The Broad Street Blog

The Flyers may have punched their playoff ticket on Friday night by defeating the New Jersey Devils and getting a bit of help from the Florida Panthers, but there was still one more game to be played. Today it was the Pittsburgh Penguins coming to town a few days after beating the Flyers 4-2. The Penguins have been off since that game.

For the Flyers, this game was all about positioning. A win would move them from 8th place to 6th place and set them up for a first round meeting with the Washington Capitals. A loss would mean Pittsburgh moving into first in the Eastern Conference and these two teams meeting later this week to start a seven game first round series.

This rivalry has really heated up over the past few years. Especially since the arrival of Sidney Crosby in the NHL and in Pittsburgh. This year, the Penguins decided to give the 20 year old the Captain’s C. When both teams came out for warmups, Captain Crosby was noticeably absent from the ice. I guess it was a case of Philly Flu.

For the Flyers, after the emotional win on Friday night and their best game of the season, it was important not come out and have a let down. However, the Flyers didn’t have the start everyone hoped for. For the first three minutes of the game, they let the Penguins buzz around in the Philadelphia end of the ice.

The Flyers were able to get their game going and began taking it to the Penguins. Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury had some great saves against the Flyers. Another inch or two, and there would have been several pucks behind him.

The officials appeared to be attempting to give an upper hand to the Penguins. Calling several marginal penalties against Philadelphia, while Pittsburgh was able to get away with very obvious infractions. But even with the help, the Flyers appeared more effective on the Pittsburgh Power Plays than the Penguins. They came close several times to scoring shorthanded.

The Flyers broke the scoreless tie late in the second period. Jeff Carter won the faceoff and and took a quick shot. The puck bounced to Mike Knuble who passed over to Scottie Upshall who backhanded the puck past Fleury. That would be all the Flyers needed this afternoon as Martin Biron was perfect at the other end for the second straight game. He stopped all 20 shots from the Penguins.

The Flyers would ice the win with an empty net goal by Mike Knuble, his 29th of the season.

Danny Briere and Jason Smith both sat out this game. Briere is continuing to recover from the knee-on-knee hit from Jarkko Ruutu last Thursday. Smith was out with a “upper body injury.”

With this win, the Flyers moved into 6th place in the Eastern Conference and will play the 3rd place Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs. The Flyers are returning to the postseason after missing it last season.

Highlights
Game Summary
Box Score

Tags:   briere · Carter · Flyers · Knuble · Penguins · Smith · UpshallNo Comments