All of the sudden, things are looking a whole lot better for the Flyers. Fresh off their Game Four win last night the Flyers announced that they might have their top two defensemen back in the line-up on Sunday for Game Five.
Braydon Coburn, who missed the last two games after he took a puck to the face, was already likely to return once the swelling around his left eye subsided. As long as he continues to progress you can bet he will be back Sunday.
The surprising news is that Kimmo Timonen might also be available to play in Game Five. Timonen has missed the entire series with the Penguins with a blood clot in his ankle but will attempt to skate on it today. If the ankle feels well enough he could find his way back to the ice on Sunday. This is great news for a Flyers team that thought they had lost Timonen for the entire playoffs but now it appears that the blood clots have improved enough that he can make a comeback attempt.
If the Flyers get their top two defensemen back and can play with the same passion and intensity they showed last night, this series is going to get interesting. It's amazing what a little good news and a win can do for the confidence of a team, there's a chance they could build on it and pull off the unlikely.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Coburn and Timonen back for Game Five?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
It ain't over yet: Flyers hold off Penguins to stave off elimination
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)The Flyers jumped out in the first period and absolutely dominated the Penguins. Feeding off the booming home crowd, the Flyers scored three goals in the first period. Joffrey Lupul started off the scoring and Danny Briere and Jeff Carter both added power play goals as the Flyers offense showed more energy and intensity than it had all series. Philly looked like they were going to steamroll the Penguins as Pittsburgh could do little else but sit back and withstand the onslaught of the Flyers.
The second period featured no goals and very few penalties but the Flyers continued to control the play. The Penguins got a fair number of shots on Martin Biron who made some of the great stops we saw from him in the Capitals and Canadiens series.
Pittsburgh made their comeback in the third period. Jordan Staal played like a man possessed as he tallied two goals and was all over the ice making plays. His second goal came with just under 6 minutes left to play and things got interesting from there. With some timely saves by Biron, the Flyers managed to hold off the Pens attack until Joffrey Lupul scored an empty net goal with 30 seconds left to play to seal the victory.
The fireworks really began after the empty net goal. The Flyers and Penguins tangled up twice in the final seconds as both teams showed just how much they hate one another. First, Derian Hatcher and Ryan Malone met up for a fight, then Mike Richards and Sidney Crosby shared slashes and a few shoves. The Penguins showed their frustration in getting whipped for most of the night and the Flyers were doing what they do best: getting under the oppositions' skin.
With the way the Flyers played tonight and all the bad blood at the end of the game, Game 5 is setting up to be a great battle. The Flyers remain alive and see the door open a little bit to the possibility of pulling off a miracle. If Philly can play the way they did tonight, full of energy and toughness, then we may yet see a few more games from this team.
The Flyers showed an effort tonight that they lacked in Games 1-3. They have proven that when they play at the top of their game, they can beat anyone. The only question now is which team will show up in Game 5? Things could get interesting if they play anything like they did tonight.
Highlights of the game via Comcast SportsNet:
King Cole mows down the Braves
(AP Photo/H. Rumph, Jr.)Offensively, the Phillies relied on the homer, belting three in the game. Pedro Feliz, Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino each hit one out of the park. Howard has hit 3 homers in his last 5 games, can we finally say his slump is over? The batting average still sits at .185 but at least he is driving in some runs.
Interleague play begins tomorrow as the Phils' World Series nemesis Toronto Blue Jays come to town for a three game set. Call me bitter but I still want revenge for what Joe Carter did!
Highlights of the game via Comcast SportsNet:
Game 4 Flyers vs. Penguins Live Game Blog
Unfortunately, I won't be able to do the usual live blog tonight for Game Four. Let's hope the Flyers find a way to continue their season so I can have a Game Five Live Blog on Sunday! Go Flyers!
I will post some updates here as the game goes on for those of you following the game. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comment section below!
Refresh your browser to see the latest updates.
10:14 pm GAME OVER: FLYERS WIN 4-2, PENGUINS LEAD SERIES 3-1 Check back soon for my postgame blog post!
10:12 pmANOTHER BRAWL!! Richards and Crosby go at it and then everyone bunches up again! This is Flyers hockey!
10:09 pm BRAWL!! Hatcher and Malone are fighting, everyone on the ice is pushing each other....Penguins are frustrated, love it!
10:08 pm FLYERS 4, PENGUINS 2 GOAL: Lupul Joffrey Lupul punches in an empty netter to seal the victory for the Flyers!
10:06 pm (1 min left) Fleury to the bench! Here come the Penguins!
10:04 pm (1:22 left) Penguins call a timeout. Expect Fleury to go to the bench soon for a 6 on 5.
10:03 pm Staal is playing well, if the Flyers don't slow him down he's gonna tie this up! (1:30 left)
10:01 pm Still 3-2, the Penguins have all the momentum now. The Flyers have gone back into a shell and are just hoping to withstand the rush. (3:20 left)
9:56 pm FLYERS 3, PENGUINS 2 GOAL: Staal Penguins cut the gap to one..... we're in for a frantic finish here! (Under 6 mins left)
9:36 pm FLYERS 3, PENGUINS 1 GOAL: Staal Good hustle goal there for Staal cuts the lead down to 2. No shutout for Biron!
9:31 pm THIRD PERIOD UNDER WAY You can bet the game is going to get chippy now with the way these two teams feel about each other.
9:14 pm SECOND PERIOD OVER, Flyers still lead 3-0. Philly is 20 minutes away from forcing a return trip to Pittsburgh for Game Five!
9:11 pm Briere is slashed by Sykora. Another PEEEEECOOOOO Power play!
9:06 pm This is the Biron we saw in rounds 1 and 2. He is piling up the saves and making it look easy.
9:02 pm Penguins go on the power play now with Carter going to the box for tripping. Gotta keep the Penguins off the board, there is still plenty of time for them to come back.
8:59 pm Crowd is really having an impact tonight. Flyers feeding off it and continuing to make big hits. Wonder if this can continue back in Pittsburgh in Game Five.
8:52 pm Prospal looks like a new man tonight. He makes a few great plays from the seat of his pants. These new lines have certainly lit a fire under the Flyers. (10 minutes left in the 2nd)
8:45 pm Fleury ROBS Briere. Love Briere's jump tonight.
8:44 pm Upshall looks PISSED. He goes after Sykora with a vengeance after Sykora gives him a cheap shot to the head. 4 on 4 for two minutes.
8:43 pm Flyers piling up the shots today, already accumulating 18 shots. This is a completely different team than the one that looked defeated in Game Three.
8:38 pm SECOND PERIOD UNDER WAY As NJFlyer says in the comment section, it's time to step on the throats of the Penguins!
8:20 pm END OF THE FIRST PERIOD By far the best period the Flyers have had against the Penguins. Tons of jump and hustle has led to a dominant effort over the Penguins so far. Where was this in Games 1-3?
8:17 pm FLYERS 3, PENGUINS 0 GOAL: Carter Flyers capitalize with another power play goal. Carter get the puck past Fleury after a rebound. Looks like the Penguins decided not to show up tonight.
8:14 pm Thoreson back in the line-up tonight, thankfully Downie is out. Players going at it again after the whistle. Flyers back on the power play AGAIN! (Under 3 minutes left)
8:05 pm Flyers get a TON of chances, nothing doing yet on this power play. Tons of hitting and pushing after the whistle, looks like the Penguins are getting frustrated. This is exactly the type of game the Flyers wanted.
8:04 pm Flyers back on the power play. They're gonna bury the Pens at this rate!
7:59 pm: FLYERS 2, PENGUINS 0 GOAL: Briere Flyers take a 2 goal lead on Briere's power play goal. The offense is clicking tonight!
7:56 pm: Flyers get their own powerplay. They look like a completely different team right now, much more like the team that dominated the Canadiens.
7:53 pm: FLYERS 1, PENGUINS 0 GOAL: Lupul Joffrey Lupul scores after the Flyers keep the pressure on. The shot deflected past Fleury to give the Flyers an early lead. This is the best the offense has looked all series. (11 mins left in the first)
7:51 pm: Best chance on the power play is a Mike Richards shorthanded breakaway, unfortunately he didn't score. Richards is such an opportunist on when on the penalty kill.
7:49 pm: Penguins get the first power play of the night. Briere goes off for tripping. It looked to me that he was just playing the puck.
7:46 pm: Biron is on early making big stops on Malkin and Crosby.
7:42 pm: Briere with a great early chance... love the new line of Richards/Briere/Hartnell
7:41 pm: Game is under way!
With the season on the line, Flyers shake up lines, sit Coburn
The Flyers may be playing their last game of the season tonight. In an effort to shake things up and get a spark, Coach John Stevens has rearranged the Flyers forward lines to look like this:
Richards - Briere - Hartnell
Umberger - Prospal - Lupul
Upshall - Carter - Knuble
Thoresen - Dowd - Kapanen
Basically Mike Richards has moved up to the wing on the top line and Vaclav Prospal has moved down to center the second line. Prospal has been MIA for the entire series against the Penguins so maybe this is a move to get him going. All the great chemistry we had seen between him and Danny Briere seems to have disappeared so it makes sense to split them up.
Coburn Out: Braydon Coburn will not play tonight. He practiced yesterday and felt like he could play if the swelling on his left eye subsided, but the decision was made today to sit him down for Game Four. As I said yesterday, this is the right decision. There is no need to rush Coburn back and risk injury with the very real possibility that the season will be over today anyway.
Phillies come up short in late comeback, lose 8-6 to Braves
(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)Once Myers left the game, the Phillies bullpen did what it does best: shut the opposition down. Ryan Madsen, Clay Condrey and Rudy Seanez combined to shut out the Braves the rest of the way and opened the door to a Phillies comeback.
Tom Glavine started for the Braves and put forth a vintage Glavine effort until the Phils offense woke up in the 6th inning. Led by Chase Utley's 14th homer of the season, the Phillies cut the Braves lead in half down to 8-4 in the 6th. From there, a Ryan Howard homer in the 8th pulled Philadelphia within 3 runs and then things got interesting in the 9th. The Phillies managed to get two guys on base for Jimmy Rollins, who hit one run in to cut the lead down to two. Shane Victorino then had a chance at glory and hit a long out to right field to end the game.
Brett Myers needs to shape up. He took the loss tonight, dropping his record to 2-4 and raising his ERA to 5.91. For a guy who is supposedly the Phillies second best starter, he has yet to put together two solid starts in a row. His struggles bring the entire rotation down and make it so the only guy the Phils can rely on is Cole Hamels. Perhaps Myers is having problems adjusting back into the starting role. Whatever the issue is, he better figure things out quickly.
The Phillies wrap up their series with the Braves tomorrow night when Cole Hamels takes the mound against Chuck James. After that, interleague play begins with the Phillies taking on the Blue Jays in a three game set this weekend. I am getting sick of seeing the Florida Marlins sitting atop the NL East. The Phillies have everything in place offensively and in the bullpen and it's up to the starting pitchers to pull themselves together so the Phils can reclaim their spot at the top of the division.
