Hockey Post: Update and Pray

Man, I'm Freaking Good

What did I tell you? What did the Flyers need to win? And what did they manage? Exactly what I said they needed.

A. Holding onto the damn puck. They managed, somehow, to keep good pressure on Fleury, and hold onto the puck for minutes at a time. There were still a lot of turnovers, but they played their asses off. Fantastic.
B. A little more faith in what's left. The boys seemed like they had a good amount of trust in each other. There were fewer huge mistakes, and a better attitude on the bench.
C. Flyer'd up fans. What a lovely group of Flyer'd up people were in the crowd last night. The "Super Lupul" and "Penguins Can't Fly" signs were my favorite.
D. Movement. Check! Good foot action, Flyers!
E. Creativity. Changing the lines changes plays, making our boys a little less predictable.
F. A change of pace. It was like watching a whole new team play.
G. A case of Taskykakes. "Kimmo Timonen gave the team a pregame pep talk before hitting the ice. 'He made us laugh a bit and lightened up the mood,' Joffrey Lupul said." This may have been part of the reason Carter was laughing so hard in the first period; that and that hilarious little trip he made.

And who better for a case of Tastykakes then Lupul?

Briere is finally trying to prove his $10 million worth, scoring a goal in the first period to bring the game to 2-0 for the home team. "Danny Briere’s ninth goal of the playoffs and first of the series made it 2-0, when Fleury misplayed a shot from the point by Randy Jones, leaving the rebound for Briere to knock in at 11:48." It wasn't the prettiest thing in the world, but Briere, when he's on point, has a habit of showing up in the right place at the right time.

"[Danny Briere and Mike Richards] actually looked at each other and were smiling. They said they thought it was a good move, they were all for it - Danny's played lots of wing, Danny and Richie love playing together," Stevens said. "Then I talked to Vinny [Prospal, who moved from Briere's wing to centering Joffrey Lupul and R.J. Umberger] this morning . . . Danny looked like he had his best game of the series, Richie's been a powerhouse the whole way, and I thought Vinny stepped in and did a terrific job in the middle. I liked the result, and I think we'll stay with it for the next game." Duh, Stevens. Duh.

"Did you all see the incredible chemistry these two had?" Mark Cisik noted this morning, in today's Flyers Daily Doasge newsletter. "WOW! Even Briere fed off Richy’s fiery attitude and delivered a few checks, slammed the net, & back checked well."

All this, and hopefully the return of Timmo!?

"'I’m going to skate tomorrow. I met [Dr. Ronald Fairman] today and we took another ultrasound. Based on that, the doctor said I have a green light to give it a try. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to skate [Friday] and see how it feels. The doctor feels that there is no chance the clot is going to get loose or break up or anything like that. It’s a great sign. A week ago they were afraid it was going to get bigger and cut loose. I’ve been on blood thinners now for eight days and we’ll see how it goes.' Timonen, who said he is in no pain, will skate on his own as the team will most likely have the day off from practice.'If I feel tomorrow that I’m good to go for Sunday, then I’m good for Sunday,' he said. 'There is nothing to prevent me from playing. I may have numbness in my toes, but if I can deal with that then I can play. I just want to make sure I can help the team and not hurt them.'" [From NHL.com]

I think the boys have to potential to win four in a row; they've done it before against Montreal.

We'll see.

Mina

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Last Hockey Post: May 15, 2008

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