Game Four Recap (Flyers 4, Penguins 2)

"Daddy, what does Crosby sucks mean?" "Oh, it's just something they say." Who knows how many of the 19,972 Most Intimidating Fans Innaworld joined in the chant, but it was enough to hear it distinctly on the telecast. But add that to the above picture, where the Penguins had just scored a fluky goal to cut the deficit to 3-1 in the third period. You can see at least one guy flipping them off, though the TV footage caught a moment before or after this picture where there were at least four or five guys gesturing. I rewound it three or four times just for the sake of schadenfreude. Let me be clear-- I'm not bringing this up so much to claim regional high ground. At the first hockey game I ever saw, on January 30, 1982 between the Penguins and the Winnipeg Jets, somebody'd hung a banner from the E Balcony that announced JETS SUCK and formally introduced me to that pejorative. And I've been to a Steeler game with my oldest daughter in tow where the Iron City boys break out a "Cleveland Sucks" chant moments before passing out on their way back to the stadium lots. It shouldn't happen anywhere, though. There's a clear difference between jeering that isn't profane and the sort of anti-social behavior that some isolated elements of the Philly crowd goes in for. And they love it all the more when somebody points it out. I suppose it comes with the territory-- I guess I wouldn't be talking about this if I was writing about, you know, Cannes now or something. But still-- are we human beings trying to be hockey fans or hockey fans trying to be human beings?

On the game itself, there's not a lot to say. The Flyers came out and played a fantastic first period. They didn't give up an early goal, got the first goal themselves and their power play worked just as they'd wanted it to work all along, with shots on net leading to rebounds and net-crashing garbage goals. Their power play and their offense overall hadn't had that mojo working since the early part of Game One, or it would be a different series. Defensively, the Flyers did a perfect job of pushing Crosby and Malkin away from the slot and toward the endboards when they had the puck, and Malkin alone was forced into what seemed like at least a dozen bad passes. Jordan Staal came to play, though, and if there's anything the team can take from the game, it's the fact that the guy who had the most cause to be distracted last night was one of the few guys who brought his best game.