I don't know for sure about that. I know the old saying, half the people on the Philly websites are freaking out too, and any other year I probably would be too, but he really only gave up one bad softie, that second goal he should have had, but it would have been a good save to have done so.
The issue seems to be whether or not the Flyer's four full lines can be stopped. When they start buzzing they are so relentless that I'm not sure anyone left has the defense to deal with them. I'm certainly not concerned with anyone left in the East even if Bryz ends up with a 3.00 GAA.
I was looking at stats for Stanley Cup champs, in terms of where they were offensively and defensively... and it seems conventional wisdom may not be exactly right. Only about 50% of the cup winners were actually top 5 defensively.
Don't get me wrong, in a sense everyone knows your goaltender must play well. But there is a difference in giving up a few when your team is averaging 5 goals a game, and when it's only managing two.
Now those two west west teams seem pretty hot, if it indeed does end up being an LA-Phoenix Western Final (and if we actually do win as well, of course), but I'm not even sure if either of them can handle the offense the Flyers have generated so far.
Naturally normal disclaimers about injury, about their level of play continuing, and about Bryz playing no worse than he has so far (which admittedly has been woefully mediocre here and there) apply.
Let's look at something else from a purely arbitrary perspective; For my purposes we'll define "buzzing" as the Flyers playing at a high tempo that the other team can't seem to match. When they are buzzing, they forecheck ferociously, play decent-good defense over all, but most importantly they swarm to the puck, obtain the offensive zone and shoot continuously.
Game 1:
Period 1: No buzzing, Pit: 3, Phi:0
Period 2: Buzzing, Phi: 1, Pit: 0
Period 3: Buzzing, Phi: 2, Pit: 0
OT: Buzzing, Phi win at 2:23 OT
Game 2
Period 1: No buzzing, Pit: 3, Phi: 1
Period 2: Buzzing, Pit: 1, Phi: 3
Period 3: Buzzing, Pit: 1, Phi: 4
Game 3:
Period 1: buzzing, Pit: 2, Phi: 4
Period 2: buzzing, Pit 2, Phi: 2
Period 3: buzzing, Pit: 0, Phi: 3
Game 4:
Period 1: buzzing, Pit: 4, Phi: 3
Period 2: no buzzing: Pit: 5, Phi: 0
Period 3: no buzzing (lifeless): Pit: 1, Phi:0
Game 5:
Period 1: buzzing: Pit: 1, Phi: 2
Period 2: no buzzing: Pit 2, Phi: 0
Period 3: buzzing, Pit: 0, Phi: 0 (this period was complete domination by the Flyers just like they did to Jersey in the 3rd period of game 1 of series 2, Fluery-- a tip of the hat to him, stole this one big time)
Game 6:
Period 1: buzzing, Pit: 0, Phi: 2
Period 2: buzzing, Pit: 1, Phi: 2
Period 3: buzzing, pit: 0, Phi:1
---Series over 4-2---
Vs. Debils:
Game 1:
Period 1: no buzzing: NJ: 1, Phi: 0
Period 2: buzzing: NJ: 1, Phi: 2
Period 3: buzzing: NJ: 1, Phi: 1
OT: Buzzing, Flyers win in 4:36 of OT.
So by my count, and it is arbitrary, When they are not buzzing (by period), they are 0-6
When they are buzzing, they are 13-0-3.
Keep in mind, as all the hype has played up, Pittsburgh was supposed to be the favorite for the cup from the East. That wasn't just seem easy series, it was rough as hell, and other than that game 4 debacle we handled them. I'm sorry but none of the teams left in the east are as good as Pittsburgh. A couple of them have better defenses and goaltenders, to be sure, but not good enough to roll with four lines very well for an extended series.
Of course, I'm a homer, I won't lie, I just think people are misreading the momentum the Flyer's have when they focus on Bryz.
We could run into a steam roller at any time, but I think the other teams need to worry that these Flyers ARE the steam roller they need to avoid!
You wanna talk the talk, then take the crap in return. I told you that once already. Get tired of it being thrown in your face STFU about it already! Pretty simple.
- By Rich
- By FiveofSwords
- By Deutschmania