So much was on the line for Flyers. And boy were we in for yet another wild ride. Let me get the scores out of the way first. And then I will bother you with some details of the Flyers game and prepare for some ranting too ;)
[Flyers-Sabres] 5-4. Series tied at 3-3. Game 7 coming up. My nerves are shattered.
[Ducks-Preds] 2-4. Preds win series 4-2. *sigh* I was hoping the Ducklets would win the series. I like their style. Who does not like Bobby Ryan? I watched the first two periods before I had to give in and go to sleep and it was an up & down game. I was not convinced the Ducks could win this, but the Preds were not very inspiring either. It was 2-2 as I called it the day and hoped for the best. Oh well, congrats to the Preds for reaching the Semi Finals for the first time ever. And congrats to my buddy Sven for predicting this one correctly!
[Nucks-Blackhawks] 3-4. Series tied at 3-3. Another OT game. Well, who knew this series would go to a Game 7? Like I said to a buddy yesterday: The Nucks should be able to win this one {game 6} and the series, but if they do not, all bets are off. Have to laugh at the Nucks for letting things slip, but I really really do not like the Hawks.
Back to my Flyers. Still at my parents' place, ESPN America out of reach ...I thought I would not be watching the game. But I could not resist so I went for a bit of stream hunting. Not a fan of it, but just had to see the game. And I am glad I watched. It was tough to watch, because again the Sabres scored very early in the game and the stats show this is not good for the Flyers. They added insult to injury by scoring again too. Danny made it 2-1 however and kept us in the game. Here I thought we would get momentum and push for more, but instead the Sabres fought back. My guys successfully killed a power play (with both Prongs and Mesz in the penalty box), only to get scored on a few seconds later by Vanek. 3-1. And at this point I got really worried and I vented much of my dismay regarding the goalie situation.
{start short rant}
In short: Leights should never have been called up. I can see what Lavi tried to do there, but I am sure this lack of confidence had a negative effect on both Sergei and Boosh. And Sergei should not have been discarded so easily at all. So maybe he did not play his best game there in game two, but he is known to recover quickly from bad games and I am sure he would have been back to strength the next game. Leights is nothing more than a decent AHL goalie and he will never improve. So when I read a tweet that Laviolette would start Boosh for game 7 I was like "No shit, Captain Obvious?" ... Lavi's next step should be to send Leights back to the Phantoms and actually hope that some idiot team will pick him up off waivers so we never have to see him near our goal again. And Sergei should be back on the bench. If you see it differently, please make your case in the comments :D
{end short rant}
Back to the game. 3-1 made me very depressed, so JVR's goal was like a huge gift and definitely lifted my spirits again and my belief was thorougly restored when a while later Danny scored to tie the game at 3-3. Which is why the next goal by the Sabres was so annoying. It turned me into a nervous wreck again. I kept hoping and hoping though and was very happy when our Captain Gravity, Harts, scored!! Thanks Z for making it happen!In the final minutes of regulation we had a couple of big shots but the minutes turned to seconds and before we knew it we found ourselves in OT again. The Hockey Gods are not always kind to us in OT. Remember the previous game? I was literally on the edge of my seat though and I stopped breathing entirely I think. Stress levels were enormous! And then I saw Leino head for the goal and I do not know if I had an epiphany or anything but I raised my arms and went for a yell even before he actually scored. Weird? I know!
As I am preparing this article for posting tomorrow morning, I am still feeling the tension and I am munching chocolate easter eggs to replenish some of the energy that game took out of me lol ... but it still hard to stomach the four soft goals our goalies let in.
Oh, I completely failed to mention that Prongs was back! I suppose he was not well enough for an all-out game, he logged about 4 minutes. But I love the guy and was happy to have the big oaf back! If nothing else his presence must have boosted team morale! And onto Game 7.
If you care, check my original Whimsical Playoffs Predictions here:
My Whimsical Playoffs Predictions
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