Written by Chris Wassel | 25 April 2008

If you are a Philadelphia Flyers fan, you know all too well about the biggest problem with the Flyers this season - playing a full 60 minutes of hockey. All season long it has been like this, and we're all too familiar with it, it's like a virus that just won't go away, you do just about everything you can and it still won't get better. Same with the Flyers, the have a lead, they sit on it, and then only after the other team ties the game up, that they start playing again, or at least, that's what it seems like.

The same story happened last night in Game 1 of the eastern conference semi-finals match up with Montreal. The Flyers had a two goal lead entering the second period, and with luck seeming to be on their side, it would look like they would still continue to play hard and try to put the game away. But, it didn't happen. They came out in the second chasing the Habs, and ended the period tied at 2. You can only get lucky so many times before the luck runs out. First it was Andrei Kostitsyn who put the Habs on the board, and then Alexei Kovalev scored to tie the game at two a peice, the puck was played with a high stick, it was clear from the various camera angles but the war room in Toronto said it was inconclusive, and Montreal was awarded the goal. I think the war room needs some 3010p HD TVs...they have made some bad calls in these playoffs, and not just on the Flyers neither. I also think they let that one slide because the city of Montreal paid them off to allow that goal so the city wouldn't be burned down. lol (joking Montreal fans).

The Flyers got the lead back early in the third with Lupul's 2nd goal in as many games and the lead would last all the way until 28.8 seconds when Saku Koivu won the face off against Jeff Carter because of Carter breaking his stick, and it went from Koivu to Kovalev and in net (They have WAYYY to many players with the last name starting with a K LOL!), and the rest was history....Flyers lost 48 seconds into OT after Kostopoulos put in his own rebound.

So, who do you blame? This is the same ol song and dance for the Flyers...not much you can do on the last 2 goals the Habs scored but you can not give up a short handed goal, especially in the playoffs. A lot of people want to blame John Stevens, my self included, for not rallying this team and trying to get a kick in their ass to play the full 60 minutes. But, is it really Stevens? Briere said, before the playoffs, that he believes fully in Stevens, and doesn't question his thought...hmm...that's funny, seriously, that is! A lot of Flyers fans question Stevens' motive, for instance, in game 6 against Washington last week, why not call a time out after the Caps scored the tying goal? Get the team refocused, and avoid elimination. Heck, the guy doesn't even show emotion, expect for an occasional fist pump, and the bear hug he gave his fellow assistant coaches. But this is also the time when the veterans step up and get in the players faces during intermission and get them refocused.

While no one knows for sure, who's to blame, players or the coach, there are some areas where the Flyers MUST play better, if they want to win this series, and it goes beyond playing 60 minutes of hockey. First off, I find it quite embarrassing when your top line is a combined -3 and your fourth line is a combined +6. It's also sad that your top line had more turnovers than your fourth line, and your fourth line did most of the scoring chances. I praised Danny Briere for his defensive efforts in the last 2 games of the quarterfinals, but I guess it was too good to be true, because Briere hardly played a bit of defensive hockey, along with Lupul. This has to change, the Flyers have great depth on this team and Stevens can roll 4 lines while still being able to create scoring chances.

So how will the Flyers respond in Game 2? Has Reality set in? Has being 28.9 seconds away from winning game one (after they scored the third goal, they played a solid hockey game) finally wake this team up? The only answer to that is to watch this series for Game 2, on VS Saturday night.

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