Yes, it took seven games. Sure, we used three goalies and may even be the laughing stock of the NHL for Laviolette’s Goalie Roulette. Yes, we did it the hard way again.
But…
There are so many positives to take from the Flyers eventual 4-3 series win over the Bufallo Sabres, culminating with a 5-2 spanking on Tuesday in Game 7. A game in which they chased Ryan Miller to the bench.
The Flyers never do it the easy way, but they survived the first round against the Sabres.
The Flyers did the following:
- Beat the hot goalie
- Survived in spite of using and starting three goalies
- Won games without Jeff Carter and Chris Pronger
- Won the last two games in “elimination mode”
Ryan Miller was lights out in games 1 and 4. He stole game 4. The hot goalie is always the man to beat on the way to a Stanley Cup. Mission accomplished. if they can survive Miller Time, they should be good the rest of the way.
The use of goalies is well documented. When you have three goalies, you have none. Well, the Flyers then won without goaltending. look for Boucher to be The Man the rest of the way.
The team has yet to see Jeff Carter and Chris Pronger play together this spring. Yet, they won two wlimination games without their best scorer and their defenseman at about 50 percent.
This team may not do things the easy way. They may be good for business in cardiac wings of hospitals. But, you can’t argue with the end result.
Boston, Tampa or Pittsburgh. It doesn’t matter. In Flyerland, it’s on to the next one.
