Late Season Troubles lead to Post Season Tune Up

Last night the Flyers completely dominated the Sabres in all aspects of the game. However an early 3rd period goal by Patrick Kaleta gave the Sabres all they needed to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the series.

Right from the start the offense was jumping all over the Sabs defense, but after many chances the Flyers headed to the locker room tied at one after one. At the start of the second the stadium seemed a little dead and worries were brewing as the Flyers faithful saw an image that they have seen before. However manage to kill all Sabres chances and neither the Flyers not Sabres would not score in the first two periods.

The Flyers came into the third with a huge load of pressure on their backs that eventually broke them. Kaleta capitalized on a rebound as he drove to the net and opened up the Flyers net. The Flyers fought but it just wasn't meant to be.

I have to commend the Sabres defense. Their patience and positioning completely killed the Flyers chances. Their play lead the way for Ryan Miller to steal the show. Miller was able to see every shot and position himself for them.

A lot of talk is about Miller and how he stole the game. His play was sharp but nothing better than Sergei Bobrovsky. Like I said before the Sabres commitment to defense as a team won this game.

Now a tune up is in order. The Flyers offense looked better than they have in probably a month or so, but they still weren't running at optimal performance. Passes were off and break-ins were sloppy. Hopefully this game, which the Flyers know they could and should have won, will propel them to take advantage of their opportunities.

I heard something really great on 6.10 WIP in Philadelphia from a caller named Gabriella, who said that on the powerplay the Flyers run a dump and chase opting out of carrying the puck in and withholding possession. I like this a lot and it could be the reason their powerplay has been so abysmal. Without control of the puck the Flyers must chase, force a turnover, and set up instead of carrying it in and setting up immediately.

We shall see how the boys in orange bounce back or perhaps if the Flyers will be heading into Buffalo down by 2 in need of an away from home sweep. One thing is for sure, those MAYDAY commercials are annoying as anything! Now it's being so played up, if it were that amazing I would have known about it prior.