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Eastern Conference Semifinals, Game 2
#7 Philadelphia Flyers at #6 Boston Bruins
Bruins lead series, 1-0
TD Garden – 7:00 PM ET – Boston, Mass.
TV: Versus HD, TSN HD, RDS HD
Radio: 610 WIP (internet stream here), XM 205, SIRIUS 220
Get the Boston perspective at Stanley Cup of Chowder
Sure, the Flyers lost Game 1 of this series to the Boston Bruins. But how far were they behind their opponent, in reality? I mean, they played like utter crap in the first period yet escaped down only 2-0. They pounced on opportunities and fought back in the second and third periods, getting a game they honestly had no business being in to overtime before finally losing.
They shouldn’t have come close to overtime, really, but they made it happen. Maybe it’s the optimistic side of me, which does tend to reign supreme, but this tells me that the Flyers weren’t too far behind the Bruins in Game 1. Instead, it’s all about small adjustments. It’s being a little more aggressive when it comes to getting loose pucks. It’s being better defensively. It’s getting more bodies in front of Tuukka Rask.
Little things. Fix the little things that went wrong in Game 1 and Game 2 should end on the right side. Peter Laviolette has made a few tweaks to his lineup for Monday’s contest. Here are the lines he plans on beginning the game with via Frank Seravalli:
Leino – Richards – Carcillo
Hartnell – Giroux – Briere
van Riemsdyk – Powe – Ross
Nodl – Betts – Asham
Briere heads back to the wing where he has less defensive responsibility, Leino gets a serious promotion, and Hartnell is put with a few guys who should know how to get him the puck. The bottom line is the only one that stays the same.
We’ll have more on the game later, of course, as our game thread goes live at 6:00 PM.
