The short-term effect is that it kept the Sabres out of the bottom of the playoff seeding and kept Penguins at bay, and now the orange and black are two points ahead for that important four-spot and home ice in the first round.
The long-term effect should be interesting. Philly has 11 games left, Pittsburgh only eight. Games in hand are tricky, because you can waste them just as easily as you can use them to distance yourself.
For the remainder of the month the schedule is: home vs New Jersey; home vs Florida; at NY Islanders; home vs Boston. All four are eminently winnable, and all four are also eminently losable.
The Devils and Bruins are looking to shore up the 1 and 2 spots. The Panthers are fighting for a playoff berth, and the Islanders are locked into the "spoiler or play for pride" role which got them odd things like a 7-3 win over Jersey two weeks ago.
Points in all are a must, but wins in all is the best scenario.
After basically taking yesterday "off," in a 4-1 loss which saw Martin Brodeur give up three questionable scores, you can bet he'll start tonight and suddenly recover than laser-like focus. Plus, you know he just likes to torture us.
Winning this game 1-0 should be the focus of John Stevens' gameplan. If the Flyers start thinking they have to score to win, it's over. That's the diabolical beauty of Devils '09 - this time of year, the mindset is still akin to Devils '98.
All those glib cliches about "playing 60 minutes" have got to come to fruition tonight and over the last 3 weeks of the season. It shouldn't be too hard, because this club has taken so many shifts off, they should have some reserves in the tank.
Also, Martin Biron has got to play like every goal he gives up should be his last - like Ron Hextall. He was lucky that those two fluke scores on Friday didn't come back to haunt his teammates, then played like he owed his club some stellar netminding yesterday. He has to back that up once again before he would have a likely rest either Thursday against Florida or Saturday at the Island.
Now something totally removed from the Flyers and playoffs. Alex Ovechkin's 50th goal celebration.
It was joyous. It was original. It was ridiculous.
He's crossed the line.
Nonetheless, it's so amusing to see hypocrites like Don Cherry and Rick Tocchet over-react on TV.
Where was Cherry's outrage in 1993 when rookie foreigner Teemu Selanne did his duck hunt impersonation when he broke Mike Bossy's rookie goal-scoring record?
Lightning head coach Rick Tocchet professed his indoctrination into the NHL of the old days of the Spectrum and said if that happened in his day, it would have been a three-hour first period.
Yet, why didn't he even attempt to send one of his team's
The NHL has changed way too much from even 10 years ago, that now even guys in their 40's sound like dinosaurs whose time has long since passed. Forget Cherry, who at 70-something looks ever closer to Skeletor in garish, insanely clashing and blinding suits.
Ovechkin's been warned. He's gotta tone it down. Even Jaromir Jagr got the message once, and stopped his idiotic salutes before he became merged with the advertisements on the boards.
On to college hockey...
I refuse to be an impartial or quasi-professional when discussing the politics of Hockey East rooting interest in this or any space.
It flat-out sucked big time that BC lost in the semifinals on Friday. Even worse they had to go down against perennial pain-in-the-ass Boston University. Atomic-level anger that the Eagles were up 2-0 before BU converted three goals in 44 seconds in the third period to wrap up the game. Nuclear explosions that BU suddenly has the Number One overall seed in the NCAA tournament.
Well...that's OK. Because we all know Jack Parker is more provincial than most coaches. He's satisfied with the Beanpot but can't get his boys to rise to the occasion on the national stage. It's been that way since BU last won a title in 1995.
Still...if you're Jerry York, you gotta have a fire lit under your ass which translates to your team. You can't let BU have one stretch of less than a minute doom your effort (one year removed from a national championship), not after you've upended New Hampshire two straight on their own home ice to start the playoffs.
To be honest, I didn't see them losing to BU. I didn't see them losing to either UMass-Lowell or even Northeastern in the final. The HE playoff title and an automatic berth was there for the taking.
Instead, it's the first time since 2002 the Eagles are sitting at home instead of reaching for glory in late March and early April. Coincidentally, that's what occurred in 2001 when all the rats left the ship for NHL careers and it took five years to get back to the national finals. I hope the cycle is shorter this time around.
I don't know who I will root for as the field of 16 is narrowed down to the Frozen Four in DC in two weeks. I sure as hell know who I will be rooting against.
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