Flyers/Penguins: Comparing the offense

by Travis Hughes on Apr 13, 2009 9:45 AM EDT in 2009 NHL Playoffs

Leading up to Wednesday's game one, we'll be taking a look at the different components that will make up this Quarterfinal series between the Flyers and Penguins. To start, we look at the guys that score the goals.

When the playoffs open on Wednesday, it's possible for John Stevens to throw together a Flyers lineup where every player on the top two lines is a 25 goal scorer. And that's not including Danny Briere, who missed most of the season with a groin injury. In fact, the Flyers are the first team since the 1993/94 Calgary Flames to boast six 25-goal scorers.

The balanced scoring depth of this Flyers team is simply unrivaled in the Eastern Conference. There are simply so many elements to the Flyers attack that the Pens have to worry about. There's Mike Richards, team MVP, who netted 30 goals this season. There's the best comeback story in the league, Simon Gagne, who wasn't around last year when these teams met in the Conference Finals. There's the new found duo of Claude Giroux and Danny Briere that seem to have a ton of chemistry building right now. There's also Scott Hartnell, Joffrey Lupul, Scott Hartnell's mouth, and Mike Knuble, all 25 goal scorers. But it begins and ends with Jeff Carter.

When Jeff scored in games this season, the Flyers went 26-3-6. When he didn't score, they went 18-24-5. His shot is absolutely deadly, one of the most feared in the NHL. But where we don't talk about Carter often is his defensive awareness. People have been wondering all season about why exactly Carter has been so successful. According to Paul Holmgren, the answer is his defense.

"He's turned that defensive responsibility into offensive opportunities. I think that's where he gets a lot of his goals. Just by being in good position defensively. He jumps on a loose puck and he has the speed where he can separate himself from a lot of people."

The Penguins also have two guys that run their offensive attack: Art Ross Trophy winner Evgeni Malkin, and of course, Sidney Crosby. Malkin has been on fire all season long, ending the season as the league's top scorer with 113 points (35 goals, 78 assists). Crosby has had a more imperfect season, largely due to a lack of chemistry between him and his linemates. At the deadline, the Pens went out and picked up Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz to play along side Sid the Kid. The moves have drastically helped his offensive output, and Pittsburgh has their two bonafide stars clicking heading into the playoffs.

We know better than anybody else that these two have hurt Philadelphia. Malkin has 31 points in 21 career games against the Flyers. Impressive, until you look at Crosby's numbers versus Philly. 26 games, 20 goals, 26 assists, 46 points. And you wonder why the Penguins have, for the most part, owned the Flyers in the past three years?

After those two though, Pittsburgh is easy to shut down. Kunitz, Jordan Staal, and Petr Sykora are nice players, but they aren't going to hurt you like the Flyers offense can. If the D, largely Kimmo Timonen and Ryan Parent, can effectively shut down Crosby and Malkin, the Penguins are managable. If they can't, we should expect more of the same.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia will score their goals. I don't think there is any denying that. There are just way too many weapons on the team to keep them down long, no matter how well Marc-Andre Fleury plays in goal.

Tonight, we'll take a look at the Flyers defense. How can they successfully limit Crosby and Malkin effectively?

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here we go

we can handle this team, but for whatever reason, the flyguys always seem to keep you on the edge of your seat when battling the pens.
nice breakdown – obviously sid and malkin are our top priorities but this is a dangerous team that played very well down the stretch and are riding a wave of fire right now. conversely, the flyers have blown 3 out of 4 leads entering the playoffs… lets hope they can right the ship before the puck drops on wednesday…

by PHIGHTINPHILS on Apr 13, 2009 1:13 PM EDT reply actions

all week long the ‘experts’ will be picking pittsburgh because they were on fire down the stretch and we were inconsistent. but really Pittsburgh had to finish that strong because they were out of the playoff picture for 75% of the season. and they shook so many things up (trades, coaching, etc.) it gave the team a newfound boost of energy. meanwhile the Flyers did not make any major trades and were in the same place in the standings for the entire regular season. my hope is that everything evens out come playoff time.

I think the Detroit game on st. pattys day was the Flyers in a microcosm. they went up to Detroit fired up and took a 2 goal lead on arguably the best team in the NHL. then they got lazy and sat back, basically allowing the Red Wings to dominate the last portion of that game. if we play focused and get a good forecheck going we can beat any team with our depth up front.

my hope is that the sting of surrendering home ice and the fact that we’re now basically heavy underdogs will motivate the FLyers to play to their full potential and dispatch the flightless birds.

and I cant wait to see more ’Penguins dont fly, they dive" signs at the wachovia center

by njh3293 on Apr 13, 2009 1:36 PM EDT reply actions

Team Defense and Special Teams

If the Flyers play the Penguins like they did on March 22, they will win the series. The whole team was defensively responsible; they slowed the game down and got Crosby and Malkin to try too many one-on-one plays; they remained cool under pressure; Biron came up big when he had to; and the forwards took advantage of their scoring opportunities, especially on the power play. If the Flyers play like that night in and night out, I doubt Pittsburgh will beat us in a 7-game series.

I am sure that the Flyers will play hard for each and every game. This is the playoffs, after all. However, what concerns me is that their best efforts early in the series will not match their best POSSIBLE efforts, simply because they played sub-.500 hockey down the stretch. If the Flyers were in peak form heading into this series, I’d feel a lot more confident.

Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?

by mikefive on Apr 13, 2009 1:45 PM EDT reply actions