Flyers/Captials Preview

A few weeks ago I wrote in this space about what went wrong with the Flyers season, and how they went from the top of the Eastern Conference to a team on the verge of slipping out of the playoffs.

Since then, the Flyers closed out the season with a 7-1-1 record, giving them 15 points in their last nine games, and moving them into the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference, which, up until last Saturday evening, meant playing a team that probably didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs. Last Saturday, the Carolina Hurricanes were sitting in the third spot in the conference, based on the fact that they were leading the pathetic Southeast division. If the Flyers had drawn Carolina in the playoffs, we would already be buying tickets for the second round.

Sadly, the Washington Capitals, and their uber-prospect Alexander Ovechkin, won 11 of their last 12 games and jumped from out of the playoffs to the number three seed with a win on Saturday night over the Florida Panthers. Now, I love hockey, and am by no means a purist, but I really don’t like the fact the Flyers playoff matchup came down to the ineptitude of teams from Florida and North Carolina. Shouldn’t a team from Winnipeg or Medicine Hat have decided who the Flyers would play in the first round?

Well now that I’ve officially ranted about being anti-Southeast America when it comes to hockey, let’s take a look at the key factors in what should be the most entertaining first round playoff series.

Can the Flyers stop Alexander Ovechkin? Ovechkin had 65 goals this season, which is an unheard of number considering he scored 13 more goals than second place Ilya Kovalchuk, but luckily for the Flyers, they have experience playing against a star of this quality. They play eight times each year against the two players who can challenge Ovechkin for the title of best player in the NHL. The Flyers went 5-3 against cross-state rival Pittsburgh, and their Ovechkin-esque stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. That’s a team with two of the best young stars in the game, and the Flyers managed to take that series, so why wouldn’t they be able to contain Ovechkin and then shut down the rest of the team, which boasts such stars as ... yeah, they don’t actually have any other stars. The Capitals have been surging by beating up on the rest of their awful Southeast division, and pretending that guys like Sergei Federov (did anyone know that he was still in the league?) and Viktor Kozlov are actual star players. Outside of Ovechkin, and defenseman Mike Green, nobody on the Caps would crack the top three lines on the Flyers.

Is Martin Biron ready for primetime? This year is Biron’s tenth season in the NHL, and he has yet to start a playoff game. That fact doesn’t make me feel confident as I have nightmares of Ovechkin picking apart Biron’s lack of fundamentals. I would feel much better if Antero Niittymaki started in goal for the Flyers, but since that’s not going to happen, I’m going to need to find some good in Biron’s shaky performance this season. Biron, like most goaltenders, is very streaky. If you check out his last 24 games, he had streaks of wins or losses, but never went back and forth, and right now Biron is on a hot streak, posting back-to-back shutouts of the Devils and Penguins. Personally, I don’t think Biron is the key factor. The key is the Flyers defense. If youngsters Braydon Coburn and Ryan Parent can play shutdown defense on Ovechkin, the Flyers will win. If it comes down to Ovechkin against Biron, the Flyers are in for trouble.

Are the Flyers healthy enough to win? Daniel Briere and Derian Hatcher both missed games down the stretch for the Flyers, and both are crucial to the Flyers playoff destiny. A healthy Derian Hatcher will be able to play physical with Ovechkin and keep him from developing a comfort zone on the ice, while a healthy Daniel Briere will help the Flyers offense to keep the Caps defense honest and prevent them from collapsing in the offensive zone in front of Biron. Barring any setbacks, Briere should be ready for game one on Friday, but Hatcher doesn’t look quite as ready.

Prediction: Flyers in 6. Ovechkin will win one game by himself, Biron will lose one game for the Flyers, but the Broad Street Bullies will do enough to win the series and advance to the second round.