Game Two Recap (Penguins 4, Flyers 2)

I know it was a win, and there was some resilience shown in not letting the Flyers build on the momentum of scoring short-handed to knot the game at two with less than half a minute to go in the second, but who played well for the home team tonight?

On offense, that is. Defensively, the entire team continued to play the system well. Pucks were cleared out of the defensive zone efficiently all night long, and that's more than the Flyers can say. Some nights, like tonight, that's enough to win. And the biggest difference between games one and two was that the ice seemed to shrink to half its size before last night. All that room to maneuver was clogged up by the Flyers. Malkin, in particular, seemed to grow frustrated by having a shadow all night long and took it out on Daniel Briere's neurological well-being. The reaction shots of Briere sitting woozy on the bench were the first occasion for him to get any face time in the series. Malkin's ill-advised sideways pass and the resultant goal could have put the Flyers back into the series if anyone not named Carter or Richards was showing up to score goals for them.

Meanwhile, on a night when the top two lines were contained at even strength by a fantastic defensive effort by the Flyers, the Penguins were able to get contributions from the third and fourth lines to push them over the top. Tyler Kennedy plays every shift like he wants to make sure he's never a healthy scratch, and he skated harder than anyone on the ice last night. Max Talbot's game-winning goal was just one more example of the Penguins' transition game opportunism. They pounce on every neutral zone or offensive zone turnover, but this time the fourth line finished it off with a grinding/cycling blue collar edge rather than the one-timers and other flashy stuff we've seen all spring from the top lines.

Sid played one of his best games of the spring and scored two goals, even if only one counted on the board. We could only hope the mouth-breathers who whine incessantly about the league setting the table for Crosby to walk to the Finals had a moment of cognitive dissonance when the no-goal was affirmed.

It's a long series with game-by-game adjustments altering the complexion of each subsequent game. I don't expect the Flyers to cage up the Penguins' forwards this effectively for four of the next five games. Playing that style limits their own offensive chances during the 66% of the time the Penguins' top two lines are on the ice, and I just don't think their beaten-up defensive corps can sustain it. Plus, at least one of the Penguins' big guns is going to have a huge game in Philly. I'm pulling for Sid to fill the net in Game Three and Malkin in Game Four.

Whatsamatter, Marty?