Pretty good effort from Philly. For all that o-zone time they couldn't generate enough quality scoring chances though. The best they had were primarily point shots, both 5-on-5 and PP. Buffalo played a different game than what they've shown the last few months. The d-men REALLY played it safe, hardly pinching at all or trying to support the rush up ice. It was a more typical road game, and it worked. The d-men held up very well against the forecheck and calmly cleared the puck more as the game went on.

The 3rd and 4th lines played great tonight, aside from one or two really ill-advised cross ice passes on the rush that resulted in a rush the other way. Miller was sharp, but for all the action around his crease, the team managed to keep the prime chances down. It's just one game, but it was big. I expect Buffalo to loosen up a bit in the next few games, in a good way where the d-men join the rush and they get more going in the o-zone. Maybe the penalties might even out...maybe.

Doubt it...

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"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid." ~ Han Solo


We truly are not worthy of Miller!

FUK U REFS! AND A FUK U DOLFEENS!

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

We squeaked one out. We took home ice away.

All in all, I'm happy

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"Let's just trap Sekera in the caverns underneath HSBC arena." -BlueandYellow

Reporter: "Steve, you guys now lead the league in defensive scoring."
Montador: "It's probably because of how good-looking we are."

Yeah, how about those no-call interference penalties on Connolly and on Gerbe in the 3rd?

I came.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

I thought they played a very solid road game and the two guys that stuck out to me were Gaustad and Grag's.

Geez, we have a freaking sperm emoticon? Nice work Cross.

All in all, we played pretty bad. I'm going to age 4 times the normal rate if we continue that kind of play.

- Miller completely stole this game.
- A few guys had great efforts, Monty played horrible.
- Our PK was excellent
- The weakest part of our game continues to be the break-out pass

I'm ecstatic for the win, but we need a much better effort in Game 2.

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Only One Me.

That's the truth. How awesome is it to have a healthy (?) Grier back in there and in playoff form, that brother hits HARD. The James Harrison of hockey, all except for the fact that he's sane. I love the checking lines, especially Gaustad's. He's really one of the more under rated players in the league, if he were a little faster he would be a Selke finalist every year. Great energy and hits, excellent line and I don't mind reminding yinz how I said that line would be HUGE in a series with Philly.

How about the work in the circles tonight? Excellent!

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger

I cannot imagine monty continuing to play like this. I bet he'll rebound for saturday, get his head on straight.

Well, if he's playing...

I don't know, he actually became inconsistent about month ago and I can't help but wonder if he's playing through an injury or butthurt about not getting a contract extension. Whatever the case we got an effing playoff series to win and you put your best players out there, and if Leopold is ready for game two I would scratch Monty, even over Morrisonn.

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger

Very cautious game on both sides. The D did a good job of limiting shots to the outside and clearing away loose pucks.

The zone exitry was downright awful at times.
The top six got shit for icetime because of all the penalties.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

I really don't think we played that bad at all. We had turnovers, but it was mostly the same both ways. the bluelines were pretty stacked, we kept them mostly to the outside and they had 6 powerplays or something and had an advantage on shots mostly from them.

We blocked a shit ton of shots and that was huge. Cleared the crease and got enough going to get our one goal. Philly was never skating around us during that game and we had some good keeps in the o-zone and they did too, even though most of their keeps in the o-zone were either behind the net or to the outside.

We played a solid defensive playoff game. We played physical just like them, and that's how we have to play a game against them, physical and grind it out.

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How did they do on faceoffs? Last I checked it was about even, which is GREAT for us.

Let's not forget that the Flyers went to the Finals last year, so the short summer is probably taking it's toll on them already. They are prime to be beaten, but the face off circles could REALLY help the Flyers as from an energy standpoint. So, by winning the draws and controlling the puck you make them skate more than they want too, and even if they take the puck right back it's still better than losing it clean. Faceoffs are a huge key to this series, maybe more than any other 1st round matchup.

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger

We didn't play "pretty bad." It was a great road game.

They can be better, but the way they took away the middle, killed off penalties, played physical, stayed patient, locked down a 1-0 with over 10 minutes left in a game...

This was a solid effort on the road. They can be better, and they will be better, but this game was not "pretty bad" by any stretch of the imagination.

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Wheelhouse

Face-offs were 30-26 for Philly.

Connolly was solid in all 3 zones, but the team got schooled in the d-zone:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/2 ... 030121.HTM


Giroux was 7-11 in the Sabres zone, Richards 2-3, and Danny (too good for Buffalo) Briere was 4-4. So, we gotta bear down in the d-zone and figure some things out on the film. Because that is the critical area.

Having said that, Gaustad of all people was the weak link in the d-zone. So there is certainly hope for improvement.

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger

There were a couple of times Goose won draws that got called back, and then they'd go the other way.

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Wheelhouse