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 'It's adversity' Odds are against Flyers in series' comeback attempt
Posted: Tuesday May 04, 1999 12:37 PM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- In their playoff history, the Philadelphia Flyers have come back from a 3-2 deficit in a best-of-seven series only once in eight tries. The Flyers find themselves in that very hole against the Toronto Maple Leafs heading into Game 6 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series Sunday night in Philadelphia. While history is working against them for the series, the Flyers say they can't be worried about a possible Game 7. They can only concern themselves with winning the next game. Sporadic goal production and erratic goaltending are two big reasons why the Flyers find themselves one loss away from a second straight first-round playoff exit. The Flyers, who did not practice Saturday, have scored a total of eight goals in victories in Games 1 and 4 but only three in a trio of 2-1 defeats in Games 2, 3 and 5. "It's adversity," Rod Brind'Amour said Saturday. "We've got no tomorrow unless we win. I think we have to keep playing the way we've been playing and I believe we can get the puck to go in." Other Flyers expressed similar cautious optimism. "We still feel that we can do this," said John LeClair. "I don't think we can change much now. We had some pretty good chances [in Friday night's overtime loss at Toronto]. They just didn't go in for us. When we get our chances, we have to make sure we put them in." Eric Lindros, still recovering from a collapsed lung, did skate Saturday. He's been watching the series closely, in hopes of returning for a possible Round 2. Although he reiterated on Sunday that he will not be ready for a sixth or possible seventh game, he spoke confidently of his team's chances. "I look at the players we have and the grit we have in here," he said. "I'm confident we can win tomorrow [Sunday] and I'm confident we can win in Toronto. I wouldn't be doing this [training for a possible second round] if I wasn't." The Flyers believe they need another strong defensive performance. "If you had said before the series there would be three 2-1 games, we would have said great," said Flyers coach Roger Neilson. "They have been tight-checking games that we wanted to play. But it hasn't worked out for us. "It looked to me like it [Game 5] was a little more wide open, which was probably to their advantage. We have to get back to playing more like we did in Games 2 and 4. I think the players are confident they can get back to playing a hard-checking game." To get to a Game 7, the Flyers must get better clutch goaltending from John Vanbiesbrouck. The Leafs have scored goals on three backhand, wide-angle shots in the series. Toronto's sharpshooters are sensing that weakness. "It seems like sometimes, at bad angles, they [weak shots] have trickled over his pad," said Toronto's Mats Sundin. "But I think he's played well in the series. He's only allowed eight goals in five games." Sundin said the Maple Leafs have some momentum after winning Game 5 in dramatic fashion. "We showed a lot of character again, even though they got the lead again," he said. "I don't think we've had the lead in the first period the whole series. "We hung there patiently. We've shown sometimes this year that when we get down a couple goals, we get frustrated and leave our game plan, but we stuck to it. We hung in there, hung in there, hung in there. And Cujo [Curtis Joseph] made some big stops." The Flyers' only successful rally from a 3-2 deficit took place in the 1989 playoffs when they bounced back against the Penguins to win Game 6 in Philadelphia and Game 7 in Pittsburgh.
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