One for the scrap heap

Ugly games looks gorgeous in the win column for Philly

Let's not focus on what this game wasn't. Pretty. Artistic. Exciting. Even entertaining. Instead, let's talk about what this game was. Hard fought. Intense. Brutal. Necessary.

Philadelphia needed this game to even the series, and to that end, it was successful. The Flyers disrupted any chance the Senators might have had at establishing some offensive flow in any manner possible. Philly kept the puck along the wall, resulting in long stretches of rugby-like scrum action. The Flyers iced the puck, flipped the puck out of play, knocked the net of its moorings and had goaltender Roman Cechmanek hold the puck at every opportunity. As a result, Philly forced more than 60 faceoffs in the final 40 minutes.

And the Flyers clogged the neutral zone, too. They were relentless in shutting down the Sens as they moved toward center ice. Ottawa tried to flip the puck over Philly's trap and establish some semblance of a forecheck, but even that strategy yielded little in the way of scoring chances. When the Sens did get a shot through, Cechmanek was there, as he has been after every loss this postseason. He made a few critical saves in the second half of the third period and, in general, looked more in control than he did in Game 3.

Part of the reason Cechmanek looked better was the work in front of him. The Flyers worked their collective guts out to win this game. Their positioning was impeccable and their anticipation impressive. Ultimately, that was due to their overall discipline, which they exhibited in every facet of this game.

The Flyers only gave up one power-play chance and won most of the critical faceoffs -- the lone goal of the game, in fact, was the result of a clean win in the circle by Michal Handzus. Those two elements in combination hurt the Senators -- a very good power-play team and a mediocre faceoff team.

In all, it was just enough for the Flyers to draw even in the series. And that's all that matters in Philly.

Three Stars

First Star: Cechmanek certainly benefited from the energy expended in front of him, but he came through again when he had to.

Second Star: Patrick Lalime made several quality saves in the second and third periods to keep his team from falling behind by two goals. He could not have played any better than he did.

Third Star: Keith Primeau embodied the passion, emotion and conviction with which he and his teammates performed on this evening.

Darren Eliot, a former NHL goaltender, is a hockey analyst for SI.com. Eliot will provide Stanley Cup Playoffs commentary throughout the postseason and is also broadcasting games for NHL Radio.

 

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