We begin our first run in the playoffs against one of the teams I hate the most in the NHL, the Montreal Canadians. Since this our first time in the playoffs, I'll explain who this will be structured. For each post, we'll complete a round of the playoffs, and the posts will come out every day until we are eliminated. In each post, I'll have a preview of the two teams, mention the players to watch for, and show you the lines. I'll have a brief recap of each game, then some analysis at the end of what I thought of the series. Since I did not show you our lines in the last post, we will begin with that.
Forwards
Burakovsky(85)-Giroux(91)-Voracek(91)
Duclair(83)-Horvat(85)-Forsberg(86)
Laich(82)-Couturier(85)-Phillips(80)
Lemieux(80)-White(80)-Reaves(80)
Defensemen
Ekman-Larsson(87)-Dumba(85)
Gotisbehere(83)-Hagg(85)
Pettersson(83)-Michalek(77)
Goalies
Campbell(88)
Vasilevsky(86)
PREVIEW
Montreal finished the season with a record of 44-28-10, good for 98 points. They scored the exact same total of goals as us, 225, but conceded 13 more goals than us. Max Pacioretty is their most dangerous offensive weapon, scoring 46 goals and notching a total of 69 points in the regular season. The stars of the show, however, is their defense. Their defensive core features PK Subban and young but talented Nathan Beaulieu, and has a rock at the back in the form of star goalie Carey Price. Here are their lines.
Forwards
Pacioretty(88)-Galchenyuk(89)-Pominville(87)
Perron(86)-Desharnais(83)-Scherbak(81)
Hudson(84)-Eller(84)-Gallagher(84)
De La Rose(83)-Bournival(80)-Prust(78)
Defensemen
Beaulieu(87)-Subban(90)
Tinordi(85)-Gunnarsson(84)
Emelin(83)-Gilbert(80)
Goalies
Price(92)
Fucale(84)
SERIES
We came into the series as the higher seed, so we had home ice advantage. We put on an outstanding performance in Game 1, limiting their offense to just 20 shots on goal. Jakub Voracek opened the goal-scoring early, and Claude Giroux added a power-play marker and an empty-netter for a 3-0 win. After Game 1, we got some unfortunate news as Fillip Forsberg seperated his shoulder and would be out for at least a month. In his place, we called up young Spencer Watson. Jack Campbell continued his outstanding play in Game 2, as he stopped all 25 shots for his second consecutive shutout. Two goals on the power-play from Bo Horvat and Voracek, plus another goal for Giroux meant another 3-0 win and a 2-0 series lead.
The series shifted to Montreal, but the result stayed the same. Another terrific performance from Jack Campbell as he stopped 35 of 36 shots, and despite Montreal scoring for the first time, we put another three goals past Carey Price. Marcus Pettersson, Andre Burakovsky and Brendan Lemieux each scored their first of the series, and we won again, 3-1. With the Canadians fighting for their lives down 3 games to none, Game 4 was a tense affair. After a goal apiece in the first period(scored by Spencer Watson and Jason Pominville), the goalies seized control. It took just over 80 minutes before Claude Giroux finished off the Canadians in the second overtime period. The series was over after a short 4 games, with the Flyers taking Game 4 by the score of 2-1.
Series MVP: Jack Campbell, Philidelphia Flyers
Honorable Mention: Claude Giroux, Philidelphia Flyers
ANALYSIS
Other than the Forsberg injury, not a lot went wrong in that series. We could have used a little more goal-scoring, but we put 11 goals past one of the best goalies in the NHL. I certainly did not expect that level of performance from our team in our first playoff series, and we definitely look like a true contender to the rest of the playoff teams.
After a dominant first round, join me next time to find out who we will face in Round 2. Hope you enjoyed. (By the way, I didn't go very in-depth with this series because it just wasn't that interesting, I'll do more analysis for a series that deserves it.) See you next time!
-Henry
Forwards
Burakovsky(85)-Giroux(91)-Voracek(91)
Duclair(83)-Horvat(85)-Forsberg(86)
Laich(82)-Couturier(85)-Phillips(80)
Lemieux(80)-White(80)-Reaves(80)
Defensemen
Ekman-Larsson(87)-Dumba(85)
Gotisbehere(83)-Hagg(85)
Pettersson(83)-Michalek(77)
Goalies
Campbell(88)
Vasilevsky(86)
PREVIEW
Montreal finished the season with a record of 44-28-10, good for 98 points. They scored the exact same total of goals as us, 225, but conceded 13 more goals than us. Max Pacioretty is their most dangerous offensive weapon, scoring 46 goals and notching a total of 69 points in the regular season. The stars of the show, however, is their defense. Their defensive core features PK Subban and young but talented Nathan Beaulieu, and has a rock at the back in the form of star goalie Carey Price. Here are their lines.
Forwards
Pacioretty(88)-Galchenyuk(89)-Pominville(87)
Perron(86)-Desharnais(83)-Scherbak(81)
Hudson(84)-Eller(84)-Gallagher(84)
De La Rose(83)-Bournival(80)-Prust(78)
Defensemen
Beaulieu(87)-Subban(90)
Tinordi(85)-Gunnarsson(84)
Emelin(83)-Gilbert(80)
Goalies
Price(92)
Fucale(84)
SERIES
We came into the series as the higher seed, so we had home ice advantage. We put on an outstanding performance in Game 1, limiting their offense to just 20 shots on goal. Jakub Voracek opened the goal-scoring early, and Claude Giroux added a power-play marker and an empty-netter for a 3-0 win. After Game 1, we got some unfortunate news as Fillip Forsberg seperated his shoulder and would be out for at least a month. In his place, we called up young Spencer Watson. Jack Campbell continued his outstanding play in Game 2, as he stopped all 25 shots for his second consecutive shutout. Two goals on the power-play from Bo Horvat and Voracek, plus another goal for Giroux meant another 3-0 win and a 2-0 series lead.
The series shifted to Montreal, but the result stayed the same. Another terrific performance from Jack Campbell as he stopped 35 of 36 shots, and despite Montreal scoring for the first time, we put another three goals past Carey Price. Marcus Pettersson, Andre Burakovsky and Brendan Lemieux each scored their first of the series, and we won again, 3-1. With the Canadians fighting for their lives down 3 games to none, Game 4 was a tense affair. After a goal apiece in the first period(scored by Spencer Watson and Jason Pominville), the goalies seized control. It took just over 80 minutes before Claude Giroux finished off the Canadians in the second overtime period. The series was over after a short 4 games, with the Flyers taking Game 4 by the score of 2-1.
Series MVP: Jack Campbell, Philidelphia Flyers
Honorable Mention: Claude Giroux, Philidelphia Flyers
ANALYSIS
Other than the Forsberg injury, not a lot went wrong in that series. We could have used a little more goal-scoring, but we put 11 goals past one of the best goalies in the NHL. I certainly did not expect that level of performance from our team in our first playoff series, and we definitely look like a true contender to the rest of the playoff teams.
After a dominant first round, join me next time to find out who we will face in Round 2. Hope you enjoyed. (By the way, I didn't go very in-depth with this series because it just wasn't that interesting, I'll do more analysis for a series that deserves it.) See you next time!
-Henry
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