Flyers' assets put them behind Pens Associated Press
PITTSBURGH -- This series was expected to be easy, painfully
easy, for the Philadelphia Flyers, who supposedly had too much
toughness, too much size, just plain too much for the Pittsburgh
Penguins.
At least that's what everybody in Philadelphia was telling them.
Now, as they limp into Pittsburgh down 2-0 in an Eastern
Conference semifinal series that has defied all forecasts, the
Flyers must be wondering if the very assets expected to sway this
series actually are liabilities.
|
CONSECUTIVE GAME-WINNING GOALS
|
|
Name
|
Team
|
Games
|
Year
|
|
Clark Gillies
|
Isles
|
4
|
1977
|
|
Peter Forsberg
|
Avs
|
3
|
Current
|
|
Jaromir Jagr
|
Pens
|
3
|
Current
|
|
Mario Lemieux
|
Pens
|
3
|
1992
|
|
Jaromir Jagr
|
Pens
|
3
|
1992
|
|
Kevin Stevens
|
Pens
|
3
|
1991
|
|
Craig Laughlin
|
Caps
|
3
|
1984
|
|
Roy Conacher
|
Bruins
|
3
|
1939
|
Their size? It's of no help when the Penguins' faster, sleeker
European skaters are flying by them, creating goals and turnovers
and making the less mobile Flyers look like they're skating in
slush.
Their toughness? The Penguins laughed at the Flyers when forward Rick Tocchet precipitated a brawl late in Pittsburgh's 4-1 victory
in Game 2 Saturday that, rather than enhancing the Flyers'
tough-guy image, only highlighted their frustration.
"This isn't about fighting, this is about winning hockey
games," Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis said. "I don't
know what those guys are thinking. This is 2000, not 1960. I don't
know what they're trying to prove, but they don't scare us."
The Flyers have stubbornly stuck with the same roster formula
for years -- signing rugged, no-nonsense North American players who
can muck and grind, dump and chase, agitate and frustrate -- with
remarkable success.
But, so far in this series, they have been upstaged by the
Penguins' stable of full-of-finesse European fly guys. Jaromir Jagr
has three goals in two games, Robert Lang has two more, Martin
Straka has a goal and seems to be assisting on every Penguins goal.
Jan Hrdina is ably serving as Jagr's setup man.
| | John LeClair's Flyers head on the road down 2-0 against the Penguins. |
So far, the series has been like a plodding, oversized Monster
truck trying to outrace a well-tuned European sports car. And it's
not just because the Penguins have more European players than any
other team in a league that is quickly transitioning to Europeans
for its scorers and its stars.
Then there's goaltender Ron Tugnutt, who, by stopping 72 of 73
shots, has been just as instrumental as Jagr in setting the tone
for the series -- and, if the Penguins win it, setting the Flyers up
for yet another huge playoff disappointment. They lost in the first
round the last two seasons.
"We're still confident we can win Game 3 (Tuesday)," Flyers
center Keith Primeau said. "We've just got to find a way to score.
Who would have thought we would have a tougher time with Ronnie
than we did with Dominik (Hasek of Buffalo)?"
Still, the Penguins are trying not to get too comfortable with a
2-0 lead that virtually no one predicted. They understand that one
bad bounce, one goal off a skate blade could swing the momentum
back to the Flyers, who still have two home games left if the
series goes to seven games.
But the longer the Flyers go without beating Tugnutt more
frequently, the closer they come to elimination. Tugnutt has the
reputation of a goalie who can play well for long stretches when
his confidence is up, and this series is growing shorter with each
Penguins victory.
"We have to get to him, we have to get some goals, once we get
some goals, guys will start feeling good about themselves and maybe
we can break his confidence," Flyers goalie Brian Boucher said.
Another factor: The Flyers have come back to win only one
playoff series they trailed 2-0, in 1977 against Toronto. The
Penguins have blown only one 2-0 lead, in 1975 against the New York
Islanders.
"But it's far from over," Penguins defenseman Bob Boughner
said. "The last thing you want to do is mess up at home and give
them life."
Especially since the Flyers are 3-14-5 in their last 22 games in
Pittsburgh, despite a 1-0-1 record there this season.
"It's a pretty tough place to win," Boucher said. "But they
came in here (Philadelphia) and won. This adversity is going to
prove how close a group we really are." |