Flyers Stifle Pens, Ryan Rules, and Wings Bring out the Brooms in Columbus

The last time the Flyers played in an elimination game they lost 6-0 to the Penguins in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Finals.

This time around they kept the white flag in their pocket.

The Flyers smothered the Penguins defensively, and were able to beat Marc-Andre Fleury three times to move the series back to Philly. Martin Biron played his best game of the series, but give the Flyers' defense the most credit for the Pen's zero in the goal column.

They seemingly bored their way to a 3-0 win. Crosby and Malkin were a combined -3. The Flyers were fairly disciplined (minus two stupid Danny Briere penalties), only giving the Pens four opportunities on the power-play.

If the Flyers can continue to stay disciplined both defensively and emotionally, Game Six could be a good day for the Orange Crush...

Say it ain't so, Joe.

Another early exit? Another one!?!? You usually make it to the second round and then play dead.

The Ducks cruised to a 4-0 win over the Sharks in last night's Game Four in Anaheim. Bobby Ryan notched his third and fourth goals of the playoffs, Ryan Getzlaf continued to lead the Anaheim attack with two helpers, and Jonas Hiller maintained his ownership of the Sharks, stopping all 31 shots he faced.

The bottom line is the Sharks' top guns aren't willing to pay the price. Joe Thornton has two assists. Patrick Marleau has one goal. Devin Setoguchi has one assist. Their leading scorer is defenseman Rob Blake, who has three points.

On the other bench, Getzlaf has one goal and four assists, Ryan has four goals, and Corey Perry has one goal and one helper. That's 11 points for the Ducks' top line. San Jose's entire team only has 15 points.

The bottom line is Thornton has five goals in 39 playoff games with the Sharks. I don't care if you're a pass first player, that's just not going to cut it. 50 total points in 74 playoff games for a guy who has 842 points in 836 regular season games - a drop of over .33 points per-game. 'Nough said...

Over in Columbus, the Wings were able to finish off the Jackets in four games, compliments of a back-and-forth 6-5 victory. You have to feel a little for the Jackets, who were done in by a too many men on the ice penalty that resulted in the game-winner for the Wings, via Johan Franzen.

With the Red Wings victory, we know the Western Conference Semi-finals will look like this:

If the Ducks win:

(2) Detroit vs. (8) Anaheim
(3) Vancouver vs. (4) Chicago or (5) Calgary

If the Sharks win:

(1) San Jose vs. (4) Chicago or (5) Calgary
(2) Detroit vs. (3) Vancouver

In tonight's only action, the Blueshirts will try to put a nail in the Capital's coffin. Expect the Rangers to need to weather the storm early, as the Caps will come out of the gate ablaze...