Braydon Coburn returned to practice today for the Flyers in hopes of taking the ice for Game 4 tomorrow night. Coburn missed Game 3 because his eye was swollen shut following the puck to the face he took in Game 2. Coburn will wear a visor to protect his eye, which, as you can see above, looks better but still has a ways to go to fully open back up.
While it would be a great story and a true test of toughness if Coburn returns for Game 4, there is really no point in rushing him back to the ice. With the Flyers on the brink of elimination, if his vision is impaired in any way and there is any chance he could hurt himself worse, he should sit out. Even if he plays well and the Flyers win the game, they have a huge uphill battle ahead of them if they are going to win the series. It is likely there is a greater chance of Braydon Coburn getting injured worse than the Flyers have of winning four straight against the Penguins.
The Eagles signed three more free agent rookies to contracts today and, no, Adarius Bowman was not one of them. The Eagles added a quarterback, Casey Hansen from Norfolk State, and two linebackers, Gary Butler from California (Pa) and Mark Staffieri from BYU. All three are longshots to make the team.
Hansen is an interesting prospect given his 6 foot 5 size and his decent passing numbers at Norfolk State. Hansen was a two year starter who led the entire MEAC in passing in 2006, throwing for 2166 yards and amassing a QB rating of 116.9. In 2007, Hansen saw a slight dip in those numbers, passing for 2111 yards and finishing with a QB rating of 114.5. Despite those numbers, I see little chance of him overtaking A.J. Feeley for the third string role, although he could be a practice squad player.
Butler put up big numbers at California (Pa) last season, notching 12 sacks and forcing four fumbles. He was also named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Defensive Player of the Year. Staffieri finished his college career with 2 total sacks and 132 tackles.
The Keystone Clash crossed the state to Philadelphia on Tuesday night, but the game looked very similar to the previous two. The Penguins looked better in nearly every facet of the game, dominating the Flyers 4-1 in Game 3 to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
The Flyers were over-matched from the beginning when the Penguins got two quick goals in the first 8 minutes. The goals were a bit fluky with the first going in off a Jason Smith's foot and the second coming when Martin Biron was screened, but the Penguins managed to take the Flyers right out of the game. Philly responded with a goal by R.J. Umberger, but from there on they barely challenged Marc-Andre Fleury, finishing with a mere 18 shots. The Penguins sealed the victory with a goal halfway through the third period and an empty netter at the end of regulation.
It was a strange game that lacked any flow. The first period was a penalty-fest, with the refs calling four hooking penalties and handing out powerplays left and right. From then on, the refs swallowed the whistle, only choosing to call the Flyers for one more penalty for the rest of the game. The Flyers couldn't get anything going 5 on 5 and seemed to be waiting for another powerplay chance to get their offense going. That chance never came and by the time the Flyers tried to get anything going, it was too late.
Steve Downie will take much of the blame for making another terrible play tonight that led to the Penguins third goal. Downie made an ill-advised pass that was picked off by the Pens and they took it the other way for the back-breaking goal. Downie made a poor play in Game 2 that led to a Penguins goal but he can't totally be blamed for this loss. Granted, Downie screwed up, but it was a total team effort in losing tonight. Downie should find a seat in the stands for the next game, though, because there is no way he suits up.
Game Four is Thursday in Philadelphia. Teams have very rarely come back when down 0-3 in a series and there is nothing the Flyers are showing me that makes me think they will pull off the miracle. Losing Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn was simply too much for this team. Let's just hope they can avoid a sweep by winning the next one.
We can stick a fork in the Flyers and set our sights on the Phillies chances. The Flyers made a valiant effort this season which I will talk more about later, but they simply don't have the horses to compete with the Penguins.
Video highlights of the game, plus reactions from John Stevens and Mike Richards:
I spent most of the night watching the Flyers, but there were some interesting things to come out of the Phillies 5-4 win over the Braves:
*Jayson Werth leads the offense Werth had been struggling for the last few weeks, but he busted out tonight with a 3 hit, 4 RBI night. All 3 of his hits were singles with runners in scoring position. Werth should continue to have a big role in this series with Atlanta as the Braves are starting lefties in each of the remaining games.
*Kyle Kendrick bounces back After giving up 3 runs in the first inning it looked like a typical Kyle Kendrick start, but he rebounded to have a solid outing. Kendrick didn't allow another run after his first inning shakiness, going 6 innings in all. Kendrick allowed 6 hits in the game and walked 4 batters. It was the type of good but not great effort that earned him ten wins last year.
*Brad Lidge is human Brad Lidge finally gave up an earned run this season, sending his ERA soaring all the way to 0.50. Lidge came into the ninth inning with a two run lead and ran into a bunch of trouble, walking a pair of batters and giving up a double that scored a run. Jayson Werth was playing center and made a bad jump on the double so really even this earned run wasn't Lidge's fault. If Shane Victorino was out there the game would have been over. Despite the bad defense, Lidge settled down and got his 10th save of the season. He's not perfect anymore, but he still manages to get the job done.
*Ryan Howard slump watch Ryan Howard had a so-so effort tonight, going 2 for 4 with an RBI, 2 runs scored and 2 strikeouts. The Phillies will take the strikeouts if he can get on base more often. Howard's batting average has now soared up to .181.
After another tough loss for the Flyers, the Live Blog will be back on tonight at 7:15 for Game Three in the Battle of Pennsylvania. Come and discuss the game as it happens with fellow Flyer fans as Philly looks to get back into the series.
It's mid-May, so obviously it's time for NFL Power Rankings! Both ESPN.com and SI.com have released their incredibly early preseason power rankings, and both of them have the Eagles just outside the top ten. Here are their rankings and their thoughts on the Eagles:
ESPN: Rank: 13 Comments: Last season, they hit their stride when it was too late. With a fully healed Donovan McNabb and an improved secondary, the Eagles could be dangerous.
Sports Illustrated: Rank: 11 Comments: The story's the same as ever in Reid-land: Donovan McNabb has to stay upright for 16 games for this team to have a chance to play deep into January. He's missed two, four and seven starts in the last three years. That's partly why the Eagles have fallen considerably short of their second Super Bowl appearance in the McNabb era.
Two assists for him this year. Lorenzo Booker's a better alter-ego to Brian Westbrook than Correll Buckhalter has been. And DeSean Jackson, even at 170 pounds soaking wet, should be a bit more of a stretch-the-defense third or fourth receiver than McNabb has had. If Jackson does nothing else, at least he'll spice up the blah return game (8.1 yards per punt return and 21.7 on kickoffs is no way to win ball games). Oh, and it would be nice if McNabb's tackles could block the Giants.
My thoughts: Those rankings seem about right for the Eagles, although I was very surprised to see the Minnesota Vikings ranked higher than the Eagles in both rankings, they don't even have a quarterback. Both ESPN and SI make the obvious statement that McNabb has to stay healthy if the Eagles want to make any noise this year. SI thinks McNabb has plenty of new weapons to keep him happy, although most Eagle fans would still prefer a true number one receiver. I am excited to see some offensive plays with both Booker and Westbrook in the backfield; they will make a dangerous combination.
I like the make-up of this Eagles team, they should be very competitive in a difficult NFC East. It's way to early to tell, but a return to the playoffs looks likely. Their defense appears to be above average again so it may simply come down to how effective McNabb and the offense can be. Of course, we are still about 4 months away from the season, so no one really knows anything yet.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
