NHL Playoffs 2012: Philadelphia Flyers Eliminated After Embarrassing Showing

After the Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the playoffs, many expected that they'd advance past the New Jersey Devils with ease.  

But three straight losses put the Flyers on the brink of elimination and the tables had turned.  

The first poor play that led to the Game 5 loss happened two nights prior, when Claude Giroux delivered an illegal hit to the head of Dainius Zubrus and received a one-game suspension. This play put Philadelphia at an immediate disadvantage, as they'd have to pull through a win in Game 5 without their team leader and top scorer.

While the Flyers got off to an energetic and admirable start to the game, it didn't take long for a series of undisciplined and careless plays to put them in a hole.  

The first poor play of the game came at the hands of veteran Kimmo Timonen just minutes after the Devils tied the game. Instead of passing to his defensive partner or playing the puck up the boards, he shoveled it back to Ilya Bryzgalov.

The next poor play came two seconds later, when Bryzgalov overestimated his abilities and tried to shoot the puck past a forechecking David Clarkson. The puck bounced off Clarkson and wound up in the back of the net, adding to an already atrocious season for the pricey goaltender.  

The Flyers, down 2-1 in a must-win situation, needed 100 percent focus and discipline from their players in order to save the season; but that was not delivered.  

Next up was a kneeing/clipping/interference play by rookie Zac Rinaldo, who took out Dainius Zubrus in the second period. The Devils failed to capitalize on the resulting power play, but they had all the momentum and, more importantly, they learned yet again that hard forechecking and desire to win result in undisciplined plays and costly mistakes by the other team.

The nail in the coffin came in the third period, when James van Riemsdyk was sent to the box for a blatant and unnecessary hold on Devils forward Patrik Elias. Ilya Kovalchuk made the Flyers pay just four seconds later, as he rocketed a slap shot off the post and into the net.  

Philadelphia was unable to get themselves back into it in the last 15 minutes, ultimately losing the game 3-1, and the series 4-1.  

There's no point in the season where discipline and composure is of greater importance than an elimination game. Tonight, the Flyers failed to maintain those things, and the result was a Round 2 playoff exit.  

The New Jersey Devils can now recover for a few days and await their next opponent. Whether that's their division rival Rangers or the Washington Capitals is yet to be determined.  

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