Heard in the Cheap Seats

It seems that the Pittsburgh Penguins have the Flyers number.  After dispensing of the Flyers in 5 games in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Penguins have followed that up by winning 4 of their 5 meetings with the Flyers this year.  The 4^th win came today in easily the most heartbreaking fashion of the season for the Flyers.  Not even the largest crowd in Flyers regular season history could prevent the Penguins from handing the Flyers a stunning 5-4 loss at the Wachovia Center.  It was a great game to watch, with both teams flying around the ice, good hitting, Cote catching Godard with a nice uppercut, and some nice end to end action.  The Flyers staged 2 3^rd period comebacks and still wound up on the short end of the stick.  I am not going to get on my podium and rant about one loss ruining the season because that would be stupid on my part.  The Flyers have a very good, young team that will have an opportunity to make a run at the Stanley Cup.  The fact that they were able to battle back today against the Penguins showed their toughness.  They were able to overcome a poor effort on the power play once again (0 for 4 and now 5 for their last 49).  Hopefully when Briere returns he can help cure some of the Flyers power play woes.  There were a few defensive breakdowns by the Flyers, but in the end, it will be one play from today’s game that stands out in everybody’s mind.  With about 3 minutes to go in the 3^rd period, and the score tied 4-4, the Penguins Dupuis had a breakaway, but was closely trailed by Coburn.  Marty Biron decided to come 30 feet out of the goal and attack Dupuis, and he was able to control the puck, but he had to get rid of it immediately or face a delay of game penalty.  What followed was pretty tough to watch.   Essentially, Biron dropped the puck behind him, right to Dupuis, who fired at an empty net and Sidney Crosby deflected the puck in for a crushing goal.  As I was watching the game, the CSN guys actually said that Biron made a “heads up” play and then got a bad break!  I almost threw my remote through the TV.  How was that a “heady” play?  To me, it was the exact opposite.  I understand what Biron was trying to do, but as I watched the play over and over, I felt he should have held his position and allowed Coburn to try and drive Dupuis off the puck, and if that didn’t happen, be a freaking goalie and make the damn save!  That one play ended up erasing another great effort by Mike Richards, along with many other Flyers. 

Again, I am not going to say that the world is ending or anything, but this game was a microcosm of the same glaring problem the Flyers have had for years.  They just can’t seem to solidify their goaltending.  We all know that with a good team and great goaltending, a Stanley Cup can be had.  Biron played very well in the playoff run last year, and seemed to be finding his groove here of late, but so much for all that!  Does any Flyer fan feel comfortable with Biron or Nittymaki as the goalie that will lead the Flyers to the Cup?  I sure as hell don’t.  Maybe they can make a trade for a goalie, but that is pretty tough to do.  What I do know is that myself, along with many Flyer fans, are pretty sick of being let down by the goalies.  It’s tough to know that you have a team with a lot of talent, a lot of guts and toughness, but without a goalie that you can lean on to make the tough saves.  Yes, the Flyers tend to have some defensive breakdowns, but that’s hockey.  It happens.  The problem is it seems the Flyers pay for every little mistake they make at the blue line because they do not have a goalie that can erase those mistakes.  I wish it was different.  I wish I felt better about the goaltending, but I feel like it’s Groundhog Day.  Déjà vu all over again as they say.