NHL Playoffs: Why the Philadelphia Flyers Are Beating the Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins were the popular pick to win the Stanley Cup when the playoffs started last week.

Someone forgot to tell the Philadelphia Flyers.

With tomorrow’s Game 4 on the horizon, the Flyers are sitting pretty, holding a commanding 3-0 series lead on their intrastate rivals. The team has scored 20 goals and has come from behind in each game of the series en route to their shot at a sweep.

The series, which would have garnered plenty of attention without that high-octane offense and over-the-top physicality, seems to be the focus of the hockey world, as fans everywhere try to understand just how the Broad Street Bullies are manhandling Sidney Crosby’s squad.

Game 1 Was a Statement Game

For the Penguins, Game 1 was little more than an opportunity to start the series the way any home team—particularly one with Pittsburgh’s expectations—should. And in the beginning, it was just that: an emotional, productive start to the playoff year. Perhaps that made the team complacent.

The Flyers, with the aid of a missed offsides call, began to fight back into the game, and the Pens would not find the back of the net again. Two third-period goals tied the match and Jakub Voracek jumped on the puck to score the overtime winner.

Simply put, the Flyers struck the Penguins. They didn’t go away after a 3-0 deficit. They didn’t continue to allow goals in the second and third period. And they struck quickly in overtime, before the Pens found their groove.

The Penguins have looked like deer in headlights ever since.

The Rookies Have Been Contributing

The Flyers were supposed to spend 2011-12 in a moderate rebuilding phase, having lost a number of significant players in favor of a younger offense with great potential in the coming years.

However, the Flyers are winning big games. And they are not winning in spite of the rookies; they are winning because of the rookies. What more could a coach ask for?

Rookies played major roles in all three games this series. Brayden Schenn had three points, including the tying goal in the opener. Sean Couturier turned heads with two tying goals and an insurance marker for a Game 2 hat trick, and Matt Read kept the Flyers offense rolling with two goals in Game 3.

Their role in the team’s success in both the regular season and postseason cannot be overstated.

Fleury and Letang Have Been Uncharacteristically Bad

When two teams as evenly matched as the Flyers and Pens experience such a lopsided result as this, it isn’t only because of the great performance of one team. The Flyers have been aided by some bad play from the Penguins.

Marc-Andre Fleury, who was impressive during Pittsburgh’s two trips to the Finals in 2008 and 2009, has been abysmal. He has had trouble controlling rebounds and seems rattled by big bodies in his crease. His struggles came to a head early in Game 3 when he attempted to scoop up a Max Talbot shot and consequently put it in his own net to tie up the game. He was later pulled in favor of Brent Johnson.

Likewise, Kris Letang, normally the subject of praise for his puck-movement and defensive play, has been a liability in his own zone. It was Letang’s flub that led to Jakub Voracek’s game-winner in the opener. Letang’s play has been so bad that when he was ejected in the first period of Game 3, many Flyers fans groaned at the loss of Letang’s defensive impotence.

He very well may be Philadelphia’s most valuable defenseman in this series.

The Offense Is the Very Defintion of "Explosive"

20 goals in three games is no joke.

It is a statement.

The Flyers’ offense is not letting up on the Penguins. The team’s ability to produce offensive chances keeps them in any game at any point, and allows them to bury an opponent once they get the lead. The Flyers have yet to blow a lead in the series, while they have overcome deficits five times in three games.

They have scored on the power play and while shorthanded. The Flyers have scored on rebounds, breakaways, backhands and snipe-shots. They have used their opportunistic offense to change momentum after pressure from the Penguins.

Simply put, the Penguins were unprepared for the Flyers’ firepower.

The Regular Season Established Philly's Resiliency

The Flyers have used their resiliency to stay in each game after giving up the first goal in all three games of this series.

This is no new task for the Flyers, who regularly got off to slow starts only to claw their way back into games. The team overcame three-goal deficits to win three times during the regular season, more than any other team in the NHL. The video shown features the game-winning goal in a game against Buffalo where the Flyers allowed the first three goals of the game.

That fortitude has carried over to the postseason. No matter what the Penguins do, the Flyers have an answer.

The Penguins Are Coming Unraveled...

Game 3 made highlight reels everywhere, and not just for the goal-scoring.

Cheap shots, trash talk and fights seemed to be more abundant than even the Flyers’ offense during the game, and it was painfully clear why: The Penguins are coming unraveled.

The team is unable to keep its composure, clearly frustrated by both Philadelphia’s power and Pittsburgh’s own shortcomings. Good, resilient teams like the Flyers can refocus and regroup when things are going poorly.

Unfortunately, the Penguins have resorted to headhunting.

...And the Flyers Are Keeping Their Cool

Not so long ago, the Flyers would have found themselves playing right into Pittsburgh’s overly aggressive tactics. The Pens could turn up the intensity and throw the Flyers off their game.

Instead, the Flyers remain tough while keeping themselves in check.

Brayden Schenn delivered a huge hit in Game 3, but it was a clean hit. Scott Hartnell was more than happy to fight Craig Adams, but unlike Adams, Hartnell did not instigate the fight by punching a player who had his back turned. Also, there have yet to be allegations of the Flyers pulling anyone’s hair.

Philadelphia’s unwillingness to stoop to Pittsburgh’s level has only made the Pens’ franchise look that much worse.

Giroux Is Establishing Himself as the Face of the Franchise

When Mike Richards was traded in the offseason, the popular assumption in Philadelphia was that Claude Giroux was the eventual heir to Richards’ offensive throne.

Both players are excellent two-way forwards who play a surprisingly aggressive game despite their small stature. Both are rabid competitors and both play Flyers-style hockey.

Less than a year after the torch was unceremoniously passed, Giroux has arrived in a big way. Not only did Giroux lead the team in scoring (his 93 points were the most by a Flyer since the Lindros days), but he burst onto the national scene by being one of the top point producers in the league.

In three short playoff games this year, he has managed to notch a hat trick, put up a league-leading eight points and drop the gloves with Sidney Crosby.

Giroux is wasting no time getting comfortable in his role.