The Broad Street Blog

In game 4, the Flyers showed some fight and intensity and were able to finally break through the Penguins impressive defense. In the first three games of the series, the Penguins disrupted the Flyers ability to pass and prevented a good deal of traffic from developing in front of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Game 4 gave many the feeling that this series was far from over if the Flyers continued that style of play. The Flyers also got good news that top defenseman Kimmo Timonen would be back in the lineup for game 5. Timonen hadn’t played since a blood clot was discovered in his left ankle after round 2.

There isn’t much to talk about with this game, except for the fact that the Penguins had their foot on the gas for 60 minutes. They scored early and often and prevented the Flyers from getting anything going offensively. Fleury made some tremendous saves on the initial shots by the Flyers and the Pittsburgh defense made sure no one was in front of the net to do anything with the huge rebounds Fleury is known for giving up.

While this is not the way anyone wanted to see the season end, looking back to where this team was last year this season was a tremendous turnaround. The Flyers went from a 30th place finish (out of 30 teams) to the Eastern Conference Finals. This turnaround was done without tanking for several seasons in a row to get top draft picks like other Pennsylvania hockey teams.

There are many good things to look at with this season. The Flyers youth came into its own this year with the likes of Richards, Carter, Umberger, Upshall, and Coburn. Young players like Ryan Parent and Claude Giroux, who saw some time with the team this year, will most likely have roles with the club next year. Veterans like Timonen, Knuble, Hatcher and Smith provided the stabilizing experience for the young team. Acquisitions like Briere, Hartnell and Lupul were key to the Flyers success.

Just as this season is ending, the questions about next season are starting. With offer sheets going to more and more restricted every year, how is GM Paul Holmgren going to handle both Jeff Carter and RJ Umberger? Who is going to return and who is not, Smith, Kapanen, Hatcher, Prospal, Dowd? What free agents is Holmgren going to pursue? July 1st is only 6 weeks away.

I’m excited to see what this team does over the next four months to build on the success it saw this year. I have a feeling that Paul Holmgren and the rest of the Flyers management were happy with this season, but are going to continue to find areas for improvement.

Highlights
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Box Score

Tags:   briere · Carter · Penguins · Richards · Timonen · UmbergerNo Comments