A few weeks ago, the Flyers were down 2-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the NHL playoffs. We were cautiously optimistic that our team, coming home to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4, would turn the series around and head back to the Steel City tied. Let's compare some post-game-two quotes from then and now.

Here are some quotes from Pensburgh after Game 2, followed by quotes from myself following our first round Game 2.

Billy Guerin rang it off the post early in the game, Sidney Crosby beat Chris Osgood but found metal as well.  Either of those go in and we've got a new game. ... But in hockey you hear about good bounces and bad bounces all the time.  A few good bounces in Pitt's favor can send this back to Detroit tied at two a piece.

>> Pensburgh, on unlucky bounces

Philly could've had a two-goal cushion in the third period if it weren't for Marc-Andre Fleury's toe. .... The thing about home ice is that the home team usually tends to get the bounces. At the Igloo, it was 120 percent obvious that the Pens had a monopoly on luck. Don't be surprised if that tide turns as we head to Philadelphia.

>> Broad Street Hockey, on unlucky bounces

You can blame a number of things for the position Pitt now finds themselves in heading into Game 3.  Many fans, present company included, felt penalties played a huge factor in Game 2.  But whatever you and I complain or cry about isn't going to change where the Pens are sitting right now.

>> Pensburgh, on penalties

It is ironic, then, that penalties are what did the Flyers in tonight. A 5-on-3 goal by Bill Guerin 18-and-a-half minutes into the first overtime period put Philadelphia in a serious hole as the series heads to South Broad Street on Sunday afternoon. The infractions that caused that five-on-three weren't the cheap shots that Daniel Carcillo was guilty of on Wednesday, nor were they even slightly dirty. But nonetheless, they were penalties.

>> Broad Street Hockey, on penalties

Pittsburgh's been down 2-0 before this playoffs, so nothing is decided just yet.  The Penguins get the benefit to go to home ice, get their favorable matchup and crowd to hopefully help turn this thing around.

>> Pensburgh, on coming home

But this thing isn't over -- let's make that clear right now. The Flyers still have three home games left in this series, and they made it clear tonight that they have the fight in them to win a game at the Igloo. ... There's a lot more hockey to be played, so let's take care of business and get this thing back to the Steel City.

>> Broad Street Hockey, on coming home

The blogs sound pretty similar, don't they? But of course, it's one thing for those of us on the outside to have the same feelings while down in an 0-2 hole. Do the players feel the same way? Here's Sergei Gonchar last night.

"We have a good chance (of winning the series).  We have to continue playing well and creating a lot of chances. We have to continue playing the same way. If we do that we’ll have a chance."

Compare that to the Flyers after game two, who went on and on about how they had played well enough to win the game, and how if they kept playing the same way, bounces would start to go their way. This is all eerily similar, is it not? It might be the hatred of the Penguins in me talking, but I have a feeling that while Pittsburgh has been the Flyers kryptonite over the last two seasons, Detroit may be the same for them. 

If I wanted to watch a rematch, I could go buy the 2008 DVD, guys. Yes, Detroit will face Pittsburgh for the right to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup once again. I'm pretty disappointed in the hockey gods on this one. Of course, I hate Pittsburgh with a passion. It's the law in Philadelphia, and nobody here wants to see them in the Finals again. And that means rooting for Detroit, the Evil Empire of hockey. There's no happy middle ground here.

Most of all though, I'm disappointed because I thought Chicago was clearly the most exciting team in the entire postseason. Watching Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews and that Windy City fanbase come alive again after years of hibernation has been invigorating and, in my eyes, the story of the year in the NHL. I was looking forward to a chance to see so many former Flyers in the Finals. Patrick Sharp kept his team alive just a few nights ago when he put an overtime goal behind Chris Osgood to force Game 5. And Ben Eager also played a critical role in his teams sprint to the Conference Finals this year.

On the former Flyer front, though, Chicago has nothing on the Carolina Hurricanes. Captain Rod Brind'Amour is one of the most beloved Flyers of the 1990s. Joni Pitkanen and Dennis Seidenberg are two of the 'Canes most important defensemen. And goalie Michael Leighton, who surely will go into the Hall of Fame as a Flyer when his career is said and done,

Personal reasons aside, however, I don't think a rematch is good for the growth of the game in the United States. Sure, the league is probably thrilled that their star player is playing on its highest stage again. And certainly, last season's finals was a good series. But, and I'm speaking from opinion here so please feel free to disagree with me, I think fans want to see some parity. I think fans want to see something different every year. I think the average hockey fan would want to see Chicago and Carolina fight for the Cup. Or Boston and San Jose. Or... you know, any matchup besides what we saw a year ago.

But unfortunately, we wont get that series. The Penguins are playing excellent hockey right now and that definitely scares me. But the Wings are the Champions and deserve that respect until they lose the title. Here's to hoping the Penguins don't earn that respect entering the 2009 season.

Much of the hockey-loving public seems to believe that Dan Carcillo's fight with Max Talbot in the early stages of Game 6 yesterday allowed the Penguins to get the boost which led to their five-goal comeback.

The turning point of the game, Flyers up 3-0, Maxime Talbot of the Penguins battles Daniel Carcillo of the Flyers and Penguins go to work from then on.

One of the examples of why fighting needs to stay in the game.  This fight had some meaning.

>> Kukla's Korner

It was a beat-down, for sure. But Daniel Carcillo's fight with Max Talbot while the Flyers were leading 3-0 is being widely credited for sparking the Penguins' rally. He was slammed for it on NBC, and rightfully so.

>> Greg Wyshynski, Puck Daddy

So, yes. The Flyers were up 3-0 on Danny Briere's power play goal. A few seconds later, Talbot challenged Carcillo to a duel and Carcillo obliged. Was that the smartest move in the world? No. In fact, it was quite dumb. If Carcillo loses, the crowd quiets down and the Pens get a ton of jump. That's the polar opposite of what happened, though. So was the decimation of Talbot's face by Carcillo's fist the reason Pittsburgh went on to score five unanswered goals and end the Flyers season? Hell no.

I'm not a Dan Carcillo fan. I was against his acquistion, I've been against him since he became a Flyer -- perhaps even unfairly -- and to be honest, I'm still bitter that Scottie Upshall is gone. So if I could use Carcillo as a scapegoat for the Flyers season ending loss yesterday, there's no doubt that I would jump on his back faster than anybody.

But it wasn't his fault. He went to town on Talbot's face, and afterwards, pumped up the crowd and his team. NBC commentator Darren Pang, in response to his colleague Eddie Olczyk's verbal attack of Carcillo's decision to fight, said that the Flyers bench had a ton of emotion following the fisticuffs.

How does a beatdown of an opposing player, a shot of adrenaline to a team with everything on the line, and a raucous crowd lead to defensive breakdowns in front of the net that allowed Pittsburgh to score?

It doesn't. But thanks to Olczyk irresponsibly making up his mind on this issue before the fight was even over, and the coincidental Pittsburgh goal shortly afterwards, the wide belief is that Carcillo engaging with Talbot allowed the Penguins to steal the momentum from the Flyers. And even when Pang, who was located at ice level and could feel the energy of the situation more than anybody, brought up a counterpoint to Olczyk's baseless blather, Eddie O decided to ignore it and continue on with his pointless point.

The Flyers lost because they took their foot off the gas and the Penguins capitalized. Pittsburgh, by coincidence, happened to score right after the fight when the Flyers still had the momentum. The goal is what stole it away from Philadelphia, not the fight.

Until that goal, the Flyers looked fine. They failed to clamp down when Pittsburgh had the puck in the crease and it found its way into the net. That's when the momentum shifted, and that's when the Penguins got going. Don't blame Carcillo.

We could smell game seven. It was right there. With a three goal lead halfway through the game, it was the Flyers contest to lose.

And boy, they certainly did a good job of doing that.

The Penguins stepped it up and outworked the Flyers in every aspect of the game from the middle of the second period on. In front of the net, they won three battles that led to three goals that tied the game.

Were they cheap goals? You've got that right. Evgeni Malkin poked one through the crease to get Pittsburgh on the board. Then, Mark Eaton knocked a loose puck out of the air for the second goal, and Sidney Crosby did the same thing to tie the score. But that's how you win playoff games, and the Flyers were outworked.

They continued to conduct the momentum train into the third period, and Sergei Gonchar's blast from the point gave Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead that the Flyers wouldn't be able to overcome. An empty net goal by -- who else? -- Crosby would finish out the scoring.

In the third, though, Philadelphia didn't go down without a fight. They held the offensive zone for most of the 20 minutes and got several quality scoring chances on Marc-Andre Fleury. Claude Giroux hit a post, there was a mad flurry in front of the goal with the Pittsburgh goaltender was down and out of the net, but no matter what they did, Philly couldn't put the rubber in the back of the goal.

The third period flurry from the Flyers wouldn't have mattered if they didn't blow the initial lead, though. That was the difference today, obviously. You had to expect that the Penguins would fight back, and when they did, the Flyers just weren't ready for it. That is unacceptable.

But it's the way the whole season has gone for the orange and black. They haven't been able to play a consistent, sustained 60 minutes seemingly all season, and in the end it's rather fitting that the season ends because of that. Danny Briere said after the game that the Flyers lost their focus after Pittsburgh picked up their momentum shifting first goal. That is unacceptable.

It's a frustrating loss, but in hockey more than any other sport, you need losses to make you a stronger team. You need to lose as a team before you win as a team, and the Philadelphia Flyers are still a very young hockey club -- much younger than the Pittsburgh Penguins.

They will continue to get better and that can be a consolation in the coming weeks. Right now, though, this hurts.

Today's goaltenders:

• The first period of the game thread will be here today.
• We'll spend the second at Pensburgh, and return home for the third.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game 6
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins at #5 Philadelphia Flyers
Flyers trail best-of-seven series, 3-2
Wachovia Center - 3:00 PM EDT - Philadelphia, PA
TV: NBC HD, CBC, RDS
Radio: 610 WIP, XM 205
Behind Enemy Lines: Pensburgh

In the last four games, the Flyers have done virtually everything right. They've played solid defense, their goalie has played quite well, the offense has created sustained pressure in the Pittsburgh end for long periods of time.

But yet, we sit here today on the brink of elimination for the second day in a row. In those previous four games, the Flyers have only won two of them, and that's a hole that proves hard for any team to dig their way out of.

Today, however, is a unique situation. Throw away all your stats. The Philadelphia Flyers return home to host game six this afternoon in what may be the loudest Wachovia Center we have ever heard.

If that crowd, as it did in Game 4 on Tuesday night, can help the Flyers come out firing out of the gate, chances look good for Philadelphia. After all, Marc-Andre Fleury may have made 40-plus saves for the Pens in Game 4, but that's not an easy feat to duplicate.

For the Flyers to have a real chance today, yes, Martin Biron will have to play well again. The thing is, though, he didn't play out of his mind in Game 5 like everybody thinks he did. Yes, he obviously played well -- you don't get a shutout in the playoffs without playing well -- but the defense more than compensated for any mistakes Biron may have made. That's the edge the Flyers have over the Pens, especially considering Pitt defenseman Kris Letang was out of the lineup on Thursday night.

Hes healthy to play today (although healthy is a relative term this time of year) and that helps the Pens blueline a lot, but if the Flyers play as solid defensively as they did in Game 5, the results should be good. The best news for the Flyers is that their defense plays best under pressure and in high-energy situations. That's why the penalty kill is so good on this club.

You're going to be able to power a third-world country with the energy in the Wachovia Center today.

The Penguins are planning on doing some lineup shifting (h/t Pensburgh). In yesterday's morning skate, Evgeni Malkin skated along side Ruslan Fedotenko and Max Talbot. Tough guy Eric Godard, who doesn't understand the phrase "offensive upside", could find his way onto the fourth line today.

The Flyers, on the other hand, should be keeping things the same. John Stevens always does some in-game line tinkering, but for the most part, expect what you've been seeing. That could work into the Flyers favor. We'll see.

Some notes:

• Lauren Hart is all hip and cool and adopting a baby in Ethiopia today, so she won't be performing God Bless America. A video of her duet with Kate Smith will be played on arenavision, though.
• Here's a quote from Joffrey Lupul: Everyone is so excited for the game [today], especially the way it was in Game 4 in the third period. That was the loudest building I've ever been in front of. It was louder then than at anytime last year. Just the adrenaline we get as players to get back into that game was just a great feeling and something I'll remember forever. Just for us to be able to get back into that atmosphere is so exciting for all the players that it's almost hard to describe.
• T-shirts are being handed out, orange crush in full effect.
• The game is on NBC today, called by Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk. The good news? No Pierre Mcguire. He's replaced "inside the glass" by Darren Pang, today.

LET'S GO FLYERS!

[Recap] - [Boxscore] - [Highlights] - [Photos]
Flyers win 3-0, trail series 3-2

You know that feeling that slowly creeped into your psyche over the last few hours? That's called confidence, folks. We were told this series was over. Teams don't come back from 2-0 down. Teams don't come back from 3-1 down. It doesn't happen.

Our Flyers took a huge step toward making it happen tonight. With a dominating 3-0 shutout victory in Pittsburgh, the series shifts back to an already-hyped up Philadelphia for Game 6 where the Flyers will have a chance to tie this thing up at home. 

When your team has six 25-goal scorers, you usually don't expect to win games with goaltending and defense. But that's what the Flyers did tonight. Pittsburgh brought the heat in the first period, obviously amped by their own crowd and a chance to close out the Flyers early. They outshot Philly 15-5 in the stanza, but the Flyers clogged up passing lanes and didn't allow many quality shots on Martin Biron. The few that did get through were easily turned aside by the Flyer netminder who looked absolutely determined tonight.

The Flyers weathered the storm from Pittsburgh and in the second period, things started going their way. Their most unlikely duo would team up for the first tally of the night when Dan Carcillo charged across the Pens blueline and left a drop pass for Arron Asham. Asham tee'd up and fired probably the hardest shot he's ever taken over the shoulder of Marc-Andre Fleury. He's human after all, and the Flyers led 1-0.

And when Arron Asham scores a goal on a pass from Dan Carcillo, you know things are going to go your way. That's exactly what would happen. Biron continued to be stellar throughout the second period, allowing nothing but a soccer puck kicked by Evgeni Malkin by him. It didn't count, of course, and the shutout was held up.

The help Biron picked up from the defensemen tonight was immeasurable. The pairing of Braydon Coburn and Matt Carle was especially impressive, and Coburn played a huge role in frustrating Malkin who couldn't get anything going tonight, no matter how hard he tried. Carle played an excellent game defensively, but he also contributed on the offense. He kept a play alive by stealing a puck along the boards that led to Claude Giroux's third period goal, and an excellent outlet pass a few minutes later led to Mike Knuble's goal that made it 3-0 Flyers.

The Mellon Arena crowd was absolutely dead tonight, even when their team was only down a goal. When Giroux scored to make it 2-0, people started heading for the exits. Comparing the atmosphere tonight to the Wachovia Center on Tuesday night is like comparing apples and oranges. And something tells me we haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fired up playoff crowds in Philadelphia.

Game 6 is going to be insane. Pittsburgh is scared.

2 down, 14 to go. LET'S GO FLYERS!

Tonight's goaltenders:

Kris Letang and Petr Sykora are out tonight for Pittsburgh. Letang missing could hurt them, while Sykora being out will probably help them.

Game thread tonight:

• First period at Pensburgh.
• Second period here at BSH.
• For the third, we stay home and they take off for home as well.

LET'S GO FLYERS! Get this series home.