The Penguins benched nearly their entire lineup last night and lost to the Blues 7-5. Who cares, though? The playoffs are officially here, and the Penguins will have home ice in round 1. After the weekend, it was revealed that it would indeed be the team from that heroin riddled part of Eastern Pennsylvania, matching up with the good, upstanding, blue-collar part of Western Pennsylvania. This Penguins Flyers playoff preview writes itself. Get your popcorn and heart monitors ready. It’s been years since either of these teams has made it to the dance, but I can guarantee one of these teams is hungrier. The Flyers boast no future Hall of Famers; they have no legends looking for their first cup, they are devoid of any true leadership, and getting to the playoffs looked like a Stanley Cup celebration post-game on Sunday for Philadelphia. The Penguins are littered with stars who want one last good run, they have an extra layer of players who are upper echelon performers looking to get their first ring, and when they officially qualified for the playoffs, there was nary a celebration but rather a work’s not done approach from the group.
As I have already mentioned throughout the last couple of weeks, the Penguins hold the largest X-factor. The Penguins have, and have always had, Sidney Crosby. The Flyers haven’t been able to counter that for (literally) two decades. Sid is so endearing for a bevy of reasons, but paramount among them is the fact that he truly hates the Flyers as much as the fans. The single biggest mistake, for a city known for its failures and mistakes, was sending out bum thug Derrian Hatcher to knock out Crosby’s two front teeth. From that very moment 21 years ago, Crosby has taken it upon himself to destroy this team every single chance he gets.
The entire locker room has made similar comments to the one Clifton made above. They all know he is quite literally salivating at the chance at re-entering the playoffs with the puke orange jerseys on the other bench. It’s no surprise that Sid’s motor was finally looking back to form as the playoff picture began to become clearer. As soon as it seemed likely to be the Flyers, I can almost guarantee that Sid was going to take ever measure possible to ensure his body was in pristine condition because under no circumstance will he allow that team to be the team that potentially ends his postseason career with Evgeni Malkin.
As for the matchup itself, I have a hard time seeing anything that gives cause for worry.
Forwards: advantage Pittsburgh, and the best forward in the series
Defensemen: advantage Pittsburgh, and the best d-man in the series
Goaltending: This is the only potential area in which Philadelphia has an edge. Philly is literally only in the playoffs because of the play that Dan Vladar provided them down the stretch. The biggest difference is that Stu Skinner has gone to two straight finals. Stu will not be rattled by the intensity of a playoff game, nor will he combust if he allows a soft one. Vladar, much like the rest of his team, has no experience in these situations. The first time Sid and Chinakhov blow one by him, he could turn right back into the goaltender he has always been. All of this is to say that I believe this category is either a wash or an advantage to Pittsburgh based on experience.
Special Teams: huge advantage, Pittsburgh. The Flyers had a near-historically bad power-play (last in the league), and their penalty killing wasn’t much better. The Penguins, on the other hand, are one of the only teams to be top 10 in both special teams categories.
Coaching: Advantage Pittsburgh. Now, typically, I’d give this to Philadelphia. Rick Tocchet has won Stanley Cups as an assistant coach (with the Penguins) and as a player (with the Penguins), but all I have seen on Flyers Twitter for months is just how terrible of a coach Toc is, so the advantage has to go to Muse. Also, Muse is about to win the Jack Adams award, so he quite literally is the best coach in the league.
Experience: ummmmm complete blowout for the Penguins. The Flyers have no one truly ready to play playoff hockey outside of a practically dead version of Sean Couturier.
Toughness: For possibly the first time in my life the Penguins have the upperhand in this department. The Flyers might have more rats (they always do), but those rats will run directly back into the sewer when the real predators come around.
Prediction: Penguins in 6. The Flyers will win one at home, and Sid will let them have game 5 so he can go back to Philadelphia and rip their hearts out directly in front of those moronic fans chanting that he sucks.
