Philadelphia Flyers to repeat history against Boston Bruins in semi-final – NHL Play-offs Preview
Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers are back in the same position they were in last season, when the Flyers attempted to make history and emerged successful. The question on everyone’s mind now is, if the side can do it again.
Come Friday night, the match between the two teams will be thrilling as the Bruins will look to eliminate their opponents, while the Flyers will strive for a recovery in Game 4, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Standing 3-0 in the Eastern Conference play-off semi-final series against Boston, the Flyers have tackled this situation before in the previous play-offs, as they became only the third team to do so in National Hockey League (NHL) play-off history.
Flyers may be the best side who know how to overcome this sort of situation, but Bruins are not the same team they were last time. Boston has a plan to eliminate the Flyers and avoid last year’s horrific collapse from happening again.
Boston Bruins coach, Claude Julien, said, "I thought we played a pretty solid game (on Wednesday). We limited their scoring chances by a lot compared to the game before. Our team was in good control for most of the game and that is something that's going to be important for (Friday's) game. To finish off a team, you need your best game of the series and that's what we're going to need."
Eliminating the Flyers in a 4-0 run, would be good enough to erase the memory of last year’s defeat and that too, in front of their home crowd. Fans will definitely have their eyes set on a couple of Boston players, who have really taken charge in the series. In game three, the Bruins showed that they should not be taken lightly and after a menacing 5-1 win over the Flyers, a few key players realised that with their interference, the game could take a whole new turn.
Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara scored his first two goals of the post-season including the opening and closing goal, which sealed the match for them.
Boston centre player, David Krejci, left-wing Daniel Paille and right-wing Nathan Horton have become unstoppable with each of their specialties that have them helped win important matches in this series and in previous quarter-finals. Their intense playing tactics resulted in Flyers goalie, Brian Boucher, being sent to the bench mid-way through the second period, but by then, the match was already in their hands.
Philadelphia, at the moment, is keen on taking each game at a time and not focusing on the idea of winning four consecutive matches.
Flyers defenceman, Sean O'Donnell, said, "We can't think about winning four in row. We can't think of any of that stuff. We just have to come and play the way we know we can and keep getting traffic and win a period, and hopefully win a game, and get to Game 5. And that's all we can do right now."
Bruins have the advantage of a veteran goalie, Tim Thomas, who has exemplified the role of a defender in the net. If it was not for Thomas’s blocking skills, Boston would have faced a tough time in their own defensive end. Not allowing more than three goals in a single game, Thomas has certainly proved why he is called, NHL’s best goalie.
The intense Game 4 between the Eastern Conference rivals, is surely expected to live up to its’ promise.
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