In six playoff series against Boston, the Flyers have never won the first game. So in a way, their 7-3 blowout loss in Saturday's Game 1 was in keeping with tradition. Here are some things to look for in Monday's Game 2 at the Wells Fargo Center.
Pronger's play
Chris Pronger was on the ice for three Bruins goals and he went up the tunnel to the locker room with little more than two minutes remaining in Game 1. Yet, Pronger and coach Peter Laviolette say the 36-year-old anchor of the Flyers defense is fine.
Even so, Pronger doesn't appear quite ready to give the Flyers the 27 or so minutes of ice time he played during last season's playoff run. Game 1 was just his third game since March 8, when he was sidelined with a broken right hand. Frequently when players return from long layoffs, they get by on adrenaline for the first couple of games, then hit a wall.
Pronger played 19 minutes, 45 seconds in Game 1. By comparison, the Bruins' 6-foot-9 defenseman, Zdeno Chara, was on the ice for 28:08.
"For whatever reason, we were loosey-goosey in our own end," Pronger said Sunday. "Against a team like that, which can capitalize and get pucks to the net, you can't do that."
Can't get worse
Few Flyers can put matters into perspective as eloquently as veteran defenseman Sean O'Donnell, who compared the Game 1 loss to Buffalo to the Game 1 loss to the Bruins.
"The first game against Buffalo we lost, 1-0, and guys were optimistic because we felt like we had outplayed them and the chances were in our favor, but we ran into a hot goalie, so we didn't feel we had to change a whole lot, just keep doing what we're doing," he said. "We couldn't say that after Game 1 against Boston. We're still optimistic because it was very uncharacteristic. We were very sloppy in our end. We made a lot of mistakes in zone coverage, things that were very uncharacteristic and we feel like that can be fixed. So we're ready for [Game 2]."
Boston's power outage
How much longer can the Bruins go without scoring a power-play goal? They are 0 for 26 in eight playoff games, and they became the first team in NHL history to win a seven-game series without a power-play goal in the first round against Montreal.
Coach Claude Julien said the Bruins appear tense when they have the man advantage.
"There is a lot of tension there, and when there's tension you're not seeing what's going on," he said. "There has to be a time when those guys relax and understand they have to find those seams and make the right decisions."
Hint that Boucher will start
Asked if Brian Boucher would start in goal for Game 2, Peter Laviolette said, "I haven't made an announcement on that."
Well, that's why he was asked. But you can read between the lines on a comment he made.
"We need to do a better job in front of [Boucher]," he said. "There were guys point-blank standing in front of our net and you get empty-netters."
Quotable
Laviolette: "There were a lot of things on video [of Game 1] that were revealing, but I think most of it had to do with attitude, competitiveness. I think the best thing we can do is change our attitude. We need to come in here with a much higher level of energy and desire. For whatever reason, you win that Game 7 [against Buffalo] and you take a breath and you get your ears pinned back pretty good."
--philly.com
Pronger's play
Chris Pronger was on the ice for three Bruins goals and he went up the tunnel to the locker room with little more than two minutes remaining in Game 1. Yet, Pronger and coach Peter Laviolette say the 36-year-old anchor of the Flyers defense is fine.
Even so, Pronger doesn't appear quite ready to give the Flyers the 27 or so minutes of ice time he played during last season's playoff run. Game 1 was just his third game since March 8, when he was sidelined with a broken right hand. Frequently when players return from long layoffs, they get by on adrenaline for the first couple of games, then hit a wall.
Pronger played 19 minutes, 45 seconds in Game 1. By comparison, the Bruins' 6-foot-9 defenseman, Zdeno Chara, was on the ice for 28:08.
"For whatever reason, we were loosey-goosey in our own end," Pronger said Sunday. "Against a team like that, which can capitalize and get pucks to the net, you can't do that."
Can't get worse
Few Flyers can put matters into perspective as eloquently as veteran defenseman Sean O'Donnell, who compared the Game 1 loss to Buffalo to the Game 1 loss to the Bruins.
"The first game against Buffalo we lost, 1-0, and guys were optimistic because we felt like we had outplayed them and the chances were in our favor, but we ran into a hot goalie, so we didn't feel we had to change a whole lot, just keep doing what we're doing," he said. "We couldn't say that after Game 1 against Boston. We're still optimistic because it was very uncharacteristic. We were very sloppy in our end. We made a lot of mistakes in zone coverage, things that were very uncharacteristic and we feel like that can be fixed. So we're ready for [Game 2]."
Boston's power outage
How much longer can the Bruins go without scoring a power-play goal? They are 0 for 26 in eight playoff games, and they became the first team in NHL history to win a seven-game series without a power-play goal in the first round against Montreal.
Coach Claude Julien said the Bruins appear tense when they have the man advantage.
"There is a lot of tension there, and when there's tension you're not seeing what's going on," he said. "There has to be a time when those guys relax and understand they have to find those seams and make the right decisions."
Hint that Boucher will start
Asked if Brian Boucher would start in goal for Game 2, Peter Laviolette said, "I haven't made an announcement on that."
Well, that's why he was asked. But you can read between the lines on a comment he made.
"We need to do a better job in front of [Boucher]," he said. "There were guys point-blank standing in front of our net and you get empty-netters."
Quotable
Laviolette: "There were a lot of things on video [of Game 1] that were revealing, but I think most of it had to do with attitude, competitiveness. I think the best thing we can do is change our attitude. We need to come in here with a much higher level of energy and desire. For whatever reason, you win that Game 7 [against Buffalo] and you take a breath and you get your ears pinned back pretty good."
--philly.com
