Flyers return home to South Philly up 2-0 on the Penguins
The Flyers went into Pittsburgh and took both games. Two straight wins on the road in a building where Sidney Crosby has been murdering opponents for two decades. Not only did they win Game 2, they shut the Penguins out 3-0 behind another monster performance from Dan Vladar.
This series is over. I don’t care that it’s technically still best-of-seven. I don’t care that the Penguins have Crosby and Malkin and Letang and all those rings.
Pittsburgh has no answer for this team. None. The Flyers have outplayed them in every single period that matters and they’re bringing this thing back to Philly with a 2-0 stranglehold.
The last time the Flyers won the first two games of a playoff series on the road was 2012. Against the Penguins. They won that series in six. History doesn’t repeat but it rhymes and right now it’s rhyming pretty loudly.
Vladar Is a Brick Wall
Twenty-seven saves. Zero goals allowed. Vladar’s first shutout as a Flyer and it came in a playoff game on the road in Pittsburgh. The guy has been unshakable through two games.
When the Penguins made their push in the third period, Vladar slammed the door. A massive save on Samuel Girard early in the third kept it 2-0. Then he stopped a backdoor redirection from Malkin with under seven and a half minutes to go when the Flyers lost their winger.
Those are the saves that win playoff series. Those are the saves that break teams.
I said before the series that Vladar was the better goalie in this matchup and that Stuart Skinner was going to fold. Skinner has actually been decent.
He stopped 20 of 22 shots Monday and denied Owen Tippett on a penalty shot in the third but decent isn’t good enough when the guy on the other end is pitching a shutout.
Vladar is outplaying him and it’s not particularly close.
Porter Martone Is Marty McFlyer
Two games. Two goals. 19-years old. Three weeks out of college. Porter Martone is doing things that grown men with years of NHL experience can’t do and he’s making it look routine.
TK and Dvorak made strong plays to set up Martone’s goal that opened the scoring in the second period and the kid buried it like he’s been doing this for a decade.
I don’t want to hear about how he’s just a rookie or how the sample size is small. This kid is built for this stage. Two career playoff games and he’s already one of the most impactful players on the ice.
The Penguins have no idea how to handle him and it’s only going to get harder for them when this series moves to Philly where the crowd is going to be absolutely unhinged.
Sidney Crosby Has Zero Points in Two Games
Sidney Crosby, the greatest Flyers killer in the history of this rivalry, has zero points through two playoff games.
The man who has 139 points in 93 career regular season games against the Flyers and 36 points in 25 career playoff meetings. Zero. Points.
The Flyers have completely suffocated him. Whatever defensive scheme Tocchet is running to neutralize Crosby is working perfectly and Crosby looks like a 38-year-old who doesn’t have the legs to carry this team anymore.
The supporting cast around him isn’t good enough to pick up the slack and the Flyers are making him work for every inch of ice.
This is the blueprint. Keep Crosby quiet, outgoal Skinner, and let the kids play with confidence. It’s working.
Shoutout Owen Tippett and Garnet Hathaway
The Penalty Kill Was Perfect Again
The Flyers put themselves in a bad spot early by giving Pittsburgh three power plays in the first period. Undisciplined stick work, exactly what I warned about before the series. But the penalty kill went 5-for-5 and didn’t let the Penguins capitalize on any of it. Sanheim even negated one of those power plays by pressuring Pittsburgh up ice and drawing a tripping call on Erik Karlsson to even things up. Smart, veteran play.
The Flyers’ strategy of keeping this series at 5-on-5 is working but they also proved Monday that even when they get into penalty trouble, the PK can bail them out. That’s a luxury this team didn’t have earlier in the season and it’s showing up at exactly the right time.
Game 3 Wednesday Night in Philly
The series shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Wednesday. 7 p.m. ET on NBCSP. The Flyers are coming home up 2-0 and the building is going to be absolutely electric.
This city hasn’t had playoff hockey in six years. The first home playoff game at Xfinity Mobile Arena since 2020 and the Flyers are coming in riding a 20-7-1 stretch dating back to late February.
Flyers in 6. I said it before the series and I’m sticking with it. Pittsburgh is going to find a way to steal one game because that’s what Crosby does. The Flyers are the better team and they’ve proven it on the road in back-to-back games.
Win the next two at home, let Pittsburgh have their moment in Game 5, then close it out back at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Game 6 in front of a crowd that has waited six years for this.
Marty McFlyer >>
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