Well the battle of Pennsylvania will be going down in round 1 of the CPHL playoffs once again. This time however the Penguins are hoping for a much different result. Last year the Pens placed 4th in the conference and hosted the 5th place Flyers in round 1, this year the exact same thing happened. Last year the Flyers swept the Pens, this year the Pens hope for redemption.
The Flyers and Pens both build strong teams year after year but neither team is able to stand between the love affair between the Isles and SimonT. The fact that forwards such as Pavel Datsyuk get outperformed by guys like Andrei Kostitsyn is a glaring example of this love affair. However that is out of the control of both the Pens and the Flyers and they must look forward to doing battle once again.
These teams matched up pretty closely this season:
Day 59 Penguins 7 @ Flyers 3
Day 114 Penguins 6 @Flyers 5 (Shootout)
Day 126 Flyers 4 @ Penguins 1
Day 137 Flyers 1 @ Penguins 2 (OT)
Pens went 3-1 and the Flyers went 1-1-2
Stats
Penguins 51-23-12 114pts , 4th overall
Flyers 48-28-10 106pts , 10th overall
Goals for:
Pens 3.41/game 1st overall
Flyers 3.23 7th overall
Edge: Pens
Goals against:
Pens 2.94/game 13th overall
Flyers 2.81/game 7th overall
Edge: Flyers
Special Team Ranks:
Pens 11th PP, 14th PK
Flyers 7th PP, 10th PK
Edge: Flyers – The interesting thing to note here is that the Pens take almost double the amount of penalties that the Flyers do. Discipline will be a huge factor in this series.
The Three Keys to Victory:
Pittsburgh:
- Continue Balanced scoring – Pens were led by Stamkos who netted 40, they had 2 others with 30 goals and 4 others with over 20 goals. The Pens had 10 players with 50+ points.2.
- Karlsson magic – Erik Karlsson was hands down the top defenseman in the CPHL this season putting up 96 points while being rested the last two games. He was the best player on Pittsburgh and a candidate for MVP in the league. If he continues to produce the Penguin offense can flourish.
- Key Saves – While Carey Price wasn’t among the league leaders in gaa he made key saves at key times and allowed the Pens to play fire wagon hockey.
Philadelphia
- Young guns – The Flyers will need Matt Duchene to show maturity beyond his years and lead the offensive charge like he did throughout the regular season.
- Shut down D – The Flyers have a very good defense corp and they will be kept busy. If they can shut down the Pens high flying offense then things could go the Flyers way.
- Miller Time – Ryan Miller has always been a good sim goalie. He is going to have to be at his best to win this series. If he can make key stops then he gives his team a good chance for victory.
Hopefully this year’s battle is a bit closer and more entertaining than last years series!
Predictions???
Penguins vs Flyers - Rematch of round 1 last year
