The Pens came out strong in the first period, setting the tone with a couple of heavy checks, but the Flyers weathered the initial storm and responded by establishing a good fore check. The Flyers were also able to respond after the Pens scored first, evening the score less than four minutes later. The Flyers continued to show resolve by scoring four consecutive goals after Bob gave up a bad goal to let the Pens back in front. Bob also responded well with some great play in the third after his short coming in the second.
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| Ville Leino |
The Hartnell-Briere-Leino line looked like it finally got a whiff of the impending playoffs, picking up three goals. All three goals were the result of players crashing the net, and one was the result of a nice fore check by Briere. It was refreshing to see the Flyers going into the corners, crashing the net, and throwing some checks towards anyone that touched the puck.
This high quality of play was not sustained throughout the entire game. Peter Laviolette had to call a time out early in the third becuase his team was getting outworked, and was only a few shifts away from getting buried. Whatever the Laviolette said must have hit a nerve, the Flyers scored on the next shift and again three minutes later. After the team regained focus, they looked like the team from earlier in the season that was always looking to build on a lead and not sit on it.
Hopefully the team will continue to build on this solid performance on Thursday when the Thrashers, who are only three points from playoff elimination, come to town. With only six games left in the regular season, this is the perfect first step in the build to the playoffs. We have seen a few glimpses of solid play over the last few weeks, only to be followed up by a lackluster performance. I guess we will see on Thursday.
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