Flyers-Penguins: Game 3 Preview

The 2008 Eastern Conference Finals are half over.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have jumped out to a 2-0 series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers and the first two games reveal that the Fat Lady is already warming up for her solo.

There have not been many things that the Pittsburgh Penguins have done wrong in the first two games. They have outscored the Flyers 8-4, are 2/9 on the powerplay, and have killed off 5/6 penalties.

Their top three players, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa, were all on the ice for at least 19:27 (Hossa's ice time in game two) up to 22:57 (Malkin's ice time in game two).

The facts are simple. The Penguins know who their best three forwards are, and they put them out on the ice for at least 20 minutes a game. These three superstars are on the ice more, meaning that they are given more time to create plays for their team. This often results in more scoring chances.

The trio has made good use of their time. The three stars produced five of the Penguins' eight goals in the series, while Mike Richards has scored three of the Flyers' four goals in the series.

The Flyers are also putting their play-makers out on the ice for a good chunk of each game, but, with the exception of Mike Richards,the results are not the same

 It also does not help that the Flyers' top defensive pairing of Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn going down with injuries in a span of two days, leaving the Flyers to turn to Derian Hatcher, Jason Smith, Randy Jones, Jaroslav Modry and Lasse Kukkonen to try and stop Pittsburgh's offensive machine.

 Timonen's injury is detrimental to the Flyers because he was the only mobile defenseman on the team. This weakness has been exploited in both games by the Penguins, who seem to skate effortlessly around the Flyers' defense like they were cones.As a result, they get good scoring chances.

The overall skating ability of the defense for the Flyers can be summed up by something I heard from a fan at a game this year: "Pull up a chair Hatcher!". Now, in fairness, Hatcher showed in game two that he is still a physical guy when he can catch up with the Pittsburgh forwards.

The Flyers' defensemen have spent too much time chasing down the dumped pucks  in our own defensive zone, trying to beat the Pittsburgh forwards in a race the full length of the ice that usually ends up being closer than anyone would like it to be. Our defenders cannot keep the puck in the offensive zone.They spend more time chasing the puck all the way back to Marty Biron than they do setting up our forwards in the attacking zone.

On the plus side, the Flyers have out-shot the Penguins 60-59 in the series. At least they are putting the puck on net.

Also, the Flyers clearly picked up their physical assault of Crosby and Malkin after the first period of game two, which really slowed down the Penguins main duo. In addition, the Flyers cut down on their turnovers from game one to game two significantly.

There is still plenty of room for improvement. The Penguins still seem to have control of the puck for way too much time. This is emphasized by the fact that, on Flyers powerplays, it seems as if the Penguins have more control of the puck than we do, often resulting in numerous icings.

Also, the Flyers have been taking too many bad penalties during this series, especially in game two.

 The Penguins capitalized on the Flyers' first two infractions in game two. Both were poor choices by the offenders.

These stupid penalties just need to stop because the Penguins powerplay is just too deadly to be given six chances in a game.

Another thing that needs serious improvement is the first passes that the Flyers' defensemen are making.

Every third start-up pass the Flyers make towards the neutral zone seems to end up right on the stick of a Penguin. Just like that, the Penguins have an odd man rush and a scoring chance. That is how the Penguins scored at least two or three of their eight goals in the series.

But it all comes down to team defense. With guys diving to block shots and pestering their man, the Penguins are a model of  good team defense.

Looking at the Flyers' defense, they all seem lost and uninvolved unless they are in the process of bothering Crosby or Malkin, both of whom seem to draw a second Flyer and end up leaving a Pittsburgh forward wide open for a clean shot.

The keys for the Flyers to win game three are very simple. They need to play physical, keep their dumb penalties down, keep the puck in the offensive zone, keep control of the puck and eliminate turnovers.

While that all sounds like a laundry list of things that they need to do, it all can be done by just playing smart, physical hockey.

Tuesday night, the Philly faithful will be doing their job and verbally abusing Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury as much as possible, hoping for a Carey Price effect.

The Flyers know what they have to do.

Game three is a must-win for the Flyers to have any hope of a comeback in this series, which currently looks unlikely.

The Fat Lady will either take the stage or be sent home after game three. The Philly faithful, myself included, are hoping for the latter and will yell at Sid the Kid as much as possible.