Flyers at Penguins - Game 5 - 04-20-12
PREGAME
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-Greetings on an amazing mid-spring day in Pittsburgh. It's warm. It's sunny. It's clear. It's almost a waste to spend it inside. These people aren't:
-This is like "Couch Alley:
-This lady is walking her dog:
-Can't say it any better:
-This, to say the least, is a complicated relationship:
-The picnic tables along Fifth Avenue are getting some use:
-A brave Chris Pronger fan:
-The barn is all "playoffed-up:"
-The ice:
-The rink:
-Smoke machines are making this place hazy:
-Icetime has another team centric cover:
-The Penguins biggest internal obstacle tonight will be trying to match their desperation and attention to details they had in Game 4. It's one thing to pay lip service to those ideals, but it's another to actually preach them. And when you're coming off such a comfortable one-sided win, you get get a little complacent.
-The Penguins will likely use seven defensemen tonight once again and we like that idea a bunch. It spreads out the ice time on the blue line and alows you to not gas the likes of your better defensemen such as Kris Letang, Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik. Plus, with the Flyers employing so much skill up front, it just makes for better match ups.
-The Flyers's blue line has a few major holes in their hull. Marc-Andre Bourdon went out in Game 1. Nicklas Grossman went out in Game 4. The Flyers are likely going to be using reserves such as Pavel Kubina and Erik Gustafsson. Philadelphia management can talk all they want about having confidence in those guys and how they are ready, but the fact remains, they're only in the lineup because someone better is injured. The Penguins have to take advantage of it.
-Speaking of weaknesses, the Penguins need to rattle Ilya Bryzgalov once again. His track record as a starter int he playoffs is questionable (to be really kind). If he can get into a rythym, he can look unbeatable. But if you get him off his game early, he can be done for the night.
-Do we need to mention anything about special teams? Obviously they have dictated this series. Win the special teams battle and you win the game.
-Dan Bylsma mixed and matched lines a little in Game 4, partly due to the suspensions of some regulars. Even with Craig Adams and James Neal back tonight, Bylsma should try to put Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin together from time to time, as well as using other variations, to shake the Flyers' defensive match-ups ups.
-Marc-Andre Fleury needs to step up big. No more shaky goals. Why it's impossible to blame him for everything, he looked shaky to start Game 4. He settled down as the game wore on and made some tough saves. He needs to maintain that level of play tonight.
-It'll be interesting to see how Game 5 is officiated. Game 4 was tight. Very little was allowed. Other games around the league the past two nights were officiated in a similar fashion. If Game 5 is called tight, both teams need to realize that and adjust.
-Winning this series is still next to impossible. Only three NHL teams have come back from 0-3 deficits in the entire history of the sport. But given how Game 4 unfolded, the potential for another one sure looks better.
-Some sights around the barn. Jiri Slegr has a fan present:
-Larry Murphy:
-If you wear a Craig Adams t-shirt jersey, we're going to put it on the blog:
-A few folks from the wrong side of the commonweath are present. Daniel Briere:
-Bobby Clarke jersey foul:
-Scott Hartnell:
-R.J. Umberger:
-Wayne Simmonds:
-Fans walking in from Fifth Avenue:
-Fans walking in from Center Avenue:
-Fans heading up to the 200 level:
-The towels being given out:
-A few fans have a response for Claude Giroux:
-The Civic Arena site:
-Lots of white around. Jean Pronovost:
-Luc Robitaille:
-Brooks Orpik Team USA:
-Matt Cooke Canucks:
-Petr Nedved:
-John Cullen:
-Ron Francis:
- Paul Coffey:
-Jersey of the Night: The ultimate playoff hero, Kevin Stevens:
-Warm ups:
-The Penguins' are going with seven defensemen again.
-The Penguins' starters are Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and Marc-Andre Fleury.
-Their scratches are Arron Asham, Dustin Jeffrey, Ben Lovejoy, Paul Martin, Richard Park and the great Joe Vitale.
-The Flyers' starters are Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Jaromir Jagr, Matt Carle, Andreas Lilja and Ilya Bryzgalov.
-Their scratches are Oskar Bartulis, Tyler Brown, Marc-Andre Bourdon, Matthew Ford, Nicklas Grossman, Ben Holmstrom, Oliver Laurridsen, Michael Leighton, Brandon Manning, Tye McGinn, Zac Rinaldo, Jody Shelley and Harry Zolnierczyk.
-James van Riemsdyk is back in the lineup after being sidelined six weeks due to a foot injury.
-A gutsy decision to go without Jeff Jimerson.
-Before the opening faceoff, fans offer "FLERRRR-EEEE!" chants.
FIRST PERIOD
19:45: Letang weaves his way through the neutral zone and lifts a wrister from the slot over the cage.
19:27: Maxime Talbot forces Letang into a turnover behind the net and delas a pass to Braydon on the right circle. Coburn grips and rips a wrister which hits of the near post. Whew.
18:42: Crosby chips a puck up ice from the neutral zone on the left wing. Sullivan chase it down, turns and deals to Crosby trailing on he left hlwaf wall. Crosby snap off a wrister which Bryzgalov steers away.
17:59: Daniel Briere sneaks his way up the left circle and snaps off a wrister which Fleury's left foot kicks out.
17:25: Letang dumps a puck in from the neutral zone behind the Flyers net. Bryzglov plays it out and is tripped up by Kunitz. No call.
16:46: Crosby, on the fourth line with Eric Tangradi and Craig Adams, races up the left wing with a puck and snaps off a wrister. Bryzglov steers it away.
15:30: Kunitz takes a drop pass from Malkin at the left point and weaves his way towards the slot. Hartnell slides down to knock the puck of fhis stick. Great play.
14:11: Staal and Kennedy battle for a puck int he left wing corner of the offensive zone with Simmonds. Simmonds trips up Kennedy. That's two minutes. Malkin, Crsoby, Letantg, Sullivan and Kunitz take the ice. No James Neal.
13:11: Letang strikes a one-timer from the top of the slot. Kimmo Timonen blocks it
12:54: Neal has a wrister from the right circle blocked by Carle.
12:37: Neal whacks a shot from the right circle which hits a body in front.
12:11: The Simmonds minor is killed. The Penguins put a few shots on net but didn't pose a major threat.
11:21: Orpik collides with Jagr in the right wing corner of thePenguins' zone and both players take a spill.
11:02: Orpk slam Giroux to the ice on the left wign boards. Oof.
10:49: Giroux dangles is way off the right wing, through the right circle and floast a backhander on net. Fleury traps it between this legs. Tough save.
10:44: Coburn booms a slapper from the right point wide of the cage.
10:13: The Flyers get their first power play as Deryk Engelland rag dolls Briere in front of the Penguins' bench. Engelland went to hit Briere. Briere tired to duck and got a facefull of Engelland's right elbow
10:07: Timonen launches a shot from the left point which hits a skate in front and deflects wide to the far side.
9:39: Cooke forces Voracek to lose the puck on the right wing boards. Orpik recovers it in the right corner and whips it down ice.
9:07: Orpik got away with a hit to the head on Hartnell in the right wing corner.
8:15: And the Flyers strike first just prior to the Engelland minor being killed. Read controsl the puck at the right point and slides pass to Carle on the right half wall. Carle hold, holds holds and chucks a rister which beats Fleury tot he far side. Briere falls on Fleury after wards. Fleury has to have that. Read and Jagr get assists. Flyers 1-0.
7:07: Off a give and go with Malin, Kennedy hustles out of the left wing corner and attacks the net. He puts a jam-in attempt wide.
6:58: Malkin controls the puck at the left point and tries to dipsy-doodle around Sean Couturier. Couturier kind of holds his positioning and Malkin just barrles through him losing the puck. Malkin tried to sell that a bit.
6:47: Another penalty for the Flyer. Another chance for the Penguins to score. Coburn is called for interference on Kennedy. Kunitz, Crosby, Malkin, Sullivan and Letang take the ice.
5:54: Malkin and Crosby collide at the right point of the offensive zone and lose the puck
5:47: Couturier pushes the puck up the left wing on a two-on-one with Schenn. Letang slide down to prevent a pass. Couturier chucks a soft wrister on net. Fleury kcisk it out to his left. Schenn is there and jabs the rebound on net
5:09: Guess what. Someone scores a power play goal. No really. Neal appears jammed up with the puck in the left circle with two Flyers surrounding but he's able slides backhanded pass to Letang int he slot. letang fakes a shot then distribute a pass to Sullivan in the left circle. Sullivan is able to swat a shto itno the cage off the paddof Bryzgalov. What passing. Letang and Neal get assists. The "Hey!" song is busted out?!?! Wow. Penguins 2-1.
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4:17: Lilja launches a slapper from the netural zone. Fleury gloves it. Letang mixes it up with Schenn to the side of the cage. Malkin jumps in shoves Scehennin the back. Couturier takes an exaggerated fall to the ice. Officials buy it and send Malkin to the box for roughing. A silly penalty for Malkin to take. Staal, Pascal Dupuis, Michalek and Orpik take the ice.
4:01: Giroux takes a pass in the left circle and launches a rocket of a onet-ime which rings off the near post.
3:24: Giroux take a forunate hop off the left wing boards and breask in on net with a mini-breakaway. He's pressured from the right side and lifts a wrister over the cage.
2:40: Briere takes a pass it he left circle and has the play broken up on a stick on puck by Letang. Fleury covers the puck to freeze play.
2:35: Off the ensuing faceoff, Adams breaks the stick of Jagr. The Flyer swill have a five on three for 18 seconds. Rough spot here. Staal, Cooke and Orpik take the ice
2:25: And the Flyers convert just like that. Wow. Tirmonen controls the puck in the left cirlce an dnseaks a pass by a slideing Orpik. hartnel i son the back door and rips a wrister by the glove hand of a handcuff Fleury. Fleury had enough time to get over but that was a nice pass by Briere. Timonen and Giroux get assists. the Flyers will have 1:50 of pwoer play time. Orpik, Michalek, Cooke and Dupuis take the ice. Flyers 2-1.
1:42: Timonen drives a shot from the left point which hits a body in front.
0:35: Adams' minor is killed.
0:01: Malkin steals a puck in the left wing corner and deals a pass to the slot. Michalek is there, fishes it out and rips a wrister juuuust wide of the cage with 0:04 left on the clock.
0:00: End of period. Flyers 2, Penguins 1.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-Special teams are kind of key huh? It's amazing how much they have dictated this series. Just amazing.
-Even with the three power play goals, this feels much more like a playoff game than the previous four. Things are a lot tighter in terms of the checking. Passing is a little bit more difficult and each team seems to be collapsing around its own net more.
-Fleury has to steal at leas one of those goals.
-Bryzgalov looks a little bit more settled but it would be a stretch to say he's been challenged a great deal.
-The Flyers have a 7-6 edge in shots.
-Crosby leads the game with two.
-Carle leads the game with 9:37 of ice time.
-Orpik leads the Penguins with 9:01.
-The Penguins have a 10-8 edge in faceoffs (56 percent).
-Crosby is 5 for 6 (83 percent).
-Giroux is 5 for 9 (56 percent).
-Orpik leads the game with three blocked shots.
-None of the Flyers has more than one.
SECOND PERIOD
19:45: Dupuis whacks a loose puck at the left poitn well over the Flyers' cage.
19:17: There it is. Big save. Coburn snaps off a pass from the right wall of the netural zone to Giroux streaking in up the left wing. Groix get by Michalek and slides a drop pass to Jagr in the slot. Jagr whacks a sht on net. Niskanen gets stick prtiall on it . Fleury is able to kick the puck out with his left leg.
19:07: Staal barges to the net in transition but is hooked up by Lilja. That's two minteu. Malkin, Kunitz, Crosby, Sullivan and Letang take the ice.
17:07: And two minutes later, the Penguins accomplish next to nothing with that power play.
16:28: Dupuis slids pass to Michalek at the right point. Michalek booms a slapper wide to the far side.
16:18: Attendance is announced as 18,628. It is the team's 254th consecutive selltout. It is also the largest crowd for a hockey game in this facility.
14:51: Tangradi snaps off a wirster form the slot. Bryzgalov fights it off with his glove hand. Adams has a chance at the rebound int he slot but can't get a clean shot off.
13:45: Jordan Staal. Clutch. Letang slides a pass up the left wing boards from the defensive zone. Kennedy one-touches it to Staal at the blue line. Staal takes it, and rips a wrister from the right circle and rips a wobbly wrister by the glove hand of Bryzgalov. What a shot. what a Pass by Kennedy. The "Hey!" song is played. Staal has stepped it up these past three games. Flyers 2, Penguins 2.
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12:12: Dupuis hits Jagr from behind in the left wing corner. No call. Dupuis tries to battle for a puck in the corner and is run over from behind by Hartnell. No call.
11:48: Malkin dances in off the left left wing by a sliding Coburn and lifts a backander from the slot wide to the right of hte cage.
10:35: Sullivan chips a little pass off the left wing towards the blue pain. Crosby slides in hoping for a re-direct but cant' get a stick on the puck.
10:07: Tyler Kennedy. Clutch. Staal slides a pass off the left wing to the riright wing corner. Cooke retrieves it and deals a backhandd pass to to the right cirlce Kenned takes the pass winds up and blows a lspper by the glove hand of Bryzgalov. This playe explosde in nose. Kennedy jumps into the right wing boards in celebration. Kennedy continues to step up this series. The "Hey!" song and the WWE "Kennedy!" clip are palyed. Penguins 3-2.
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9:21: Without any prompting, this place is roaring. The fans are standing, stomping, waving towels, cheering. We can feel our laptop shaking. Wow.
7:03: Despres retrieves a loose puck behind his goal line, circles around the back of the net and just flies out of the zone. What a skater.
5:52: Jagr flings a wrister form the right circle wide to the far side.
4:02: Grioux takes a pass at the left point, dodges a checker and rips a wrister from the left half wall. Despite traffic, Fleury gloves it. A nice simple but challenging save.
2:57: After Dupuis hits Gustafsson at the red line in front of the scorers booth, Malkin picks up a loose puck and races up the left wing boards. He deals a pass to Neal in the left circle. Neal snaps off a wrister which is wide of the cage.
2:40: Another penalty for Malkin. Afte he loses a puck to Coutuier in the offenive zone, he hits him from the side with a sneaky hit to the shoulder. Couturier goes down. Selfish play by Malkin. That's two minutes. Cooke, Staal, Michalek and Orpik take the ice.
2:06 : Simmonds rips a wrister from the slot. Fleury boots it out with his left leg. A teammate clears the rebound down ice.
1:12: Briere taps a pass from behidn the cage to Hartnell in the slot but mis-fires and ends up clearing the offensive zone.
0:40: Malkin's minor is killed. Big effort by the Penguins.
0:17: Kunitz leads a rush up the right wing and gains the offensvie zone. He leaves a drop pass for Malkin. Malkin charges in off the boards and attacks the net. His wrister is held out by Bryzgalov. Michalek heads down the ramp to the dressing room.
0:00: End of peirod. Penguins 3, Flyers 2.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-What a rebound. The Penguins just looked sluggish in the first period. This period, they cut down on the penalties and imposed their will in terms of five-on-five play.
-Jordan Staal has been dominant the past three games. He's just finding the back of the net when he shoots. He's this team's go-to scorer right now.
-Rag on Kennedy all you want but he's been tremendous this series. He's been one of this team's steadiest and most reliable preformers this series. His touch pass set up Staal's goal and his slapper to take the lead was just pure and simple "TK."
-Fleury looked stronger that period. He has to continue this.
-Bryzgalov.... hmm....
-Malkin has been a bonehead this series with penalties. He needs to quit being selfish.
-The Penguins have a 15-12 lead in shots.
-Kennedy leads the game with three.
-Couturier, Giroux and Jagr each lead the game with two.
-Coburn leads the game with 19:47 of ice time.
-Orpik leads the Penguins with 17:24.
-The Penguins have a 20-19 edge in faceoffs (51 percent).
-Crosby is 11 for 16 (69 percent).
-Couturier is 7 for 11 (64 percent).
-Orpik leads the game with five blocked shots.
-Coburn leads the Flyers with two.
THIRD PERIOD
18:35: Niskanen flings a wrister from the right point. Staal is in front and re-directs just wide to the fars die.
18:17: Niskanen pounds a slapper form the right point. Bryzgalov gets a piece of it.
17:41: Malkint ries to jame in a wraparound forehand attemp from theleft side of the cage. Bryzgalo holds it out.
16:20: Michalek logs his first shift of the period.
15:54: Neal races up the left wign and snaps off tricky wrister from the left circle. Bryzgalov stretches out to glvoe it. Tough save. Neal and Giroux chirp each other after the whistle.
15:00: Schenn races into the offensive zone and fires a wrister from the left wing boards. Michalek blocks it.
14:33: Neal hustles up the left wing one-on-eon with Coburn but can't get a shot off due to a nice stick on puck by Coburn.
12:50: Giroux pushes the puck up the right wing,. Jagr drive to the net pushe Orpik toward the cage. GIroux tries to use the screen and rips a who. Letang gets a stick on puck and deflects the shot. The puck rolls in on net. Fleury covers to freeze play.
12:23: Big moment here. Kennedy is called for slashing? Hartnell crunched him into the boards and broke his own stick. Awful call. The Penguins need to kill it either way. Cooke, Staal, Orpik and Michalek take the ice
12:14: Timonen pounds slapper from the top of the slot. It hits a body in front.
11:26: Hartnell spins off a check in the left circle an slides a backhande pass to Voracek in the right cirlce. Voracek golfs a one-time. Fleury is able to slide to this left. He's in perfect position and knocks the shot dead with hs chest and cover the rebound.
11:18: Another save by Fleury. Giroux snaps off a wrister form the left circle. Fleury trap sit under his left pad with Briere hovering near by.
10:55: Fleury just won't tlet this puck go in. Jagr rips a wrister form the right circle Fleury strethes to hiright to hold it out. A few bodies crash down. Nothing doing. Fans off Fleury chants.
10:43: Another save. Wow. Giroux snaps off feed from the left wing boards to the blue paint. It ratles around. Birere chops at he loose puck several times but can't punche it by Fleury's left leg. He won't let this team score.
10:23: Kennedy's penalty is killed.
9:47: Talbot steals a puck behind the Penguisn net and slies pass to the right of the blue paint. Hartnel is there and jabs at it low. Fleury holds it out. He then tries to barge it in by shoveing a pile of bodies in. FLeury says no. This place is roaring for their goaltender.
8:42: Gustafsson pounds a slapper from the right point. Despite having James van Riemsdyk get away with murder on Fleury and Letang, Fleury's gloves it. Orpik got away with a ton on van Riemsdyk.
7:19: Kennedy circles around off the left wing and pounds a shot on net. Bryzgalov fights it off. Staal whacks the rebound wide with a backhander.
6:50: Jagr spins off a check from Staal in the Penguins' right circle and whips aw riste ron net. Fleury holds it out.
5:19: Coburn races up the right wing and dumps the puck into the offensive zone with a backhander. Kunits dump him to the ice with a lid lifter of a hip check. Oof.
4:46: Cooke drops Timonen behind the Flyers' net with a strong forecheck. TImonen is slow to recover to his skates but remains on the ice.
3:47: Dupuis pounds a slapper from the Flyers blue line on net. Bryzgalov punches it away.
3:16: Schenn attempts a shot from the right wing but has it poked away by Dupuis to the neutral zone.
1:52: Briere steals a puck behidn the Penguins' net, circles around and whips a wrister from the left circle wide to the far side.
1:40: Coburn trips up Dupuis at the left poitn of the Penguins' net. No call.
1:30: Bryzgalov is pulled for an extra attacker.
1:15: Fleury glvoes a puck off the left wing. The Flyers call a timeout to get organized.
1:09: Everyone is standing at attention here, cheering.
1:03: Giroux collects a loose puck itn he left cirlce and whips a wrister on net. FLeury's right leg kicks it out despite heavy traffic.
0:30: Carle whips awirste form the left point wide to the far side.
0:10: Carle pumps a one-timer from the left point. Adams blocks it and calmly clears the rebound down ice.
0:00: End of period. The "HEY!" song is played. Mike Lange informs us of Elvis' whereabouts. Penguins 3, Flyers 2.
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POSTGAME
-This is what playoff hockey is. It's intoxicating. It's gut-wrenching. It breaths life into your soul and kicks you in the groin at the same time. It's the most exhilirating of highs and the most hopeless of lows. It's a drug. And we can ever get enough of it.
-That's a fair way of describing this game tonight.
-First things first. After the game, Scott Hartnell said Marc-Andre Fleury won the game for the Penguins. Who can argue with that sentiment? Fleury just refused to allow a goal in the third period, especially on that power play. This performance was very similar to his effort in the three overtime Game 5 win in Detroit of the 2008 Stanley Cup final. He wouldn't let his team down.
-The Penguins continue to dominate five on five play. They have outscored the Flyers, 17-10, in even-strength situations this series. Conversely, the Flyers are dominatinating special teams having scored 14 special teams goals (11 power-play and three shorthaned). The Penguins "only" have eight power play goals, all on the power play.
-The Penguins third line carried this team's offense. With things looking bleak in the second period, Jordan Staal just ripped a beauty of a shot by Ilya Bryzgalov's glove. And Tyler Kennedy was instrumental on both the tying third goal. Kennedy's touch pass set up Staal on the two-on-one to tie the game. On the winning goal, Kennedy just blistered a slapper.
-Say what you will about Kennedy. He's a pretty limited player in his style of play. He goes north-south at 100 MPH and just shoots the puck all the time. But he has been huge for this team in the postseason.
-Staal has taken his game to another level this series. Six goals in his past three games?
-Evgeni Malkin continues to play like an idiot at times. In addition to multiple turnovers, he's taking selfish penalties with little cheap, needless hits to the Flyers. Someone needs to have a sit-down with him.
-The seven defenseman approach continued to look sharp. It's spares some minute off the work load for the likes of Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen and keeps them fresh for important situations such as the latter half of the third period.
-Niskanen has been huge for this team. He just seems to calm the defense down. He doesn't do much of anything in a spectacular sense. But he does just about everything the correct way.
-Has anyone seen Scott Hartnell?
-Officials seemed like they were calling things tight in the first period, then let everything goal in the third period. A pretty big swing.
-The Flyers had a 26-23 lead in shots.
-In the third period alone, the Flyers had a 14-8 lead in shots.
-Giroux led the game with five.
-Malkin and Kennedy each led the Penguins with four.
-Matt Carle led the game with 29:40 of ice time. Yeesh.
-Braydon Coburn was right behind him with 29:11.
-Fellow defensemen Kimmo Timonen logged 25:01.
-Conversley the Flyers' bottom three defensemen in terms of ice time were Erik Gustafsson (11:51), Andreas Lilja (7:09) and Pavel Kubina (6:52).
-That's a lot of minutes for just three defensemen.
-Orpik led the Penguins with 26:08.
-The Penguins had a 30-29 edge in faceoffs (51 percent).
-Sidney Crosby was 16 for 22 (73 percent).
-Giroux was 13 for 14 (54 percent).
-Orpik and Niskanen each led the game with five blocked shots.
-Coburn and Carle each led the Flyers with two.
-Since the lockout, the Penguins' leaders in career postseason game-winning goals are Malkin (7), Kennedy (5) and Crosby (5).
-Highlights: