Flyers take underdog role to heart
PHILADELPHIA – First, Philadelphia was compared to those old Broad Street Bullies. Now, the Flyers are fighting the idea they can’t beat the Penguins.
“We like a little bit of adversity,” said center Danny Briere. “It makes us play well.”
The Flyers have some adversity again as the underdogs in the Eastern Conference finals against Pittsburgh. After all, the second-seeded Penguins have Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa, Sidney Crosby and the home-ice advantage. They needed all of nine games to advance out of the first two rounds – one more than the minimum.
If the Penguins need a reminder of how little regular-season totals and nifty stats meant against Philadelphia so far in the playoffs, they should ask Washington and Montreal.
Alex Ovechkin won the scoring title. Montreal was tops in the Eastern Conference. Those were big reasons why Ovechkin and Washington, and then the Canadiens, were favored against the Flyers. All those regular-season accolades were nice, yet the fantastic feats meant little against Philadelphia in the playoffs.
The Caps quickly trailed 3-1 before they were bounced in the first round and the sixth-seeded Flyers needed only five games to eliminate Montreal.
The top seeds are 0 for 2 so far against the Flyers. Does anyone in Philly’s locker room hear 0 for 3?
“We did it for two rounds,” Briere said. “We’re not going to stop now.”
Briere’s been as crucial a player as any for the Flyers. He has eight goals and a team-high 14 points; R.J Umberger scored eight goals against Montreal. and goalie Martin Biron has played stellar games in each series.
Top defenseman Kimmo Timonen shut down Ovechkin and paired with Braydon Coburn to silence Montreal. Now they have to try to do it again against Crosby and Malkin, who both have a comparable skill set to Ovechkin.
“I think that Malkin right now is the best player out of those three,” Timonen said. “Ovechkin is a little different player than Crosby and Malkin. I think Ovechkin is more a goal scorer than playmaker and these two guys are playmakers and can obviously score, too. They are really skilled and really good playmakers.”
The Penguins have the edge, too, and that’s fine with the Flyers. They’re used to their role by now.
“We believe we can move on to the next round,” Briere said. “That’s all I want to think about now.”
Sabres sign Gerbe
Forward Nathan Gerbe signed a three-year deal potentially worth $2.55 million with the Buffalo Sabres, electing to forgo his senior season at Boston College.
A fifth-round pick in the 2005 NHL draft, the 5-foot-5 Gerbe overcame questions about his lack of size by leading the nation with 68 points (35 goals and 33 assists) in 43 games for the national champion Eagles last season.