Scott Hartnell backs Philadelphia Flyers up block average to beat Pittsburgh Penguins-NHL News
No gain without pain was the message Philadelphia Flyers’ left wing, Scott Hartnell, relayed to his teammates after coming out of their 2-3 loss of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference playoff quarterfinals series to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy
Centre, on Friday, April 20, 2012.
Hartnell asked his teammates to be ready to feel some pain in Game 6 of the series if they want to hang around in the playoffs.
He said:
"For us to win, we've got to bear down on our chances and we've got to block shots. It's been like that all year. You look at a team like the Rangers; when they're blocking 15, 20, 30 shots a game, I'm sure they're hurting after games.”
Hartnell added:
“It seems like they're sliding right past us. The (Tyler) Kennedy one there, those things have to be blocked. We've got to realize that and get on that.”
Scott cited the insignificant number of 10 blocks in game 5 of the series, which, he said, was nowhere near to their 20 block shots in game 3, which helped them win with a four goal margin. Flyers averaged 16.5 blocked shots for first four games.
Hartnell’s view was backed by his teammate, centre, Maxime Talbot, who said Flyers will have to prove themselves to be a solid team during 60 minutes of game. He noted the team is well capable of doing so.
Talbot said:
"We've got to get hungrier, get in there and get dirty. We had some chances but definitely we have to get back to what's working.”
Flyers are leading the seven-game series, 3-2, at the moment, and given the difference is just of a game, Penguins are well within the race and can catch up on them with another win.
However, if Flyers are aiming to win the series, they must win the next games of the series.
The apparent concerns of Flyers highlight some of the difficulties that the team has been through lately and they must overcome those before it is too late.
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