ColePens
RIP Fugu Buffaloed & parabola
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers
ECQF Game 1 - 7:00PM EST
Wednesday April 11, 2018 @ PPG Paints Arena
NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, ATTSN-PT, NBCSP
Quotes
"I still pinch myself almost every day that you get to be a part of something like this," said Pittsburgh goaltender Matt Murray, who won each of the past two Stanley Cups while technically a rookie under NHL rules.
"We didn't expect very many people to pick us to come out of this series, and that's OK," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "There's a quiet belief in our dressing room. ... We're the underdog. We're pegged that. We know that. We're playing against a hell of a hockey team that has a lot of experience at the playoff level. We've got to go out and earn it, and that's what we'll do."
The Matchup (Thanks @MiamiScreamingEagles)
Philadelphia Flyers
Lines
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 12 Michael Raffl
54 Oskar Lindblom - 19 Nolan Patrick - 93 Jakub Voracek
11 Travis Konecny - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 17 Wayne Simmonds
21 Scott Laughton - 15 Jori Lehtera - 24 Matt Read
Pairings
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
47 Andrew MacDonald - 6 Travis Sanheim
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
Goalies
37 Brian Elliott (expected starter) - 34 Petr Mrazek
Pittsburgh Penguins
Lines
59 Jake Guentzel - 87 Sidney Crosby - 17 Bryan Rust
62 Carl Hagelin - 71 Evgeni Malkin - 72 Patric Hornqvist
43 Conor Sheary - 19 Derick Brassard - 81 Phil Kessel
46 Zach Aston-Reese - 15 Riley Sheahan - 34 Tom Kuhnhackl
Pairings
8 Brian Dumolin - 58 Kris Letang
3 Olli Maataa - 4 Justin Schultz
6 Jamie Oleksiak - 2 Chad Ruhwedel
Goalies
30 Matt Murray (expected starter) - 1 Casey DeSmith
Cole's "How They Win"
Flyers will win if:
- I think more than any team, Philly can hurt us on the powerplay. I know it was average all year, but they had good success against us in the past when we were overly aggressive. They pass well and can use our over-aggression against us. In our recent game - they went 1/3. Back in the 3/7 game they went 0/5. That would be nice. So if we can stick to making it average, we should have a nice advantage.
- I have said it before that they are one of the best transition teams in the NHL. They pass, chip, and get to the weak side of the ice with space. It creates odd man rushes quickly. Especially if we are not rotating our F3 back. We need to make sure we rotate our F3 back. That is something we always see with Philly. We need to make sure we are getting our even numbers.
And when we have even numbers, we have to be smart defensively. Don't crash too low, or else they'll hit a high guy. A couple of their high guys can flat out snipe with wrist shots. Especially Ghost and Provorov.
- Confidence: Pens can give the Flyers confidence 2 ways. 1) By making Elliott look better than he is. 2) By giving up a SHG at the wrong time. Steer clear of giving them belief. Do not give them any belief or confidence.
Players to watch: Konecny and Giroux. These are the two players who can spark belief in the Flyers. If they are flying around stirring the pot, the Pens have to focus on their game.
Pens will win if:
- Pens be Pens and Murray be Murray. No doubt we are, on paper, the better team. The Flyers are young and upcoming. The Pens have the experience and have the team. All they have to do is not kill themselves.
- I don't think many of us have our usual confidence in Mur's rebound control. He was so good after his father's passing. He was not so good after his concussion. I hope, like hell, he starts to get into his groove. He's the rock back there. He doesn't have to be a a star. He just has to make the saves he has to make. That's all.
It's that simple. IF the Pens are the Pens, the stars are the stars, and Murray is playoff Murray - we go forward. If we want to give them confidence and feed their only way of winning, that's how the series opens up.
Players to watch: Murray needs to be his old self. It starts with his rebound control and glove hand. After that, we need our stars to be stars.
An Ode to Lord Stanley with memories of 2009/2016/2017 on HF:
