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Eastern Conference: Round 1 - #2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #3 Philadelphia Flyers


pilldoc

Eastern Conference: Round 1 - #2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #3 Philadelphia Flyers  

45 members have voted

  1. 1. Who wins the series?

    • Pens Sweep 4-0
    • Pens in 5
    • Pens in 6
    • Pens in 7
    • Flyers Sweep 4-0
    • Flyers in 5
      0
    • Flyers in 6
    • Flyers in 7


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All discussion regarding the Pens / Flyers series here:

 

Penguins (M2) vs. Flyers (M3)

Game 1: April 11 at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Game 2: April 13 at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Game 3: April 15 at Philadelphia, 3 p.m.
Game 4: April 18 at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
*Game 5: April 20 at Pittsburgh, TBD
*Game 6: April 22 at Philadelphia, TBD
*Game 7: April 24 at Pittsburgh, TBD

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Sorry but i feel good about this matchup.

 

Brian Elliott: "This is just the start of the work. It’s not a celebration. It’s not like baseball where you’ve got champagne in the room. We know that there’s a lot of tough games coming up and we have to prepare mentally right from the get-go."

 

I got the Flyers in 6!!!!!!!!

 

The shock starts when the they win game #1!!!!!

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I  picked the Penguins in 5.  

 

Bring on the ruxpin jinx.

 

(Speaking of, we won't know for sure who's going to win this series until hockeyjunkie makes his pick. In fact, @pilldoc, can we add that as a poll answer?  "Whichever Rick doesn't pick.")

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5 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

I  picked the Penguins in 5.  

 

Bring on the ruxpin jinx.

 

(Speaking of, we won't know for sure who's going to win this series until hockeyjunkie makes his pick. In fact, @pilldoc, can we add that as a poll answer?  "Whichever Rick doesn't pick.")

 

 

Jinx away!!!!!!

 

Anything after making the playoffs is a cherry on top.

 

I wanted these kid in place to experience get a taste and want to be back!!!!!!

 

I got my wish.

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1 minute ago, nossagog said:

Awesome series to start the playoffs for whomever moves forward.  Could give them the momentum to carry forward, or be too beat up to get past the second round opponent.

 

If you get past the Flyers (smart money), please make sure Washington doesn't get past you.   Cannot stand their fans.

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3 minutes ago, nossagog said:

Awesome series to start the playoffs for whomever moves forward.  Could give them the momentum to carry forward, or be too beat up to get past the second round opponent.

 

I really don't see it as being as physical a series as the last time around...Philly certainly isn't built that way. Though it could very well be as high scoring. Neither teams defence (overall) or goaltending is what I'd call dominating. But there's certainly some offensive weapons on both sides.

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Flyers in 4. Giroux has 11 goals and 9 assists (he's so good in the series that he gets credits for assists on his own goals). Mrazek shuts out the Pens in 2 of the 4 games. Coots shuts down Malkin. 

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22 minutes ago, B21 said:

Flyers in 4. Giroux has 11 goals and 9 assists (he's so good in the series that he gets credits for assists on his own goals). Mrazek shuts out the Pens in 2 of the 4 games. Coots shuts down Malkin. 

Now you're just screwing with me. Lol

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Penguins in 5 relatively easy games, the Flyers top line can match up with the Penguins but in a long series I always go with depth and Pittsburgh is the much deeper team.

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1 minute ago, yave1964 said:

Penguins in 5 relatively easy games, the Flyers top line can match up with the Penguins but in a long series I always go with depth and Pittsburgh is the much deeper team.

I don't think this can be argued against.  Stranger things have happened (11/8/16), but the Flyers' winning would have to be considered a humongous upset. 

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I expect we'll be slotted as considerable underdogs -- and for very good reasons. This year's Flyers have been the most truly inconsistent team of the season. It's hard to tell who's going to show up, and if anything they do will even be enough.

 

That said, I'll go ahead and make the claim: We can win this. In fact, in many ways, this match up is the best we could have hoped for. We all know what happens when the Battle rages in the playoffs. In short, I expect pure chaos in the form of "who would have thought" comments on a pretty regular basis.

 

Key points to consider:

 

1) The Pens powerplay is ridiculously strong. They're on top of the league this year, and it's pretty easy to see why. No team in the league has enough defensive acumen to hold off Malkin, Crosby, and Kessel on the cycle for any amount of time. Meanwhile, the Flyers PK has been abysmal. It sits third from the bottom and is pretty unlikely to get any sudden jolt in the coming weeks. 

 

What does it mean? Well first and foremost, it means the Flyers can't be taking bad penalties. This is an obvious statement for any match up, but in this match up especially, I expect every Pens powerplay to be a goal. Period.

 

2) The good news is the Pens are really not a deep team at all. In fact, there's a very solid argument to make that our roster boasts far more in the way of offensive tools than the Pens do. The Pens have 2+1 superstars in Malkin, Crosby, and Kessel. Everything goes through them, and Malkin/Crosby in particular. Stop them, and we'll have gone a long way towards an upset.

 

That's easier said than done of course. It means a lot will depend on line match ups, which unfortunately is not Hakstol's strong suit. If Fil gets marching order vs either of those two, it's likely to end very badly for us. I would say the most obvious match up to me is Couts vs Malkin. He's done it before; and frankly, he's the only guy we have who is large enough and savvy enough to hold Malkin back. That leaves the obvious question: What do we do with the other guy? It's unlikely to be Giroux. We're going to need him to keep plugging away as he has been, or we can kiss the whole thing goodbye. To me, that leaves only one forward match up that makes sense: Patrick.

 

If the Flyers are to win this series, it may likely be because Nolan Patrick has found a way to step up and provide smart, efficient two-way play to hold off the greatest player in the world. That's a hell of a task, and it's not one anyone would wish on a rookie, but we're pretty short on options otherwise. If Fil is given this role -- which unfortunately is a clear possibility -- we're going to be in for a very rough ride.

 

3) Provocop will have to complete his metamorphosis into a full fledged defensive machine capable of playing foolish minutes with very little in the way of occasions for errors. Beyond he and Ghost, there's just no one else who can hold off the Pens high flyers. He will have to be the best dman of the entire series hands down.

 

4) More good news: Our team has more than enough firepower to turn Murray into Fleury. I mentioned our depth being better than the Pens, and I do believe this to be very true. Our top six in particular is teeming with players who can elevate their game and make big things happen. Better still, many of those key cogs are youngins who have been on a serious upswing since the turn of the new year. If the TKs, Lindbloms, and Patricks can take just one more step forward, we're in for one hell of a treat. While you can never tell with young players, I definitely wouldn't put it past them.

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14 minutes ago, elmatus said:

I expect we'll be slotted as considerable underdogs -- and for very good reasons.

 

I'm good with that underdog role has done well for Philly this year.

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16 minutes ago, elmatus said:

It means a lot will depend on line match ups, which unfortunately is not Hakstol's strong suit.

 

I agree it isn't a strong suit of Hak's. But what is i think is when he has time to prepare for just one particular opponent. Coming up with a game plan and do stuff to take away the other team's strong points. I thought he did that well in the playoffs his first year vs. the Caps.

 

Now let's see if that was just beginner's luck or if he can do it again.

 

Now with all this said they will need some good solid goaltending for sure. But really what team doesn't.

 

Flyers are the weakest team in the whole playoffs in net. That does not bode well for them.

 

However if they can get some better production out the special teams they may have a chance.

 

I liked what i saw putting Sanheim on the 2nd power play. That needs to continue.

 

And the PK with have to clamp down against one of the best PP in the NHL.

 

Let's pray for some good reffing it could help.

 

Let them just play!!!

 

Gudas....STOP THE DUMB PENALTIES!!!!!!! You too Manning.

 

I'm guessing we'll see the same lineup the 1st game.

 

Will Hagg ever get back in???

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25 minutes ago, elmatus said:

Provocop will have to complete his metamorphosis into a full fledged defensive machine capable of playing foolish minutes with very little in the way of occasions for errors. Beyond he and Ghost, there's just no one else who can hold off the Pens high flyers. He will have to be the best dman of the entire series hands down.

 

 

Yes.

 

The Flyers are going to have to steal a page from the Flyers 2010 playoff run.

 

Shorten the blueline bench and play the hell out of the top 4.

 

Keep Gudas and Manning off the ice as much as possible. Good luck with that!!!!!!

 

With that said also winning home ice in one of the 1st two games is huge....just steal one!!! I'll take both but be happy with one!!!!

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If we can limit the Pens offensive weapons, we could pull off an upset. The Pens have worse goaltending than we do. Murray is 2.92, .907 and Elliott is 2.66, .909. 

 

Yes Murray has another gear. Let’s hope he doesn’t find it in round 1.

 

Flyers in 6.

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I think it comes down to:  1) Keep the Penguins off of the power play 2) They have to outscore the Penguins 5 on 5. 3) Hold Malkin off of the scoresheet - a tall task indeed. Oh, and (4) the goaltending has to be really good.

 

I think the Flyers will in fact find a way to do 2 and 3, and do 1 just enough.

 

Flyers in 7.

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In understand the Philadelphians' need to find that perpetual chip on their collective shoulders but a Philly win would not be "that" much of an upset. The Pens finished with 2 more points than the Flyers in the regular season.  Both teams have 3 players with 75+ points.

 

This isn't Tyson/Douglas, NC State/Houston, USA/Russia or Rocky/Drago. :VeryCool:
 

The Pens should and will likely be favored. If this were an NFL game? 3 points for home field.

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Just now, mkscrewy said:

i would pick the pens in 5 also just because I'm pretty sure we won't lose 8 straight games to pittsburgh.

 

then again....

 

2006-07 says "hi" though yes....highly unlikely.

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1 minute ago, mkscrewy said:

i would pick the pens in 5 also just because I'm pretty sure we won't lose 8 straight games to pittsburgh.

 

then again....

 

That's the spirit!  LOL

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