, however, we now think the Flyers will win Game 2 on the road and the Pens will win Game 3 in Philly with their backs up against the elimination wall.

As Gene Hart would say” GOOD NIGHT and GOOD HOCKEY”

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“View from the Philly Pressbox” – Flyers-Penguins Series

In Philadelphia Flyers on April 11, 2012 at 9:57 am

In today’s “View from the Philly Pressbox” we preview the Round 1 series between the Flyers and the Penguins.

This is a pretty easy review from our standpoint. For the Flyers there are four keys to winning the series.

  • ·        Don’t fall behind early in games
  • ·        Ilya Bryzgalov
  • ·        Staying out of the penalty box
  • ·        Stay healthy

Obviously, there are a great deal of things that play in to the four things noted above. The Flyers have to come out of the locker room ready to play. They must put pressure on Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the opening whistle of Game 1 and every other game. They cannot continue to try to play comeback every game. Falling behind by one goal will be difficult to overcome, falling behind by two goals will be impossible. The effort required for these “comebacks” drains a great deal of extra energy. The Flyers need to jump on the Penguins early and force them to have to play from behind.

 The Flyers must play solid defense and two way hockey for Bryzgalov to be good. However, Bryz must step up his game, as he did in the last third of the season, and make the big saves when the defense breaks down.  Bryz brings 33 wins and a 2.48 GAA (Goals Against Average) in to the playoffs, but as we know the regular season statistics don’t mean anything. What is important is this, is the goalie playing well going in to the playoffs? In Bryz’ case he went from cold to white hot to cooling off some but still playing well at the end of the season.

 Of course another obvious key in the run to the Stanley Cup is staying healthy throughout the brutal playoff run. The Flyers appear to be as healthy as a team can be at this point. Bryz will benefit from having his full complement of defensemen. Having Nicklas Grossmann back will be big for the Flyers.

Staying out of the penalty box will be critical. The Flyers cannot let Sydney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, 50 g, 59a, 109 points with 12 PP goals, James Neal, 40g, 41a, 81 points and 18 PP goals have space to skate. The Penguins also got 26 goals from Chris Kunitz, 25 from Pascal Dupuis and 25 from Jordan Staal. They can be very dangerous on offense. The Flyers need to be physical throughout the series but cannot afford any bad penalties that could put them in a hole.

For the Flyers to win they need to get contributions from all of their lines. Obviously, the Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Jaromir Jagr line needs to be good. Danny Brierre needs to step up as he has in past playoffs. Wayne Simmons, Max Talbot and Jakub Voracek will need to contribute as they have all season. Just as important will be the play of the Flyers rookies, Matt Read, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn. These rookies have played very well throughout the regular season, however, they need to lift their game to the next level that is playoff hockey!

Our prediction is the Flyers in 6 games if they can manage the keys discussed above. These teams are very equal as the regular season showed. Bryz must be outstanding and Crosby and Malkin must be controlled. Obviously, the critical game is Game 1 tonight in Pittsburgh to gain series momentum. If the Flyers can gain a split on the road they will be in good position for two wins at the Wells Fargo Center in Games 3 and 4. A loss in Game 5 in Pittsburgh and the clincher in Game 6 back at home.

The talking is over; it’s time to drop the puck!

As Gene Hart would say” GOOD NIGHT and GOOD HOCKEY”

LET’S GO FLYERS!!!!!!

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Flyers – 76ers and The Playoffs

In Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers on March 25, 2012 at 11:01 am

Last week in our review we stated that the Flyers needed to get all 8 of the available points for the week. We knew that would be tough with games against the Penguins, Panthers, Capitals and Canadians. The Flyers did earn 6 of the 8 points, losing a very well played 2-1 game to the Panthers. The week started with a fantastic come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh with 0.9 seconds remaining in overtime on a Scott Hartnell goal. The Florida loss followed. The Flyers bounced back with a 2-1 shootout win over Washington and a 4-1 dominating victory against Montreal. The Saturday night win clinched a playoff spot for the Flyers. The interesting statistic from the week, after spotting the Penguins a 2-0 lead on Sunday, the Flyers outscored their opponents 10-4 for the remainder of the week.

The standings didn’t change over the week. The Penguins presently hold the 4th spot in the Eastern Conference 3 points behind the 1st seeded Rangers. The Pens are still hot in spite of losing big to Ottawa on Saturday night with their backup goalie. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been on fire. The Rangers have cooled off but have managed to hold on to their lead in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. The Pens have 8 games remaining while the Rangers and Flyers have 7 each. The Flyers have 3 games this week, 2 of them at the Wells Fargo Center. Monday they host Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Stamkos is a scoring machine. He presently leads the NHL with 52 goals. The Lightning are likely out of the playoffs but could be a spoiler for the Flyers. This is a must 2 points for the Orange and Black. Thursday’s game is at Toronto against a Maple Leafs team that is also likely out of the playoffs. Again, this is another 2 points the Flyers must get. Saturday, it’s back home to “The Well” against the Ottawa Senators. The Sens are currently in the 7th spot in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. The Flyers need the 2 points in this game, but must get 1 point at the least. This weeks schedule is also favorable to the Rangers, 3 games against non-playoff teams and the Penguins, 4 games with only 1 against a playoff team, the Devils. This is a week where all three teams should gain points leading in to the final week of the season.

The Flyers continue to get outstanding play from goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. The defensive improvement can be seen every night with contributions coming from every player.  Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Wayne Simmonds, Matt Read and a couple goals on Saturday night by Danny Briere have led the way on offense. (See the link to our article on our MVP Scott Hartnell.) https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/flyers-mvp-scott-hartnell/

The final week of the season is heating up to be special with every game being important in the final playoff positioning. The Flyers have a game against the Rangers and two with the Penguins. Home ice and the 4th seed would be a good landing spot at this point. Making up 5 points on the Rangers and 2 on the Pens may be too tough to do with only 7 games left in the season.

The 76ers are a mystery team. Just when you thought they might be dead and gone they whip the Celtics again in another blowout at the Wells Fargo Center. We felt that the 76ers needed to beat the last place Charlotte Bobcats to open the week, they did. They needed to beat the revived New York Knicks but lost, 82-79, before bouncing back with the big 99-86 win over Boston. The 2-1 record for the week leaves the 76ers hanging on to a 1.5 game lead over the Celtics and a 3.5 game lead over the Knicks in the Eastern Conference.

There’s no rest this week. The 76ers have 4 games in the next 7 days with no room to slip up. They open tonight in San Antonio against a very good Spurs team. They come back home to host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. The Cavs are on the outside of the playoff picture. Friday night it’s off to Washington to play the Wizards. The Wizards have won only 11 games all season. Saturday night it’s back to the Wells Fargo Center to host the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks are also a good team. They’ve actually won two more games this season than the 76ers. The 76ers need to beat either San Antonio or Atlanta as well as win the two games they should win, Cleveland and Washington, to finish the week with a 3-1 record.

The 76ers seem to be looking for answers every night. One night the leader is Elton Brand, another it’s Lou Williams, another it’s Jrue Holiday. Evan Turner seems to have disappeared as quickly as he arrived. The 76ers have played all season with balanced scoring and good defense while not overusing any player. It seems it’s time to establish who the top six or seven players will be going in to the playoffs and use them down the stretch.

Congratulations to Head Coach Doug Collins on winning his 400th NBA game against Boston on Friday night. Collins has done a real nice job with this young 76ers team. It would be good to get by the first round of the playoffs.

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Flyers MVP – Scott Hartnell

In Philadelphia Flyers on March 24, 2012 at 10:03 am

When looking at an MVP of a team it’s very easy to look at its best player, the highest scorer, highest batting average, most home runs or most yards gained. There are so many other things that go in to “Most Valuable Player”. With 8 games remaining on the Flyers schedule their regular season MVP is Scott Hartnell. As stated above, it’s very easy to select Claude Giroux. Giroux has had a fantastic statistical season tallying 27 goals, 58 assists for 85 points. He is second in the NHL in scoring behind Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin, who has 95 points. “G” is also second in the NHL in assists behind Vancouver Canuck Henrik Sedin, 59. Giroux has also done everything asked of him on the power play and the penalty kill units as well. He’s truly had a great season. With 8 games remaining, Giroux scoring 15 more points to reach 100 is not unreasonable if the Flyers can find the offense that has disappeared since Ilya Bryzgalov has gotten hot and carried the team through March.

When the Flyers traded Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and lost Ville Leino to the Buffalo Sabres in free agency the big question was how would they make up for the loss of these goal scorers. The team was dealt another blow when newly named Captain Chris Pronger was lost for the season after only 13 games and the question was who would provide the leadership that is required in every locker room. The answer to both of those questions is Scott Hartnell.

In the past, Hartnell has been criticized for his sloppy play and taking “bad” penalties at the wrong times. That is in the past. In 2012 Hartnell is having his best season. After 74 games, Hartnell leads the Flyers in goals with 35, +/- rating with +22, power play goals with 15 and game winning goals with 6. He is 2nd in total points, 64, shooting percentage, 16.7% and penalty minutes, 130. All of these are career bests for Hartnell.

Hartnell is also among the NHL leaders in these categories. He’s presently 4th in goals scored and 23rd overall in points. He is ranked 15th in the NHL in +/-  and is tied for 1st in power play goals with 15.

The statistics are impressive; however, Hartnells’ leadership has stood out as much as his play. Playing on the line with Giroux and Jaromir Jagr, Hartnell has been the protector of his linemates. He still plays his “chippy” game and continues to be an irritant to all opponents. He also never hesitates to drop with the gloves with anyone. This has become more apparent as opponents have taken liberties with Giroux. Hartnell always does a good job of protecting himself and his linemates. Lay a hard check or a cheap shot on his linemates you better be prepared for a word, a hit or the gloves being dropped by Scott Hartnell.

Hats off to Hartnell for “stepping up” and filling the void left by other players. He’s had a great season!

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DON’T PANIC FLYERS FANS!!

In Philadelphia Flyers on February 13, 2012 at 5:54 pm

Flyers fans lets stress one thing as we suffer through the past month – DON’T PANIC. Easier said than done since the team has gotten 4 wins plus a shootout win and 6 loses plus 3 more shootout loses since January 14. That’s a total of 28 possible points. The Flyers have only earned only 12. The goaltending continues to be erratic. Injuries are still a major problem and there seems to be some frustration mounting among the players, Kimmo Timonen.

We all have to admit that the last month has produced some ugly games including big losses to the Rangers twice, the Devils and the Islanders. A big problem is falling behind early and having to play catch-up. This team just doesn’t seem to have that kind of firepower at even strength and seems to be shorthanded a lot more than they are on the power play. So was does coach Peter Laviolette need to do? Keep the troops from imploding inside the dressing room and get players healthy for the playoffs. If we’ve learned anything in the last few years in all sports it’s about being hot at the end of the season and in to the playoffs. When the Flyers made their latest run to the Stanley Cup Finals they didn’t make the playoffs until winning a shootout in the last game of the season. We watched the St. Louis Cardinals come to town on fire down the regular season stretch and beat the heavily favored Phillies and go on to win the World Series. The Dallas Mavericks were not better than the Miami Heat the entire season but they were in the NBA Finals on the way to the championship. The same can be said for the New York Giants who had to win the last week of the season to take their 9-7 record to the playoffs only to whip everyone they played to win the Super Bowl, and going back a few years, how many times did we see Martin Brodeur stand on his head in the playoffs and carry his teams.

With that said, the team is still 2nd in the Atlantic Division, but losing ground to the Rangers, behind by 7 points right now and they are last in goals allowed in the Atlantic but they are still 3rd overall in points in the Eastern Conference. Another reason not to panic! There are 26 games left on the schedule so, in my opinion, they have 12-14 games to get it together and hit stride for the last 12-14 games heading in to the playoffs. They need to continue to get healthy. The young legs of Claude Giroux, Matt Read and Sean Couturier must stay strong as they go in to the longest season of their careers. On the opposite end Jaromir Jagr, Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell must continue to play well and get healthy. The defense must get better across the board so Timonen, Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn aren’t required to play so many minutes. Most importantly a goaltender needs to stand up and be counted. Ilya Bryzgalov is 19-11-6 with a 2.78 goals against average. Sergie Bobrovsky is 12-7-1 with a 2.90 GGA. Those stats will not win a Stanley Cup.

Remember this, as hard as it is to do, the season is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Many coaches break the schedule in to segments and try to win those segments while shuffling players, fighting injuries, fighting team and player scoring slumps and yes, goaltender slumps. The Flyers still have plenty of time to pull it together and get hot in time for the playoffs. From there we make our run!!!

GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD HOCKEY….Gene Hart