Philadelphia Flyers Daily Clips May 6, 2011

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1 Philadelphia Flyers Daily Clips May 6, 2011 FLYERS Headlines 1. Philadelphia Inquirer- Flyers' last hope: Try to plant doubt in Bruins 2. Philadelphia Inquirer- Flyers know the task at hand, and that may not be a good thing 3. Philadelphia Inquirer- Bruins' Seidenberg haunting the Flyers 4. Philadelphia Inquirer- Bobrovsky likely to start for Flyers 5. Philadelphia Daily News- Flyers face elimination tonight in Boston 6. Philadelphia Daily News- Flyers lack maturity, not guts 7. Philadelphia Daily News- For Flyers, not about one guy, it's about all of them 8. CSNPhilly.com- Flyers hope added aggression can prolong series 9. CSNPhilly.com- Jackson's Five: Déjà vu for Flyers? Doubt it 10. CSNPhilly.com- Source: Bobrovsky 'probable' to start in Game CSNPhilly.com- Flyers notes: 'Everything' working for Krejci's unit 12. Delaware County Times- Flyers' Laviolette trying one last dose of motivational magic 13. Delaware County Times- This Flyers collapse was a long time coming 14. Delaware County Times- Flyers now paying for Seidenberg's success 15. Bucks County Courier-Times- This 0-3 hole seems somewhat deeper 16. Bucks County Courier-Times- Laviolette decides it's time for some inspiration 17. Bucks County Courier-Times- Mission Impossible 2? 18. Camden Courier-Post- Flyers look like dead men walking 19. Camden Courier-Post- Anything can happen 20. Philadelphiaflyers.com- Giroux Launches charity website 21. Philadelphiaflyers.com- What will be needed? 22. Philadelphiaflyers.com- Bruins back in position to sweep Flyers 23. NHL.com- Flyers: Need to be better regardless of goalie 24. NHL.com- Bruins proving it's a new team, new year Boston Bruins Headlines (FLYERS Next Opponent) 1. Boston Globe- Confident Bruins aren t looking back 2. Boston Globe- Flyers know the score 3. Boston Globe- Warming up to the jacket 4. Boston Herald- After last year, it s closing time for Bruins 5. Boston Herald- Nathan Horton proves self in playoffs 6. Boston Herald- Tim Thomas loves to make history in OT 7. Boston Herald- Flyers reminding Bruins of last year 8. Patriot Ledger- Boston Bruins want to end playoff series against Philadelphia Flyers on first try 9. Patriot Ledger- Boston Bruins defenseman Steven Kampfer hopes to benefit from frustrating injury experience 10. CSNNE.com- Three reasons why Bruins won't collapse 11. CSNNE.com- Haggerty: What a difference a year makes 12. CSNNE.com- Haggerty: The days that changed the Bruins' season 13. CSNNE.com- Notes: McQuaid, Chara missing from practice 14. CSNNE.com- Notes: Savard not in Boston for Games 3 and 4

2 NHL Headlines 1. TSN.ca- Cullen: Kesler taking over series; Canucks in control FLYERS Articles 1. Philadelphia Inquirer- Flyers' last hope: Try to plant doubt in Bruins Sam Carchidi Facing elimination, the Flyers have a simple goal on Friday night at TD Garden: win a game and plant some seeds of doubt in the collective minds of the Boston Bruins. In other words, get the Bruins to start thinking about last year's colossal collapse, when they lost the last four games in the Eastern Conference semifinals - and blew a 3-0 lead in Game 7. Boston leads this year's rematch, three games to none, just as it did at this point last season. Game 4 is Friday night in Boston. "I think just one win would give us that confidence, and it's going to make them think about what happened last year," Flyers center Claude Giroux said after Thursday's practice at TD Garden. "Just one win would just put us back in the mix, and then going back in front of our fans, I have no doubt that we can get a win" at the Wells Fargo Center. Winger Scott Hartnell said the Flyers were "going to try to relish this opportunity and go out there and disappoint these fans in Game 4, and then they'll start thinking, 'Oh, man. Oh, man. What's going to happen here? Is it going to be a repeat of last year?' " There are some major differences, however. The Bruins, who are one win away from reaching the conference finals for the first time since 1992, are healthier and have better goaltending this spring. Oh, and they are playing Game 4 at home, where their rabid fans want to watch The Payback. Every enjoyable second of it. "The biggest thing again will be putting the past aside and thinking about the present," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "We learned from last year, obviously," Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk said. "The hardest game to win is the fourth game. But that was last year." It shouldn't be as difficult this time because the Flyers are without their team leader, injured defenseman Chris Pronger, and their revolving goaltending is in disarray.

3 In the first three games, Boston has outscored the Flyers by The Flyers never got into a rhythm in their 5-1 loss Wednesday. Two Boston goals in the first 63 seconds were among the reasons. So was the fact that Boston won a staggering 78 percent of the faceoffs, after the Flyers had a slight edge in that department in the first two games. "We're capable of giving more than we gave," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said of Wednesday's effort. "I truly believe that. We've done it so many times. Without making excuses, it wasn't good enough." Laviolette said the Flyers need a quick start Friday night, need to establish control. "One game at a time," Hartnell said. "You win Game 4, you get to live and breathe for Game 5, and we've been a good team in our building all year long, and then bring it back here for Game 6. But more importantly, [we're] just focusing on a big effort Friday night." The Flyers deserved to win Game 2, but Tim Thomas stole a 3-2 overtime victory with his acrobatic goaltending. The other two games were Boston blowout wins, 7-3 and 5-1. Hartnell acknowledged that "things have been a little tense around here" during the threegame losing streak, but he said the team was relaxed Thursday. "You can't be down in the dumps. I think practice was up-tempo," Hartnell said. "Guys were having fun. We're still alive, and that's the main thing. We have to come up with a big effort." After edging Buffalo in seven hard-fought games, the Flyers have seen their play deteriorate against the physical Bruins. "It just seems like almost every aspect of our game has been a little bit of a letdown," said Hartnell, who has managed just one goal in 10 playoff games this year. "Sometimes we're not getting the pucks out; sometimes we're not getting those shots from the slot. We're one-and-done around the net. Our game is relentless hockey, shift after shift. It just seems we haven't been consistent with it." In the last two playoff seasons, the Flyers are 6-1 in elimination games. "We just have to remember last year," Hartnell said. "We have to believe." They have no other choice. 2. Philadelphia Inquirer- Flyers know the task at hand, and that may not be a good thing

4 Phil Sheridan Because they are one of the very few teams in history that have actually climbed this mountain, the Flyers know exactly what it would take to win this second-round series against the Boston Bruins. The real question: Is that a good thing? As surely as the Flyers know it is possible to win four elimination games in a row, they also know it required a perfect confluence of self-confidence, eye-of-the-hurricane calm, pitch-perfect leadership, timely scoring, and - to be frank - a wilting opponent. It might have actually helped the 2010 Flyers that they didn't know what they were getting into until they were well into it. By the time they understood how mentally draining and physically exhausting it was, it was over. The team then rode the momentum of that exhilarating comeback through a relatively easy conference final series against Montreal. This year's team doesn't have the luxury of that ignorance. The Flyers know what it took, and they also know that these Bruins are not nearly as soft as last year's team proved to be. "Everybody was [ticked] off this morning," defenseman Kimmo Timonen said after Thursday's practice. "It was a tough morning. We're down, 3-0, and we're not where we wanted to be at this time of the year. But you know what? There are ups and downs. This is a down moment for our team, but as long as there's games, there's a chance." Part of the beauty of The Comeback was the way the Flyers embraced the emptiest of sports cliches and made them profound. One game at a time? That was literally the way they had to live. Each win bought them one more chance. After losing Game 3 at home, 4-1, the Flyers came back and forced overtime in Game 4. One goal was the difference between elimination and buying that next chance. Simon Gagne, who had missed the previous four games with a foot injury, scored the gamewinner. The Flyers then went back to Boston and drubbed the Bruins, 4-0. That was the game that really planted doubt in the Bruins' minds. At home, with a chance to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 1992, they were booed mercilessly for playing the way the Flyers did in Games 1 and 3 this year. The rest is Flyers lore. They won Game 6, 2-1, then fell behind, 3-0, early in Game 7 in Boston. Peter Laviolette called his famous timeout, and the Flyers summoned some untapped reserve of energy and will to win. It was great stuff. Do they have that stuff now? If so, they've showed precious little evidence of it.

5 "The fight seemed to leave us," Laviolette said, accurately describing the way his team sagged in Game 3 Wednesday night. It was bad, falling behind by 2-0 in the first minute or so. What was worse was the way the Bruins kept pounding on the Flyers, knocking them over and simply taking the puck off their sticks. The Flyers were the bullied, not the Bullies, in that game. "We'd rather be in a different situation," Laviolette said. "We're not. This is the situation we're in. You can't change that. You can't pick and choose where you want to be. We're down, 0-3. The only scenario that works is to go out there and fight for something." That is ultimately the challenge for this team. In 2004, the Flyers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the conference finals. Keith Primeau led a team that went down fighting with everything it had. The fans were disappointed but admired the effort. Two years later, the Flyers were crushed, 3-0 and 7-1, in the final games of a first-round series against Buffalo. It was a shameful way to go out. The Flyers may not be able to repeat The Comeback, but they can prove something Friday night. "It's going to say a lot about us, how we respond to this," Laviolette said. "I really believe we're going to leave it all on the ice [Friday] night," Danny Briere said. That is all anyone can ask of a team. The Flyers did not do that, for whatever reasons, in Games 1 and 3. Maybe they thought the Bruins would be pushovers again. Maybe they just miss Chris Pronger that much. Maybe they lack faith in their goaltending and aren't able to commit themselves. Maybe - and this is surely part of it - the Bruins really are just that much better. Whatever. Since the NHL is unlikely to give them do-overs, all the Flyers can do is play this one game with everything they have. And then? Well, who knows? "Just one win would give us confidence and make them think about last year," winger Claude Giroux said. "One win would put us back in the mix." It certainly beats the alternative. 3. Philadelphia Inquirer- Bruins' Seidenberg haunting the Flyers Ray Parrillo Dennis Seidenberg has worn the colors of four teams in the five-plus years since the Flyers cut their ties with him in a deal with the Phoenix Coyotes for an over-the-hill Petr Nedved midway through the season.

6 Now that he has found a home with the Boston Bruins, the defenseman is treating the team that drafted him like an uninvited guest. If the 29-year-old Seidenberg hasn't been the best defenseman in the Eastern Conference semifinal series, which the Bruins can end in a sweep on Friday at TD Garden, he's second only to his partner along the blue line - 6-foot-9 Zdeno Chara. Seidenberg's numbers in the Bruins' three wins over the Flyers are somewhat staggering. He is plus-9 with three assists. He has been on the ice for 11 of Boston's 15 goals. He has blocked 12 shots and squeezed off 10. In the Bruins' 3-2 overtime win in Game 2, Seidenberg was on the ice for a game-high 36 minutes, 26 seconds, leading the team with six blocks. After that game, Boston coach Claude Julien called Seidenberg a horse. "He doesn't get tired," he said. "He can take it." Seidenberg also has helped make life a bit easier for goalie Tim Thomas by adeptly sweeping rebounds from harm's way. "What he's given us is what we knew he could do for us," Julien said Thursday. "He's a player who has played extremely well in big games. And when he's at his best and he's very confident, he's an elite defenseman." Even though it's been nine years since the Flyers signed Seidenberg to his first NHL contract, he'd been in only 19 playoff games before this season. A year ago, when the Flyers came back to beat the Bruins after losing the first three games in the conference semifinals, Seidenberg watched from the press box, after a skate blade had sliced a tendon in his left forearm with four games remaining in the regular season. "It's nerve-racking [to watch], and it's not fun," Seidenberg said. "It's more gratifying being part of the team this year and being able to help out." With Seidenberg healthy, Julien knows the Bruins are better equipped to deal with the Flyers this time around. "When you look at the way he's performed, you can see how much we missed him last year in the playoffs and how much better we would have been as a team with him on it," Julien said. "He's been like an unsung hero to many, but it certainly hasn't eluded our view of him." Seidenberg's time with the Flyers was marked by injuries and frustration. His major setback while with the Flyers occurred in January 2004, when defenseman Markus Ragnarsson fell on him during a one-on-one drill and broke Seidenberg's leg. Seidenberg played 58 games for the Flyers after he was called up from the Phantoms in , but only 34 more before he was traded for Nedved.

7 Seidenberg was a free agent before the season and he hoped to reach an agreement for a return to the Flyers, but the team told him it couldn't fit him under the salary cap, so he signed for one year and $2.5 million with the Florida Panthers. Finally, the German-born Seidenberg has stability in his career. He's in the first season of a four-year deal with the Bruins, and he's on their top defensive pairing, averaging more than 28 minutes a game in the postseason. The Bruins acquired him from the Panthers at the 2010 trade deadline, hoping he would help them finally get into the conference finals for the first time since A year later, he's giving them what they had hoped for. 4. Philadelphia Inquirer- Bobrovsky likely to start for Flyers Sam Carchidi It appears that Flyers rookie Sergei Bobrovsky will make his first playoff start Friday since Game 2 of the Buffalo series. Coach Peter Laviolette does not announce his goalies during the playoffs, but at Thursday's skate at TD Garden, Brian Boucher and Johan Backlund rotated at one end while Bobrovsky was at the other. The goalies who rotate usually don't start the next game. Bobrovsky will be in a must-win situation in Game 4 against the Boston Bruins, who lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals, three games to none. In his April 16 start against Buffalo, Bobrovsky allowed three goals on seven shots and was replaced by Boucher after 12 minutes, 30 seconds. The Flyers won that game, 5-4. In nine playoff games, Boucher is 4-4 with a 3.13 goals-against average and a.904 save percentage. Bobrovsky is 0-1 with a 3.31 GAA and an.875 save percentage in five appearances. Michael Leighton, who is apparently bothered by a back injury, is 0-1 with a 3.43 GAA and an.862 save percentage in two playoff games. Counting the two switches they made in Game 2 against Boston, the Flyers have had seven in-game goalie changes in this year's playoffs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, in playoff history, no team has ever made more than seven in-game goalie changes. Chicago also made seven changes in Pronger returning?

8 Defenseman Chris Pronger is doubtful for Friday, but general manager Paul Holmgren did not rule him out of the lineup. Asked if there was a chance Pronger would play in Game 4, Holmgren said that the defenseman was "improving" and that the team would know more on Friday. The Flyers say Pronger has a lower-body injury, which is believed to be his lower back/ hamstring. Pronger did not practice Thursday. Jeff Carter, who returned from a knee injury in Game 3, also did not practice, but he is expected to play. Talking big Two years in a row, Laviolette has been forced to make an impassioned speech to his team after it fell into a 3-0 series deficit against Boston. He can only hope the Flyers respond in the same manner as last season. Laviolette wouldn't go into details about the speech he made to his players before Thursday's practice. The Flyers are trying to regroup from Wednesday's 5-1 loss in Game 3. "It was a tough morning, but we had a similar speech from Peter that fired us up last year," center Danny Briere said, "and I hope it's going to do the same." If Boston wins Game 4, it would be the first time the Flyers were swept in the playoffs since the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals against Detroit. Briere said the Flyers "don't have much to lose at this point. We're just going out there and trying to have fun and trying to win one game and go back to our building." The Flyers are 6-1 in elimination games in the last two playoff years, and Laviolette is expected to juggle his lines to try to generate more offense. Breakaways TD Garden is hosting Northeastern's graduation on Friday, preventing the teams from having morning skates.... The Flyers honored four area high school championship teams - La Salle (Class AAA), Council Rock South (AA), Springfield (A), and Unionville (girls) - during an awards ceremony at the Wells Fargo Center. The teams won titles during the 32d annual Flyers Cup scholastic championships.

9 5. Philadelphia Daily News- Flyers face elimination tonight in Boston Frank Seravalli Peter Laviolette is one of the game's great motivators. His players say they have never played for a coach who inspires such confidence, ranging from day-to-day practices and meetings to pregame speeches deep in the bowels of every big arena in the NHL. Standing on the bench Wednesday night, as his Flyers were getting pounded by the Bruins, Laviolette noticed something about his team he had not seen in a while. "Once it got to 3-0, the fight seemed to leave us," Laviolette said yesterday. "We've got to have a commitment to that fight. We're capable of giving more than we gave in [Game 3]. We've done it so many times." Yes, the Flyers have done it so many times - as recently as 2 weeks ago, when they trailed the Buffalo Sabres, three games to two, in their first-round series. But do they have enough gas left in the tank to complete another miraculous comeback, to win four straight against a team that already was victimized by such a comeback? For Laviolette, the motivational speech began yesterday before his team practiced at TD Garden in preparation for tonight's possibly season-ending Game 4 against the Bruins. "We had a similar speech from Peter that fired us up last year," Danny Briere said. "I'm not going to say what the speech was, but it was very similar to last year. "Whatever it takes to get us going, I guess. I think we need more fire in our eyes than we showed in Game 3." That fire was nonexistent at the Flyers' skate yesterday. There was no energy, no passion. There was no chatter about how the Flyers won four straight last year to beat the Bruins in seven games, or how the Flyers have liked the way they've played, as they did last spring in those first three games against the Bruins. "It was obviously tough to come to the rink [yesterday]," Briere said. The feeling down the hallway, in the Bruins' locker room was the opposite. "This is obviously a different feeling," Bruins coach Claude Julien said, comparing this year with last year. "We're a determined group right now. We're certainly not sitting comfortable, by any means. We have the right mind-set, I think, as we speak."

10 For the Flyers, the mind-set doesn't seem the same as it has when they faced any other deficit. They've continued to say all of the right things - but there is no convincing voice behind it. Yesterday, they sounded more like a team glued to the mat. Ville Leino acknowledged the Flyers were "probably a little down." Leino estimated that half of the team was probably "[ticked] off" and the other half was quiet. "We probably didn't sleep too well [Wednesday] night," Leino said. Then again, other than from Laviolette's lips, there isn't too much to say before a game like tonight's. The statistics do not matter. The history does not matter. Laviolette's words will not matter. Tonight's starting goaltender, whom Laviolette did not name yesterday, will not make any bit of difference. This team will be judged solely by the final score tonight - not any style points it might accrue. "We know what it is that we have to do," Leino said. "We should play loose and have fun out there. It's serious, but it shouldn't be too serious. There is no need to go out there nervous or scared." This Flyers team has been in this position before - with almost the same nucleus of players. The players also probably already know that, with a loss tonight, after leading the Eastern Conference for 54 straight days with a deep roster, offseason surgery by general manager Paul Holmgren might make this the last time this group is together. "Everybody should realize at this point of the year that if we're not playing our game, we're going to be doing something other than hockey pretty soon," Timonen said. "We can't feel sorry for ourselves. I think everyone should realize what kind of game [tonight] is. We've got to make sure that [tonight] is the only game in our mind." That was the basis of Laviolette's pregame chats last year against Boston. The truth is that the Flyers can't begin to think about planting a seed of doubt inside the Bruins' minds - that won't happen by winning only one game. And as unfulfilling as the cliches are, it's true that the Flyers can't win four games by winning one tonight. "It's do-or-die," Scott Hartnell said. "You can look at every analogy or saying in the book. It's one game. Leave it all on the table. I think it's one of those games where you need to look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you gave it your all. I think if everyone can do that, we will come out on top." The Flyers haven't given their all in two of the three games in this series. This is their last opportunity to make it right.

11 The Flyers can decide to either write their own obituary or begin to write a new chapter in what has been a hell of a storybook. "The good thing is that we're still alive," Briere said. "You look in here and there are 23 other teams on vacation already. It's a good thing that we're still alive. We're not going to win four games [tonight]. We've put ourselves in a tough, tough spot. But we win one game, and you never know what can happen." Injury update Jeff Carter (knee) and Chris Pronger (lower-body injury) both missed yesterday's brief practice at TD Garden. Carter played nearly 16 minutes in Game 3 and could be a possibility for tonight's Game 4, depending on how his knee responds after that game and yesterday's rest. Pronger is doubtful to return this series. * 6. Philadelphia Daily News- Flyers lack maturity, not guts Rich Hofmann Flyers coach Peter Laviolette played the legacy card yesterday. It was probably the best he could do, given the truly lousy hand he currently holds. He talked about being down by 0-3 in another playoff series to the Bruins, and about just worrying about winning one game, and about how, after a dismal Game 3, his team is "capable of giving more than we gave." Then he said this: "It's going to say a lot about us, how we respond to this and how we are perceived from here." It is a nice try, but Laviolette is wrong. The perception is already set. Unless the Flyers were to find a way to commit another miracle in the next week, as they did last season against the Bruins, it doesn't really matter whether they end up winning zero, one, two or three games in this series. Because no one doubts the Flyers' courage. And everyone doubts their collective maturity. They have proved, again and again, that they possess gumption by the garage-full. In the last two seasons, their record in playoff elimination games is and the one loss, in the Stanley Cup finals, came on a ridiculous goal in overtime.

12 They take pride in their backbone, and deservedly so. They gained a national reputation for guts after their comeback from oblivion last spring against the Bruins, and they have added to it this year in the first round of the playoffs against Buffalo. It is their greatest strength. It also is their greatest weakness. They are the smart kid who is forever starting the term paper on the night before it is due, and whose only real studying for tests is done on the school bus in the morning. They get by on their ability and on adrenaline - that is, until they don't, until they push it too far. That is who the Flyers are. That is their reputation - begun last season, reinforced with the way they limped to the finish line this March, cemented now with this spring. And the signs during Game 3 were a collective realization that they had pushed it too far this time. They gave up two goals in the first 63 seconds, and then another one later when they got caught up ice trying to create something, and then, as Laviolette said, "Once it got to be 3-0, the fight seemed to leave us." This, too, must be said: The Bruins are playing very well. They have size, they have speed and, when they're attentive to it, they play a confounding, counterattacking system that really does a good job in the middle of the ice. It is no disgrace to lose a series to this caliber of team; the Flyers had 106 points in the regular season and the Bruins had 103, after all. The problem is the way the Flyers have played. It really was not their fault that it took seven games to beat the Buffalo Sabres in the first round - that was all about their comical goaltending, and it was exhausting. But in winning two more elimination games to close out that series, and in getting defenseman Chris Pronger back into the lineup, they appeared to find that extra gear. It was what would presumably carry them into the Boston series. Instead, they played a terrible game in their end in Game 1 and got smoked, and they had a dreadful start in Game 3 and got smoked again. In between, they could have and should have won Game 2 - and would have won but for Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas. But that will happen in playoff hockey. Game 1, especially, is the one that cannot happen. But it did. Collectively, as a team, they allowed themselves a breather after the Buffalo series - apparently confident in the fact that they have come from behind so many times before. Again, it is a lack of maturity - and, in this case, it was combined with Pronger having a minus-3 night, leaving the ice with 2 minutes to go, and never being seen again with a still-undisclosed injury. This time, it felled them. And now they are left to hope for another Boston implosion, and to say things like this, from center Claude Giroux: "Just one win would give us confidence and make them think about last year."

13 That is all fine. You have to say something when they turn on the cameras, after all. But it misses the bigger point. However tonight ends, this group should neither rue nor celebrate the result of Game 4. It is Game 1 that they need to think hardest about. 7. Philadelphia Daily News- For Flyers, not about one guy, it's about all of them Sam Donnellon The familiar banner hung from a locker a few feet behind him, and Danny Briere had just finished that tried-and-true spiel about his team being one that "doesn't rely on one or two or three guys." "It's not about me, it's about the guy next to me," reads the banner, but the guy next to him hasn't done much scoring in this series, and the guy next to him guy, either. And as for the defense... So when Briere was asked about how leadership factored into the big, 3-0 hole the Flyers have once again dug for themselves, he wandered from the script and sounded a little contradictory. "At this point the most important part is you get yourself ready," he said. "You can't look elsewhere. You can't look to the guy next to you. You have to do it yourself." The Flyers are on the verge of being swept by the Bruins for a ton of reasons, starting with the bad habits they developed after jumping off to that big lead this season. Everybody's understandably talking about their goaltending this postseason, but whether it was Bob or Boosh, those guys looked a whole lot more competent back in the first 3 months of the season when the team was playing with so much more accountability. There was no guy next to you then. Players, particularly on defense, were proud of the team's record. Bobrovsky's breakout November instilled a sense that it was about the system more than the resumes. With their near-miss in the Stanley Cup finals as a backdrop, the Flyers played as if finishing a task. Everything was in the details. "You have to worry about yourself for the sake of the guy next to you," Briere said. "But you can't worry about the guy next to you. That's the difference." The truth is the Flyers have failed to do that. They are 1-5 in this postseason when falling behind, and when those awful breakdowns cost them two goals in the first 63 seconds the other night, you could practically hear the hiss from their deflation.

14 They worried about the other guy. Worse, they seemed to doubt him. It's a natural offshoot of a team that habitually beats itself, and the Flyers have been that team for the greater part of their 2011 calendar year. If it ends tonight, or Sunday, or even next Tuesday back here, the Flyers should be forced to watch those 63 seconds, and that 2-minute stretch that was the real reason they lost Game 2. With an early 2-0 lead, their home crowd juiced, they devolved into that familiar pond-hockey mentality of theirs, coughed up a slew of choice chances and just like that, the game was tied. They played their tails off from there, of course, should have won the game but didn't. If that sounds like a familiar refrain over the last 3 months, it's because it is. They could have won Game 1 against Buffalo if they had put a full 60 minutes in, might have even avoided some of the gruel and grind of that series. Maybe Chris Pronger would be healthy right now. Maybe Jeff Carter, too. Maybe they wouldn't have felt Wednesday night, in the words of Kimmo Timonen, "Like we were skating in the sand." "It was heavy. It was rough," Timonen said. "We couldn't get anything going. But we can't feel sorry for ourselves now. It's not going to help. It's a new day. Sun is up. Tomorrow's a new game. Doesn't matter what happened in Game 1, 2 or 3. Tomorrow is Game 4." Well, yeah, it does matter. It matters just as it mattered over those last 2 months, just as it mattered when this team made it tough on itself last round. They needed an overtime bounce to survive that. They need more than that now, more than even last year, when they faced elimination at home. Pronger didn't skate yesterday. Carter didn't, either. Mike Richards was first up in the dressing room, said it was too late for rah-rah and speeches, and left after a minute and a half. One by one, some of the others took turns trying to come up with some other explanation for their plight other than the obvious, that bad habits can take out any team this time of year, no matter how deep or balanced you believe it to be. "When you're not playing up to your standards, anyone can take advantage of you," said Briere, finally. "They're having a lot of success because we're not up to what we should be." 8. CSNPhilly.com- Flyers hope added aggression can prolong series Tim Panaccio There was a period before Peter Laviolette arrived in December of 2009 when the Flyers admitted they would show up at their practice rink feeling miserable about their lives.

15 Those days seem like ancient history. Or maybe history revisited because the Flyers showed up at TD Garden on Thursday morning feeling anything but comfortable with their current situation in this Eastern Conference semifinal series, down 0-3 to the Bruins. Everybody was pissed off this morning, Kimmo Timonen said about Wednesday s dysfunctional 5-1 beating. It was a tough morning. Danny Briere was looking for anger. Whatever it takes to get us going, I guess, he said. Maybe some guys need to be angry, some guys, I just think we need more fire in our eyes than we showed in Game 3. Obviously, it was tough this morning coming to the rink, but a lot of similarities we can draw from last year, coming in after Game 3. Tough morning. It could be an even tougher Friday night if the Flyers come out with another emotionless start. The Bruins sensed tentativeness, then proceeded to bang the Flyers around the rink, further jolting whatever confidence this team came to Boston with after Game 2 s 3-2 overtime loss. Coach Peter Laviolette gave them a speech Thursday, Briere said, similar to the one he gave last spring in this very situation. That fired us up last year, and I hope it s going to do the same, Briere said. We weren t really talkative too much I really believe guys are going to leave it on the ice tomorrow. Given how little the Flyers left on the ice in Game 3, there should be plenty leftover to spill in Game 4. Is there anything worth carrying over that the Flyers can build off for this latest elimination game? I don t think you can take anything positive out of it, said Timonen, who never minces words. We got 37 shots. Maybe that s the only thing. Other than that, I don t think there is anything positive. The only thing we can do now is look at one game and not the big picture. Make sure we bring our skating and forechecking and be aggressive [Friday]. That s our game. If we are able to do that, we ll be in good shape. No one knows what kind of shape Jeff Carter (right knee strain) or Chris Pronger are in. Carter watched in dress clothes as the Flyers skated. Pronger (back/hamstring pull) remained in the trainer s room.

16 The goalie? One club source said Sergei Bobrovsky was the probable starter. Laviolette should throw caution to the wind, look toward the future and start Bob, who played well in relief of Brian Boucher in Game 3. So what about that speech Laviolette gave today? He didn t get specific with the media of what was said. We re capable of giving more than we gave [Wednesday] night, Laviolette said. I truly believe that. We ve done it so many times. Without making excuses, it wasn t good enough last night. We got to be better. Individually, we re accountable to ourselves. We have to make sure we re ready to play the game. And give all you got and then more. And that s where we came up short. The Flyers have come from behind so many times this season, even in the playoffs, that it s taken a mental toll on them. Here s the rub: Last spring, they were down 0-3 to Boston, but they had lost 5-4 in overtime during Game 1; then 3-2 in Game 2; then 4-1 in Game 3. Two of the first three games were close. The Flyers felt they were in the series with Boston. This time, being down 0-3 has a different feel to it. The Bruins have dominated. Of the three games played, only the 3-2 overtime loss in Game 2 made you feel like the Flyers had a chance. Have the Bruins broken the Flyers will? No, I don t think it s over, said Bruin center David Krejci, who has eight points in the series. You saw last year how they came back. We have to take it game by game. It s Game 4. We go out and have the same approach as yesterday. Anyone who thinks these Bruins are last year s Bruins, just isn t looking at the reality. Their mental makeup is better, not to mention the number of key additions general manager Peter Chiarelli made in the offseason. Ahh, maybe a little bit, Timonen replied when asked if this situation now feels different than last May. Out of the three games, maybe two games we haven t played good. Game 2 at home we should have won that, but weren t able to put the puck in the net. If we re able to play that kind of game tomorrow, we re in good shape. Last year was last year We re not happy with the series this year. We still have a chance.

17 When Timonen admits what other players are thinking -- that there s only been one close game so far -- it makes it that much more daunting for the Flyers to think they can come back again as they did last spring. Then again, these are the Stanley Cup playoffs where oddities and rarities often present themselves. There s no question that physically and emotionally it s draining, Laviolette said. I would rather not be in this situation, but we can t change that. You can t pick and choose where you want to be. We sit here down 0-3. The only scenario that works is go out there and fight for something we gotta win a hockey game. 9. CSNPhilly.com- Jackson's Five: Déjà vu for Flyers? Doubt it Jim Jackson It s the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Boston Bruins have taken a 3-0 lead over the Philadelphia Flyers. Where have we seen this before? Why, of course, it was just last May, when the Flyers went on to make history as only the third team in the NHL, and fourth in the major pro sports, to erase such a series deficit and advance. It will remain as one of the greatest accomplishments in the rich history of the Flyers organization. And we are right back here again in Or are we? The numbers say we are. The visual evidence seems to say otherwise. Tim Thomas, Nathan Horton, Brad Marchand and a healthy David Krejci and Dennis Seidenberg were not part of the epic Bruins collapse last year. They are clearly evident this year. Meanwhile, a 100 percent healthy Chris Pronger is not available for the Flyers after being a key part of the mix a year ago. Who would have thought the Flyers could actually be in a position to top what they accomplished last May? If they come back and win this series, it would be even more remarkable than Here are some observations of the series. The start The Bruins absolutely exploded out of the gate in Game 3. Two goals in 63 seconds completely set the tone for the rest of the game. Yes, there was still a lot of hockey to be played, but there really wasn t a feeling the Bruins would ever let the Flyers back into the game. The Flyers did not appear ready for the onslaught. I m sure they had been warned. I m sure they expected it. And yet, they were immediately on their heels. Perhaps, the Flyers

18 had just figured their dominance from late in Game 2 would simply carry on over. If so, they were obviously mistaken. They never recovered. Domination on draws There are a lot of coaches who feel the true barometer of a team s readiness for play is the success in the faceoff circle. After all, many draws are won or lost basically on which team wants the puck more when it s dropped. Through the first two games of this series, the Flyers held their own in the faceoff circle. They had won 52.7 percent of the draws. On Wednesday night, those numbers turned in historic fashion. The Bruins won 55 of 67 faceoffs. That s a 78.2 percent success rate. It s the highest percentage in a playoff game for a team in at least 10 years. It means the Bruins were able to gain possession of the puck off of practically every draw. Thus, they dictated the tempo of the game. Physicality The official scorers who chart the hits at TD Garden had the final count at in favor of the Flyers in Game 3. However, watching the game, it sure appeared it was Boston taking it to the Flyers from a physical standpoint, especially in the first period. It was just another piece of evidence of the Bruins dominance. Marchand was credited with seven hits in the game. Boston s little dynamo seemed to be sending Flyers down to the ice at every turn at certain junctures of the game. Johnny Boychuk was involved physically. Even Krejci played with an edge. The Flyers need to respond in kind to have any hope of getting the series back to Philadelphia for Game 5. Boston s best Bruins head coach Claude Julien ranked Wednesday s performance right up there with the best of the season for his team. It was what many peopled expected of this club after they made some moves around the trade deadline to bolster an already solid squad. After meandering some down the stretch of the season and falling into a 2-0 hole in the first round, it appears the switch has gone off, as they have won seven of their last eight playoff games. The Flyers have precious little time left to try and get the Bruins out of this rhythm. Perhaps they have now seen the best Boston can give them. The B s can t be any better, can they? Different year, different team Much of the talk between Games 3 and 4 is about another 3-0 Boston lead over the Flyers for the second straight year. It s unavoidable; the irony is so clear cut. However, thus far in this series, many of the key players for the Bruins have been guys who did not play a role in the demise of the team last season.

19 Most important, Thomas was the backup last year. Now, he s proving to be one huge obstacle for the Flyers. Krejci missed the final four games of the 2010 series due to injury. He already has four goals and four assists, including an overtime game-winner, this time around. Marchand was a spectator last year. He has three goals, five points, and has been a consistent pest to the Flyers in That s to say nothing of the obvious contributions of guys like Horton (two goals, three assists) and Seidenberg (plus-9), who weren t around last year either. The Bruins can point to these newcomers as reason No. 1 why they are confident another collapse is not imminent. The Flyers do have a couple of things going for them. First of all, they have been at their best when facing elimination over the last couple of years. In fact, they are 6-1 in such games. Secondly, if they manage to find a way to win Friday night, the Flyers will force the Bruins into answering endless amount of questions about last year and a repeat. Doubt would have to surface. It would only be natural. The pressure would certainly shift. So, it s all about getting that first win in Game 4. From there who knows? 10. CSNPhilly.com- Source: Bobrovsky 'probable' to start in Game 4 Sarah Baicker Sergei Bobrovsky s wild playoff ride might just be about to get wilder. In a matter of weeks, the 22-year-old rookie goaltender has gone from playoff starter, to backup, to third-string scratch, back to backup. And, according to a source, it looks as though popular suspicion will turn out to be true Bobrovsky will likely reacquire starting duties in net when the Flyers next face the Boston Bruins in a critical Game 4 on Friday. Bobrovsky hasn t played a complete game since the playoff opener, a 1-0 shutout loss to the Buffalo Sabres in Game 1. But since then, he s come in for Brian Boucher on three occasions all in this Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Bruins and he s performed credibly each time. For that reason, and considering the rocky outing by Boucher in Wednesday night s ugly 5-1 loss that put the Flyers in a 3-0 series hole, there s a strong chance Bobrovsky could be in net when the puck drops Friday. And if that s in fact the case, his teammates have full confidence. I thought he looked great in relief in the Boston series, Danny Briere said. Sometimes a lot has to do with how you feel against a team. Certain teams for goalies, maybe he can

20 come in and feel good and see the puck well against the Bruins. I don t know if he s playing or not tomorrow, but if he s in there, I d feel very comfortable. At Thursday s practice at TD Garden, Boucher and Bobrovsky saw about an equal number of shots. True to custom, coach Peter Laviolette declined to discuss his thoughts on choosing a starting goaltender so the announcement of Friday s starter will have to wait until game time. Nonetheless, Laviolette had praise for what he s seen of Bobrovsky in each of the three games played so far in this series. The Flyers young goalie has allowed three goals on the 24 Bruins shots he s faced, which is notable considering that entering a game cold can pose a real challenge. Bob, he came in off the bench going in for the injury there (in Game 2) and I thought he did a good job last night, Laviolette said. He was good. Again, our team, the goals that went in last night, the first two, we need to be a lot better with what we do in our game in front of our goaltenders. There weren't a lot of chances, but we gave up too many good ones, too many quality ones. It s certainly the case that Boucher does not deserve the full blame for the Flyers loss in Game 3. Too many defensive breakdowns in front of him, and not enough traffic in front of Bruins goalie Tim Thomas absolutely cost the Flyers in the first and third games of the series. And it is that concern, what the team does in front of whomever is in net, that the Flyers focused on at practice. Every time we change goalies it s not easy for that goalie to come in, Kimmo Timonen said. I don t even know who is playing tomorrow. But I m not worried about our goalies. I m worried about us. And how we come up and do our job. All along, the Flyers haven t liked to discuss what s been nicknamed their goalie carousel. They ve had faith in whichever netminder gets the call. After all, as a team that held the No. 1 position in the Eastern Conference for close to a third of the season, they managed to find success without a true No. 1 goalie. They were built that way. I don t think it s fair to just blame the goaltenders, Briere said. Games 1 and 3, the goaltending didn t have much to do with it. It was a team effort. We didn t play very well in front of them. And in Game 2, we probably deserved a better fate. Goaltending, on our side, we have no complaints about it. Thomas was good, but we can t put the blame on our goalie in Game 2 either. Honestly, I think we re making too much of it. 11. CSNPhilly.com- Flyers notes: 'Everything' working for Krejci's unit

21 Tim Panaccio and Sarah Baicker If the Flyers are to have any real chance to stave off elimination Friday night when the Bruins attempt to sweep them out of the Eastern Conference semifinals, they might want to try stopping David Krejci s line. Through three games in the series, Krejci s unit has simply killed the Flyers with 14 points six goals, eight assists. That line is doing to the Flyers what Danny Briere s line did to the Bruins last season and did to Buffalo in the first round. Coach Peter Laviolette has used three different lines against Krejci s unit to find a shutdown-answer. None have worked. Recall it was during Game 3 against the Bruins last spring when Krejci was hit hard by Mike Richards and broke his wrist, missing the rest of the playoffs. I just wanted to come back and beat the Flyers and go into the conference final, Krejci said. I didn t take last year personal. It s a new year. We have new teammates. Asked about his line s success, he shrugged. Everything is going right for us, he said. We re creating chances. We did that in the first round but now the puck is finding the back of the net. We haven t changed anything. Once we get these chances we bury them. The Bruins won a remarkable 78 percent of the faceoffs in Game 3. Krejci was a perfect 8-0, but didn t take any draws in the third period. I don t remember ever having [a perfect night], he said of his faceoff success. I remember couple games losing one draw. But that 8-0 after the second period. I could have extended it or lost it in the third. I was feeling pretty good. Given how dominant Boston was in the circle, you have to wonder if the Bruins picked up something on film against the Flyers. No, we have a really good faceoff team, one of the best in the league, Krejci said. We work it long after practices, all of us centermen. It was our night. It could go the other way. Now, it s up to the Flyers to figure out how to put a stop to the Bruins top line before it s too late. They have a good line," Kimmo Timonen said. "One of the best lines in hockey. They have everything. Good size and speed and skill. I still think we haven t played our game.

22 And when we play our game we can stop anybody. I m not worried about their line, I'm worried about us. We bring everything we got we ll be fine." I think we have to do it as a team, Briere said. We haven t, except for two periods in this series, we haven t played up to what we re capable of. In the playoffs, when you re not playing up to your standards, anybody can take advantage of you. Obviously the Krejci line is doing that, but it seems all their lines are having a lot of success because we re not up to where we should be. Getting past Thomas Before Andrej Meszaros netted the Flyers sole goal in Tuesday s 5-1 loss, Bruins goalie Tim Thomas had stopped 68 consecutive Flyer shots more than enough to steal his team a win in Game 2. So what s the key to besting him in Friday s do-or-die Game 4? I think he was a factor in Game 2, Briere said. But in Game 3 especially, I don t think we tested him enough. Obviously when you re down two goals to start the game, and at one point being down four goals, the other team is not going to give you much. They re going to sit back and play very tight defensively, which they did really well. We need to find a way to get to him. But yeah, I thought Game 2 he was great. It just takes one The Flyers are in a familiar position, down 3-0 to the Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last year, they found a way to fight back from that seemingly unbeatable hole to take the series in seven games only the third time in NHL history such a feat had occurred. According to the Flyers, another comeback is possible, and it all starts with a win Friday. That s the goal, Briere said. All we want to do is win one game and go from there. I said it last night, we re not going to win four games tomorrow. The good thing is, we re still alive. You look in here and there s 23 other teams that are on vacation already. It s a good thing we re still alive. We ve put ourselves in a tough spot, but we win one game and you never know what can happen. Pronger and Carter Jeff Carter did not take part in Thursday's practice, but he was at TD Garden. He wanted to skate so badly, in fact, that he watched practice from the stands. Chris Pronger was at the rink, but did not skate. 12. Delaware County Times- Flyers' Laviolette trying one last dose of motivational magic Anthony San Filippo