Flyers set tone early for first win
by Angie Carducci, Inside Hockey
2008 NHL playoffs
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The Flyers set the tone in the first period, pressuring the Penguins, who had been so disciplined defensively in these playoffs, into making mistakes and exploiting Pittsburgh's confidence with the puck. Within a stretch of a minute and a half early in the first, Philadelphia had great chances by Mike Richards on a shorthanded breakaway, Jeff Carter on a forehand deke as he cut across the crease, and finally Joffrey Lupul, who beat goalie Marc-Andre Fleury with a blast from the right boards at 8:27.
That sent a clear message that the Flyers were going to throw every possible opportunity at the net, and by the end of the first period they had generated 17 shots on goal — one less than they had in all of Game 3 — and had built a 3-0 lead over a stunned Penguins team.
As the Penguins had in prior games of the series, once the Flyers established a lead, they were free to play their game. They played physically and caused the Penguins to lose their composure, earning four power-play opportunities from a frustrated Pittsburgh team and capitalizing on two of them. They stood up the Penguins at the blue line, preventing them from getting their own offensive game going — the matchup of Jeff Carter's line against Evgeni Malkin's proved particularly effective in shutting down Pittsburgh's most dazzling offensive player.
And when Pittsburgh was able to generate chances, Flyers goaltender Martin Biron rose to the occasion, stopping an impressive 36 shots on the night.
Why the Penguins lost: For the second consecutive series, the Penguins came into Game 4 with a 3-0 series lead and the opportunity to sweep in the opposition's building. This time, they vowed to take a lesson from last round's Game 4 loss at the hands of the Rangers.
"I think we realized how desperate teams are going to be," said captain Sidney Crosby prior to the game. "We've always said the last one's the toughest, and that's always the case. So we know more than any time, we have to be ready."
But for the second consecutive series, the team facing elimination came out looking like the hungrier competitor by far. And although the Penguins and Fleury held off the Flyers after the first period onslaught, the three-goal lead was simply too much for even Pittsburgh's offensive stars to overcome.
It was the Penguins' energy line of Jordan Staal, Max Talbot and Tyler Kennedy that nearly staged an improbable third-period comeback. The line's hard work and pressure on the forecheck led to two goals for Staal, and the 19-year-old forward's accomplishment was all the more impressive considering that he had left the team on its off-day Friday to attend the funeral of his grandfather.
The Penguins ramped up the intensity in the third and began to play with desperation, outshooting the Flyers 13-8 and threatening to tie, but it was too little, too late. Pittsburgh pulled Fleury in an attempt to get the equalizer, Lupul scored into the empty net to secure the Flyers win, and Philadelphia had managed to stay alive.
Play of the game: Flyers coach John Stevens shuffled his lines in an attempt to generate some offense and it paid off, especially for star forward Danny Briere. Held without a goal for the first three games of the series, Briere moved from center to wing and found himself with significantly more space and scoring opportunity.
At 11:48 of the first, the 5-foot-10 Briere cashed in on the power play with a hard-fought goal, crashing the net behind 6-foot-7 Penguins defenseman Hal Gill to put home Randy Jones' rebound. The goal put the Flyers up 2-0 and began the process of frustrating the Penguins and derailing them from playing the tight-checking, smart defensive game with which they'd been successful.
What's next? The Flyers got what they wanted — an opportunity to go back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Sunday afternoon. Now they'll see if they can maintain the pressure by getting out to another quick start at Mellon Arena and setting the Penguins back on their heels. A quick start is also key for Pittsburgh, which is 9-0 in the playoffs when scoring the first goal.
The series began to take on more of the antagonism one might expect between two such bitter rivals. Scrums after whistles began to happen more frequently in Game 4, and the game wound down with a fight between two of the teams' toughest players, Philadelphia's Derian Hatcher and Pittsburgh's Ryan Malone.
Then, close to the final buzzer, a game-long exchange of words between Richards and Crosby escalated when Richards went for Crosby immediately following the faceoff. Both teams will need to contain their emotion and play with discipline in Game 5 or they're liable to be on the wrong end of the other's dangerous power play.
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