Penguins need to end it

By Joe Starkey
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, May 16, 2008



The Philadelphia Flyers' Mike Richards celebrates Daniel Briere's first-period goal in front of the Penguins' Rob Scuderi in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final at Wachovia Center, May 15, 2008. The Penguins lost, 4-2, but lead the series, 3-1.
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review

PHILADELPHIA: Forget about this one. Burn the tape.

That needed to be the Penguins' mind-set the instant the buzzer sounded on their 4-2 loss Thursday night.

Forget about the retaliatory penalties, the phantom penalties, the ghastly turnovers and the failure to clear the front of the net early in the game.

Forget about the rowdy, hostile crowd that must have launched into its beloved "Crosby Sucks!" chant 10 times or more.

Forget about a wasted chance to not just eliminate the hated Flyers but humiliate them with a sweep and a post-series handshake on their home ice.

Forget about all that and focus on Sunday, bloody Sunday, when the Penguins will have a chance to slay a demon.

No franchise this side of Long Island, N.Y., has tortured the Penguins like the Flyers, who have won all three previous playoff matchups and darn near every game played in the City of Brotherly Shove, it seems. The most recent playoff meeting was in 2000, when the Flyers actually lost the first two at home and proceeded to win four in a row.

On Sunday, bloody Sunday, the torture must end. The Penguins must take advantage of the chance to score one of the biggest and more satisfying victories in franchise history.

Nobody wants to contemplate the alternative -- another trip to Philly, another night at Wachovia Center, another chance for the Flyers to gain some life.

"The longer you let them breathe, the worse it gets," Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "A great start Sunday would be huge for us."

Frankly, there's no good reason for the series to extend beyond then. The Flyers remain a severely short-handed club, again playing last night without their top two defensemen, Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn, though Coburn has a chance to return for Game 5.

The Penguins would be wise to ignore any more questions related to the Detroit Red Wings, who have business of their own to settle, now that they have dropped a game to the Dallas Stars.

Hockeytown can wait.

The best thing about last night's game was the Penguins' third-period push. After digging themselves a 3-0 hole in the first, they improved in the second and stormed the Flyers in the third, cutting the deficit to 3-2 on a pair of Jordan Staal goals.

"We pretty much dictated the game the second two periods," Orpik said.

Unlike the Penguins in Game 3, the Flyers didn't have the wherewithal to play a shutdown game with a lead.

To the contrary, they held on for dear life.

The Penguins must take their late-game intensity straight into the first period Sunday.



Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stops the Philadelphia Flyers' Scottie Upshall from close range during the third period in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. The Penguins lost, 4-2, but lead the series, 3-1.
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review


This game was lost early, when the Penguins recorded 11 of the first 14 shots but failed to score the all-important first goal.

Their best chance was a power play 5:57 into the game, but they got sloppy -- which would be a theme -- and presented Flyers forward Mike Richards with a short-handed breakaway, his second of the series.

Last time, Richards scored. This time, he shot wide, and the Penguins raced back and nearly drew first blood, only to see Martin Biron thwart Marian Hossa at the goal mouth.

Thirty seconds after the penalty expired, Flyers winger Joffrey Lupul unleashed a slap shot that deflected off the stick of Penguins defenseman Hal Gill and past Marc-Andre Fleury.

Opportunity lost.

Now, the crowd was into it for good.

Now, the Flyers, for the first time in the series, really began to feel their oats. They started pasting Penguins all over the ice. They began to crash the net effectively.

The Penguins were doing some of the very things they had vowed to avoid, including some retaliatory stuff when the Flyers baited them after whistles.

Not that all the penalties were warranted.

One was something called "clipping" on Kris Letang, who appeared to deliver a clean hit along the boards (at least he wasn't called for roughing the passer). Coach Michel Therrien was livid about the officiating, but, hey, those things must be overcome at playoff time.

By the time the first period ended, the Flyers led, 3-0, and had 17 shots, one fewer than they had registered in all of Game 3.

"We weren't focused," Penguins center Maxime Talbot said.

By 3:08 p.m. Sunday, bloody Sunday, everything that happened here tonight will be forgotten. A chance to play for the Stanley Cup will beckon.

These Flyers won't die easily. Only a stake through the heart will do.

The Penguins must respond accordingly.

Joe Starkey is a sports writer for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com.