Another Flyers season ends but the future remains bright

It really wasn't supposed to happen this way for the Flyers, at least not this season.  No, I'm not talking about how the Flyers weren't supposed to lose to the Devils; the Flyers weren't supposed to even get to the second round this season.

After making drastic changes last offseason, the Flyers instantly entered a rebuilding mode, one that will feature a number of young players who are years away from their primes.  Sure, the Flyers were still supposed to be competitive but they really weren't expected to be serious Cup contenders until the kids had a chance to develop.  Really, anything that happened this season was gravy.

So why is it still so disappointing to see them lose to the Devils on Tuesday and get ousted from the playoffs?  Mostly because of how much fun it was to see these upstart Flyers stick it to the Penguins in one of the most entertaining series of games in many years.  To follow up all of that entertainment with four straight losses to the Devils in a series of games that were very uneventful was what was so disappointing.

The future is very bright with these Flyers. Claude Giroux could still get better.  The 8 rookies that hogged all the ice time this season should only improve with even more experience.  Chris Pronger hopefully will return.  Ilya Bryzgalov will hopefully keep his head on straight.  There is a lot to like about the future of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Despite all of this, it still hurts to see them lose to a Devils team that doesn't really feel like a great team. Hey, we'll always have that Penguins series.
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Danny Briere wins Game 1 in OT

After a slow first period, the Flyers picked up their play and took out the Devils in overtime in Game 1, 4-3.  Mr. Playoffs, Danny Briere, was the hero in this one, putting the puck into the back of the net twice in overtime, though the first was called off due to Briere kicking it in.  Here's Briere's game winner:

The Flyers have to be happy with how they played after the first period.  Should that carry over into the next few games, they should make short of the Devils.

On to the second round! Flyers rip Devils again

For a team that barely made the playoffs the Flyers sure plan to make the most of their opportunity. Thanks to another dominating performance, the Flyers struck quick against the Devils in Game 5 and never looked back, clinching the series with a 3-0 win.

Danny Briere scored the game-winning goal just minutes into the game but the offensive hero of the night for the Flyers was Claude Giroux, who scored 2 goals midway through the second period. For a team that was worried about where the offense was going to come from with Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter missing time, the continued emergence of Giroux has been a welcome sight. The kid is clearly raising his game to a new level.

As for the supposed weak link of the Flyers, Brian Boucher came up huge once again, stopping all 27 shots he saw in Game 5. For a guy that was thought to be the worst goaltender in the NHL playoffs, Boucher was in the right position at the right time to make every big save in the series. Sure, the Flyers defense deserves plenty of credit for their ability to limit the scoring opportunities in front of him, but Boucher has somehow turned back the clock and emerged as that hot goaltender that took the Flyers deep into the 2000 playoffs.

With the Devils out of the way, the Flyers are on to the second round and a likely showdown with the Capitals, who figure to be a much more formidable opponent than New Jersey. While the Flyers defense might be able to slow down some of their weapons, Philly can't afford to take a bunch of penalties like they did against the Devils and give Washington's dangerous power play numerous chances. While the Flyers do have a great penalty kill, stopping Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom with a man advantage is going to be a tall order.

Anyway, we'll worry about the Capitals later because now it's time to enjoy the fact that the #7 seeded Flyers overcame huge odds and dominated the #2 seeded Devils in the first round. It's time to revel in the idea that this team that barely made the playoffs and is playing with their third string goalie in net and two of their top forwards out with injuries has been able to knock out one of the best teams in the East. It's going to be fun see how long they can keep this unlikely run going. GO FLYERS!

Flyers rip Devils, take commanding 3-1 series lead

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Wait, which team is the 2 seed and which team is the 7 seed in this Flyers/Devils series again? With the way the Flyers dominated the Devils in a 4-1 Game 4 victory, you couldn't convince anyone that the Devils finished with the second best record in the Eastern Conference while the Flyers sneaked into the playoffs on the very last day.

The story of the night for the Flyers was the contributions they got from to players who had yet to score in the playoffs as both Jeff Carter and Danny Briere finally lit the lamp. In fact, Carter scored twice in the game, both on the power play, and finally appeared to be healthy as he skated smoothly throughout the game. Also scoring for the Flyers was the Game 3 hero, Dan Carcillo, who once again looked like he had never scored a goal in his life after he beat Martin Brodeur with a shot through the 5 hole.

Given how many penalties they had, it was remarkable that the Flyers were in any position to win Game 4, let alone dominate it. For most of the first two periods, the Flyers sent player after player to the penalty box and gave the Devils power play chance after power play chance. In all, the Flyers had 16 penalty minutes on minors in the game and gave the Devils 8 power play chances. Luckily, the Flyers have a really good penalty kill and only allowed the Devils to score once on a 5 on 3 opportunity. I said it after the last game and I'll say it again: eventually, these penalties are going to catch up to the Flyers. Against an offensively challenged team like the Devils, the Flyers can get away with the march to the penalty box. If, and I mean if, the Flyers get past the Devils and play the Capitals in the next round, Washington's killer power play is going to destroy the Flyers if they take this many penalties. If the officials are going to continue calling the games so tight, the Flyers have to adjust.

As Game 4 progressed, the Flyers did seem to make some changes to their game while the Devils seemed to regress, taking a bunch of penalties in the third period as they fell apart. The usually consistent Martin Brodeur, who was making stellar stops all game long, also started to crumble in net, allowing uncharacteristically soft goals through. Whether the Flyers simply have their number or they really aren't that good, the Devils need to figure things out fast if they want to get back in this series.

Before anyone says this series is over, however, they must remember the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals. As you may recall, the Flyers had this same 3-1 lead with these same two goalies in net and seemed poised to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. Well, three Devils wins later and the Flyers collapsed their way out of the playoffs. While all signs point to the Flyers getting to the second round, let's just not start looking ahead just yet. Of course, if this same Devils team continues to not show up, the team that shouldn't even be in the playoffs will pull off quite an upset.

Carcillo (!?) wins Game 3 in overtime for Flyers

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The NHL playoffs are all about unlikely heroes. If you want to make a deep run in the playoffs, you need your role players to step up and make big plays and score huge goals. Sure, you have the stars on the ice to put your team in a position to win but, more often then not, it's a third or fourth line forward that comes through in the clutch.

Enter Dan Carcillo, Flyers pest. Despite playing just over 7 minutes in Game 3 against the Devils, Carcillo found time to pick up a penalty, take a dive, log an assist and, oh yeah, net the game winning goal 3 minutes into overtime. With the game tied at 2 in the extra period, the Flyers took advantage of a penalty drawn by Claude Giroux to set up for a rare overtime power play. As the power play wore off, Mike Richards fired a shot from the side of the net that Carcillo eventually slammed home to give the Flyers a 2-1 series lead.

After the two teams traded goals in the first two periods, the Flyers outplayed the Devils in the third, coming up with chance after chance as they outshot New Jersey 12-3 in the period. Only the sparkling play of Martin Brodeur in net kept the Devils from losing in regulation as he turned aside every seemingly perfect chance the Flyers set up. The rest of the Devils never stepped up, however, as they failed to generate any kind of offense to support the great game they got from their goaltender.

The officials should be under some serious scrutiny after the way they called Game 3. The players weren't allowed to play at all as the refs called every last possible infraction in the book, causing a parade of Flyers and Devils to go to the box all game long. The 30 minutes of penalties called by the officials led to an inordinate number of power plays for each team, with the Devils capitalizing on 2 of their 8 PP's and the Flyers scoring on 1 of their 5 PP's. I'm all for the refs calling a fair game but, come on, this is the playoffs! The refs shouldn't be the ones dictating how the game is played, it should be the players. As this series gets longer, things are only going to get rougher as the players get more annoyed with one another; if the refs continue to call every minor action there won't be any players left on the ice.

The Flyers continue to prove they are the better team in this series. Offensively, the Devils don't have any punch unless they have an extra attacker on the ice. Defensively, Jersey has been forced to rely on Brodeur to bail them out time and again. Just about the only thing that could hold the Flyers back from moving on to the next round is themselves. All complaints about the officials aside, if Philly doesn't adjust how they play to match how the refs are calling the game, they are going to penalize themselves right out of the playoffs. Of course, if they keep getting big plays from guys like Dan Carcillo, there isn't a team in the league that can slow them down.

Devils even up series with late goal

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Well, at least the Flyers still have the home ice advantage. Despite playing better in Game 2 than they did in Game 1, the Flyers couldn't put away the Devils when they had the chance, losing when former Flyer Dainius Zubrus scored a goal late in the third period to give the Devils a 4-3 lead. An empty net goal later and the Flyers were sent back to Philadelphia with a 1-1 tie in the series.

The Devils managed to even things up by playing with a lot more energy in Game 2, jumping out to an early lead and setting the tempo for the game. While they did allow the Flyers right back into the game, the Devils were much more aggressive, out-shooting and out-hitting Philly throughout the night. Martin Brodeur also played better in net, making big stops in the third period to keep the Flyers off the scoreboard.

It's hard to point at any one reason why the Flyers lost Game 2. The Flyers didn't take advantage of the opportunities the Devils gave them, especially on the power play. Overall, Philly was a respectable 2 for 7 with the man advantage, but they really needed to capitalize when the Devils gave them three power play chances in a row early in the second period in a tie game. Scoring just once early in the second would have completely shifted the momentum.

One other negative for the Flyers was the Ryan Parent and Oskars Bartulis defensive pairing. While Philly really tried to minimize how much both were on the ice, they still played 12 minutes of pretty bad defense, all of which culminated with them being on the ice for the Devils game winning goal late in the third period. The Flyers have four really good defensemen that play the majority of the game but not having anyone they can trust in the third pairing really hurt them.

Everyone's favorite person to blame, Brian Boucher, didn't play great in net but he wasn't terrible, either. Of the 4 goals he let in, only 1 was really of the "soft" variety. No, Boucher didn't steal the game for the Flyers but he also didn't lose it for them, either. After an impressive showing in Game 1, Boucher was simply out-dueled by Brodeur in Game 2.

Even though it's tough to take anything positive from a loss, not everything went bad for the Flyers in Game 2. They generated more quality offense than they mustered in Game 1, more than doubling their number of shots from 14 to 29. Claude Giroux also continued his playoff magic as he looked like the most dynamic player on the ice for most of the night, finishing with a sweet assist and a tip-in goal. The Flyers also did a good job keeping out of the penalty box and only gave the Devils 3 power play chances.

Looking at the bigger picture, every Flyers fan should be happy with a 1-1 tie and the series shifting back to Philadelphia. The Flyers have proven already in this series that they can at least keep up with and often times play better than the Devils. If they can just get a few more opportunistic goals and tighten up the defense a bit, they will still be in great shape to take the series. As in every series that's tied at 1 apiece, Game 3 is going to be huge with the winner of the game poised to take all of the momentum in the series. I'm sure the Flyers fans will set the tone for what should be a great Game 3 atmosphere; it will be up to the team to set the tone on the ice.

Boucher helps Flyers steal home ice advantage from Devils

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

So much for the Flyers biggest weakness.

Heading into the playoffs, Brian Boucher's play in net was seen as the thing that would hold the Flyers back from doing any damage against the Devils. According to most experts, Boucher was the worst goaltender in the playoffs and there was no way he was going to play as well as he did a decade ago when he last saw major action in the playoffs.

Well, for at least one night, Boucher turned back the clock to the year 2000, making 23 of 24 saves en route to helping the Flyers beat the Devils, 2-1, to take a 1-0 series lead. Boosh was spectacular all night, out-dueling Martin Brodeur by making the easy stops and the big stops. For his first playoff start in eight years, Boucher made it look simple as he saw the puck well all night, flashed a strong glovehand and got in the right position to make the routine save. Sure, the Devils attack wasn't exactly overpowering, but Boucher turned aside nearly every threat except for one deflected puck late in the game that he never had a chance on.

As for the Flyers offense, they were certainly economical, scoring twice on the paltry 14 shots they took. The Flyers scored both goals in the second period, with the first goal of the ugly variety as Chris Pronger hit a puck in off the skate of a Devils defenseman and the second goal a nice shot by Mike Richards off a feed by Ian Laperriere. Although there wasn't too much Martin Brodeur could have done on either goal, getting beat twice on so few shots really isn't Brodeur-esque. I hesitate to say the Flyers have solved Brodeur but it sure seems that they haven't had much trouble scoring on him this season.

Once the Devils fell behind in the second period they couldn't muster up much of anything on offense. Coming back from 2 goal deficits isn't in the Devil game plan despite the number of opportunities the Flyers gave them to come back. Early in the third period, the Flyers gave the Devils a 4 minute power play that was followed shortly thereafter by a 2 minute power play, both of which Philly killed off with relative ease. Given how the Devils failed to generate much offense when behind, getting the early lead is clearly going to be a key for the Flyers all series long.

With the win, the Flyers have now taken home ice advantage away from the Devils. Even more encouraging, it appears that the rumors of Brian Boucher's terribleness have been greatly exaggerated. While the Flyers would love for him to stand on his head, if he can just keep himself in the right position and not let in any bad goals, the Flyers should do well in this series, especially if they can keep finding ways to beat Martin Brodeur.

Game One was a perfect example of why Flyers fans had hope when they saw that the Devils were the opponent in the first round; for some reason, Philly just seems to have their number. Taking the first game was huge but it will be up to the Flyers to ride that momentum if they are going to pull off the upset in the series.

Flyers vs. Devils: First Round Breakdown

Although they only made it into the playoffs by the slimmest of margins, the Flyers have to be happy with the opponent they've drawn in the first round of the playoffs. While the Devils are a formidable team loaded with talent, they are someone Philly knows and knows well, as evidenced by the Flyers 5-1 record against them this year. As they say, it's better to play the Devils you know.

With both teams very familiar with one another and the Flyers penchant for getting under the skin of the opponent, I would expect this series to be long and hard-fought with a winner emerging only after 6 or 7 games. Don't underestimate the Flyers, they may have stumbled their way into the playoffs as a 7 seed but they have a lot of depth and should make for a tough playoff out. In fact, the Flyers should be playing with nothing to lose, making them even more dangerous than they would have been had they clinched a week ago. It will be up to the Devils to try to match the intensity that the Flyers should be bringing every night. Let's take a closer look at how these two teams matchup and see who comes out ahead.

Offense: Few teams can match the Flyers depth at forward and the Devils are no exception. Sure, Philly doesn't have anyone as dynamic as Zach Parise or Ilya Kovalchuk, but the Flyers roll out three lines filled with offensive weapons littered throughout, including 9 guys that netted double digit goals. While most of the forwards had down years(Scott Hartnell, Simon Gagne), all hands are on deck and healthy, including Jeff Carter, and any one of them could break out at any moment. The Flyers also boast some of the best penalty killing forwards in the league, from the always dangerous Mike Richards to the steady, responsible Blair Betts. The ultimate wild card in the mix is Dan Carcillo; he always toes the line between being a nuisance to the opponent and a detriment to the Flyers. If he can annoy the Devils without parading to the penalty box and chip in a few goals here and there, Carcillo's impact could be huge.

As for the Devils, it all begins with the aforementioned Parise and Kovalchuk, who are two of the most dangerous snipers in the league. It will be up to the Flyers to figure out how to stop them, likely matching lines to ensure they will be shadowed by Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen all series long. After those two, the Devils do have some secondary scoring in Patrik Elias and Travis Zajac, but nothing that really needs to be game planned against. The Devils scoring punch starts to dry up after that as the 3rd and 4th lines are filled with competent defensive forwards and very few scoring threats, including former Flyers Danius Zubrus and Dean McAmmond. Because the Flyers have scorers up and down their lines to go with their mix of defensive forwards, I give the edge in forwards to the Flyers, but not by a wide margin. The Devils top-end talent is almost enough to keep up but you have to think a few of the Flyers forwards will get hot in the playoffs.

Defense: Individually, the Flyers have some serious talent on defense. When Chris Pronger, Matt Carle and Kimmo Timonen are on, there might not be a more talented threesome in the league. Collectively, though, this group has had way too many breakdowns. Too often, someone is caught out of position or makes a bad play on the puck that leads directly to an easy goal by the opposition. That kind of thing doesn't happen against the Devils, who individually don't have great talent but collectively play sound defense. So, really, it's a question of how you like your defense. Do you want difference-makers in the back end who will make occasional mistakes or do you want vanilla defenders who aren't going to do anything special but also won't hurt you? I call these two teams even on defense although Paul Martin's return to health might sway things in favor of New Jersey.

Goaltending: There is no argument here, Martin Brodeur is much better than Brian Boucher. Brodeur has advantages in experience, longevity and consistency over Boucher, who hasn't played a significant game in the playoffs since his run with the Flyers in 2000. Sure, that run in 2000 was magical and Boucher was at the heart of it but it was a lifetime ago; he can't be expected to do anything like that in 2010. Oh, and the team that eliminated Boucher and the Flyers in 2000 in the Eastern Conference Finals? Yep, that would be Brodeur and the Devils. The Devils have the huge advantage when it comes to goaltending.

Looking at everything on paper, the Flyers seem to be the better team in every aspect but goaltending. Their forwards are deeper, their power play is stronger and their defense can have a bigger impact on the game. For that reason, I am picking the Flyers to win the series in seven games. While goaltending is huge in the playoffs, the Flyers seem to have enough other strengths that can help neutralize their biggest weakness. You also can't ignore how good the Flyers were against the Devils this season, outscoring them 20-13 in 6 games.

While this matchup has all the makings of a 6 or 7 game series, there is something about how these two teams play that favors the Flyers. Philly wouldn't have had a chance if they played Washington or Pittsburgh in the first round but the Devils might turn out to be the perfect opponent for the Flyers as they play with nothing to lose against a team they know very well.

Flyers vs. Devils: Series begins Wednesday

With their victory over the Sabres, the Devils earned the number 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, meaning they will face the 7th seeded Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. The NHL has already released the schedule and the series will start Wednesday, April 14th. Here is the complete schedule of games for the series:

Game 1: Wednesday, April 14, Philadelphia at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.
Game 2: Friday, April 16, Philadelphia at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.
Game 3: Sunday, April 18, New Jersey at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.
Game 4: Tuesday, April 20, New Jersey at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Game 5: Thursday, April 22, Philadelphia at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Game 6: Sunday, April 25, New Jersey at Philadelphia, TBD
Game 7: Monday, April 26, Philadelphia at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.

While the Flyers are the underdog, they couldn't have asked for a better opponent in the first round. While the regular season has nothing to do with the playoffs, the Flyers absolutely owned the Devils this year, going 5-1. Look for much more on this series in the coming days..

Here is the complete schedule for every first round series.

Flyers show heart in comeback over Devils; Carter suspension coming?

(AP Photo/Michael Perez)

There's some of that heart we'd been hoping the Flyers would show us. With the way they had been playing lately, once the Devils got a 2 goal lead over the Flyers on Monday night it seemed like the game was over. The Flyers team of the recent weeks hasn't shown much fight and has been perfectly willing to let supposedly better teams have their way on the ice.

Monday night was different, however. Despite their constant march to the penalty box, the Flyers fought back with 2 goals late in the second period to claw their way back to a tie and steal all the momentum in the game. What followed was an exciting third period filled with tense penalty kills, plenty of near misses, a few amazing saves and the game winning goal by Mike Richards halfway into the period.

This was a big win for the Flyers as they managed to beat the first-place Devils with their new prize, Ilya Kovalchuk, who had 9 shots in the game but didn't register a point. Michael Leighton, who we may be seeing even more of as Ray Emery may be on the shelf for a while, turned in another solid performance as he made the big stops when he had to.

Of course, people may be talking a lot more about one incident on the ice than the outcome of the game. Yep, folks, we have another controversy over a Flyers hit. Moments after scoring a goal in the second period, Anssi Salmela was nailed by Jeff Carter and laid motionless on the ice. Carter was not whistled for a penalty on the play but you can bet the NHL will take a close look at this one:

My take? Carter shouldn't be suspended. Sure, it was a rough hit, but Carter didn't elbow Salmela and the fact that his face hit the ice is why the hit looked so bad. You can't penalize Carter for the hit just because Salmela scored, either, since Carter had no way of knowing if that shot was going to be stopped by Leighton. Luckily, word has come out that Salmela is ok after being stretchered off the ice.

Looking past the hit, the Flyers have given us hope once again. If they can play with the same passion they showed on the ice on Monday night, this team has a playoff run in them. I'm looking forward to seeing which Flyers team shows up when they face the Devils again on Wednesday.

The Eastern Conference just got a whole lot tougher: Devils acquire Ilya Kovalchuk

Due to budget constraints and not having any draft picks to deal, the Flyers were never really in the running for Ilya Kovalchuk. Despite all the rumors you heard over the last few days, it simply wasn't feasible for the Flyers to pick up the young sniper who was placed on the trading block by the Atlanta Thrashers. Unless the Flyers found a way to unload Danny Briere and/or Scott Hartnell, two players with no trade clauses, the Flyers simply didn't have enough room under the cap to get Kovalchuk, let alone sign him to a long-term deal.

With the Flyers out of the picture, Flyers fans were left to hope Kovalchuk wouldn't get traded to a rival. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened: Ilya Kovalchuk has been traded to the Atlantic Division leader, the Devils. As of this writing, details as to who the Devils will be giving up aren't known, but it's likely that it took a solid young NHL player, a top prospect and a 1st round draft pick.

The move immediately makes the Devils one of the favorites, if not the favorite to win the Eastern Conference. While the Devils still have the personality of a grind-it-out team and Kovalchuk isn't known for his play in the defensive end, adding a top goal scorer to a team that has issues putting the puck in the net will surely help a Devils squad that is already one of the best in the East.

Don't be angry that the Flyers couldn't find a way to get Kovalchuk. Paul Holmgren's hands were tied with all of the contracts he has given out and the lack of a first round pick next year. Okay, so maybe you can be a little angry about that, Homer is the one who created this salary cap mess.

The reality is, Ilya Kovalchuk will be skating for a Devils team that looks poised to be a Cup contender for several years while the Flyers have hamstrung themselves from acquiring a truly elite impact player at this time.