Flyers pull into familiar urgency drive

Written By Tim Panaccio, CSNPhilly.com

Much like the begin of the Eastern Conference finals against Montreal, the Blackhawks are blocking a lot of Flyers shots.

The Hawks have 29 blocks. Duncan Keith had six in Game 2. Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, combined, had 7 of their shots blocked.

“You try to find shot lanes the ideal way you can,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. “In the playoffs, the attempts are there and a lot of them get blocked. I think we can still do a better job.

“It seems a lot of times, pucks are coming in and the screens are off to the side. We need that extra step to get in front of [Niemi] and cause a lot of havoc and chaos for him.”

Laviolette stated that getting shots through to rookie goalie Antti Niemi is just one part of what has to be done here. He also stated the Flyers have to plant “doubt” in his mind.

“We found the opportunities we were looking for in the first game, and last night, we were not able to get there,” Laviolette said.  “We’ve got to put more pressure on their goaltender.

“That’s a rookie goaltender playing in the Stanley Cup Final. We have to get on the board tomorrow night and put a tiny bit of doubt there. Our team is capable of scoring a lot of goals, put a lot of pressure on him. It’s a tough position – goaltending.

“He’s representing a city that hasn’t won a Cup in 50 years. We got to give him a crack of doubt. We can do that tomorrow night.”
 
Pronger the thief

Flyers coach Peter stated it was “comical” that there so much fuss made about Chris Pronger stealing the game puck from Games 1 and 2.

Ben Eager did not like it and Pronger and him exchanged words after Game 2.

“I think it’s kinda comical,” Laviolette said. “If Chris Pronger wants the puck, he can have it, as far as I’m concerned. I do not have problems with that. I do not know what the huge deal is.”

It might get the Hawks really upset for Game 3, someone suggested to Laviolette.

“So what is it that the Hawks are gonna do?” Laviolette asked. “What added incentive do they have now? They’re mad? They’re angry? It’s the playoffs. We’re gonna show up and we are gonna compete like hell [Wednesday] night, I promise you that.

“I do not know what else they are gonna do because we stole their puck. I think it’s funny. Just like you guys are laughing now. It’s kinda comical. If Prongs wants the puck, take it.”

And what of Eager’s role in this thing?

“He’s actually a good player,” stated Richards, a close friend of Eager’s from their Phantoms’ days before both became Flyers.

“I played with him for a while. His skill level has been big. He’s obviously a strong guy. So a guy that I think we have to try to stay away from and not let him take us away from the game. A guy we have to know who’s on the ice when he is out there.”
 
Pronger seems to be having fun in this final, especially with the media.

“It is the finals,” he said.  “There is an awful lot of you guys and it’s an awful lot of questions.  Some of them … can be monotonous.  You know what, you have to enjoy the moment.  It’s not every day you have the opportunity to be here at the Stanley Cup Finals. You have to relish it.”

The Captain’s take 

The Flyers’ Mike Richards felt the team could have easily come out of Chicago with at least a split, if not more.

“It’s just a bounce here or there,” Richards said. “Unfortunately, they are getting them right now. But we have to work harder to create some for ourselves.”

The Flyers aren’t frustrated by Niemi just like they were not done in by Montreal’s Jaroslav Halak.

“He’s played well,” Richards stated of Niemi. “He’s made saves, obviously to keep us off the scoreboard in the third. We just have to bear down a tiny bit stronger on the net and get the puck up.”

The thought process on Monday is that the 0-2 hole is exactly something that will force the Flyers’ into “urgency” drive, much like the Boston series. Say what you want, but this club plays its ideal hockey when its back is against the wall and they are staring down elimination.

They haven’t gotten to elimination…yet.

“It’s a position, unfortunately, that we are familiar with,” Richards said. “And obviously not the way we want to go home, but in a situation where we cannot get discouraged. We have to build off of how well we played at home lately. And get ready for Game 3.”

Kimmo Timonen stated the same thing.

“It happened against Boston, too,” he said. “We were down 2-0 and actually lost at home, going 3-0. Now is not the time to panic. We’ve been here. We’ve done this before. Obviously, we have to get better. We got to get another gear.”         

 

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Submited at Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 at 10:00 pm on Sports by sofia
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