Prongergame2devils

Instead of using a traditional "summary" form, I thought I would post some of my observations and opinions from tonight's 5-3 loss in NJ.

1. Despite allowing 4 goals, Boucher played extremely well yet again, and he very much deserved the win. Of the 4 goals, only the second one was "weak" and should have been stopped. Boooosh had 28 saves in the loss. Martin Brodeur looked much better in Game 2, and finished the game with 26 saves for the win.

2. I thought Matt Carle had a HORRENDOUS game, as shown by his -2 in the box score. He didn't stop a bouncing puck by the opposing blue line on the powerplay when he was the last man back, leading to Parise's shorthanded goal early in the game. He also was on the ice on the penalty kill for the Devils third goal, when he didn't prevent Andy Greene from skating into the slot. He also wasn't very involved offensively, which Carle does when he is playing effectively.

3. Claude Giroux was all over the ice tonight, which was very encouraging. He finished the game with 2 points, and also drew some penalties against the Devils. He was also the victim of a heavy unpenalized hit from behind delivered by Colin White, which could have been easily called a 5 minute boarding major.

4. Chris Pronger continues to show why he carries teams to the Stanley Cup. He scored his second goal in as many playoff games late in the second period to tie the game at 3.

5. Watching the Parent/Bartulis defensive pairing was as painful as it gets tonight. It seemed like whenever they were on the ice, the Flyers were trapped in their zone for a solid minute.

6. Although this was a game the Flyers could have won, they did what they had to do by getting the road split. As long as they win the remainder of their home games, they will win the series. (A 2-0 series lead would have been nice though…) The loss wasn't due to a lack of effort, but the Flyers need to clean up their game in their own zone to pull off the upset.

The series resumes Sunday Night at 6 PM in Philly.