Flyers - Penguins Series Preview | The Broad Street Blog

Carter Upshall Penguins
The Eastern Conference Finals between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins is going to be unbelievable. That is all I have to say, just unbelievable. If you have any friends or family that don’t watch hockey, sit them down and have them watch this series, they’ll love the sport after seeing it. This series is going to have everything that hockey has to offer. Hard hits, two teams with incredible scoring punch, and two teams that hate each other (the fans hate each other as well).

Head to Head Comparison:
Flyers
Player To Watch
RJ Umberger returns home with this series. Umberger is from Plum PA, which is near Pittsburgh and always has success against his former club. This year he had 13 goals during the regular season, and 6 were against the Penguins. He has 9 goals this postseason, and 8 are in the last 5 games. If these two trends continue, Pittsburgh is going to be in trouble.

Depth
The Flyers depth is proving to be one of their keys to success this postseason. During the regular season, Mike Richards was an offensive machine for the Flyers. So far in the playoffs he has 4 goals, the majority of which came at clutch times in games. That doesn’t mean he’s not contributing. Richards has emerged as one the league’s best two way forwards. He is a key player in the Flyers defensive schema’s when it comes to shutting down top players on the other side. He is also one of the top penalty killers on the team and is on the ice to take key face-offs. With him in that role, Danny Briere, Jeff Carter, RJ Umberger, Joffrey Lupul, Scottie Upshall, and Mike Knuble have all taken roles in providing the Flyers scoring punch. With so many contributors, it’s hard to stop them all. Also, Richards was near the top in the league in shorthanded goals during the regular season, so even when the Flyers are down a player, they are still a threat. He also has some sweet moves on a breakaway. Don’t believe me, just check out these clips, several of the breakaway goals were shorthanded.
RJ Umberger Scores

Goaltending
Coming into these playoffs, Martin Biron was an unproven in the postseason at the age of 30. He had never started in a playoff game, much less win a postseason game. Because of that, few thought the Flyers could win a postseason series with Biron in net. Since the playoffs started all he has done is play superb, make stellar saves, and win two series. Biron is the defensive backbone of the Flyers playoff push and is the key reason they are heading into the Eastern Conference Finals. He has gotten better as the playoffs have gone on. He will have to continue to be at the top of his game to hold off the likes of Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa, and Sidney Crosby.

Penguins
Player to Watch
Evgeni Malkin has really come into his own this year and proven he is not a #2 or even a #1b. He is a true playmaker and in my opinion, he is better than Sidney Crosby. It was when Crosby went down with the high ankle sprain that Malkin stepped up and took Pittsburgh to near the top of the Eastern Conference. I really enjoy watching the way Malkin plays, except when the Penguins play the Flyers of course. It is going to be interesting how the Flyers plan to shut down this both Malkin and Crosby.

Goaltending
Marc-Andre Fleury was drafted by Pittsburgh 1st overall in 2003 and they have been waiting for him to show why he was worthy of being a top draft pick. He has he has shown he was worth drafting that high this postseason. He has won 8 games and is near the tops in the league in GAA (2.33) and Save Percentage (.921). The Flyers did a great job getting into the heads of the goaltenders they faced in the first two rounds and will look to do the same thing this round. Fleury is going to have to get used to a big team that is good at crowding the net.

Elite Athletes
There is absolutely no doubt the Pittsburgh roster is filled with elite players. Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are tied along with Flyer Danny Briere for second in the league with 14 postseason points. Now add in Marian Hossa who has 5 goals and 5 assists so far in the playoffs. These three players together make for a significant scoring punch.

RJ Umberger Scores

Season Series
The Flyers won 5 out of the 8 meetings between the two teams this season. If like most of things this postseason, the season series will mean nothing. The “experts” realize that too, and are looking at the Flyers as underdogs. The underdog role is fine with me. It makes winning feel even better.