Nice. Real Nice.

Well, that is just freaking great. His foot hurts and Timonen is done. Kimmo, Kimmo, Kimmo. Scott Stevens never had these sort of problems.

Well, normally you wouldn’t panic too much about the departure of a Grade B defensemen from your line-up. Except he’s probably the best the Flyers have. Consequently, this a serious problem.

Its funny- if you had a dispersal draft of the Flyers, he might not be one of the first ten players taken. Those good forwards and his age would work against him. But he’s the one guy they simply can’t afford to be without this week. A big part of the repeatable formula they’ve used to win games in these play-offs- score three goals every night and survive inside your own end- was Coburn and Timonen providing 25 minutes of “a fighting chance” to get it out. Now, instead of a mere 35 minutes of craziness, cringe-inducing turnovers and swearing- we get to for the whole boat. A full hour of me screaming foul slurs at Hatcher, Kukkonen and Jason Smith.

Jaroslav Modry is a -4 in the five games he dressed for. Guess what? He dresses tonight.

And I don’t even want to think about the power play. Randy Jones better have his jock- he brings some mobility. And Sami Kapanen has played some power play defense in the past- they might try him.

Ah, the hazards of paying free-agent money to guys a few years into their 30s.

Still, it stinks. Some talk they could get swept- as this Pittsburgh writer points out the Flyers seem to be in the same class of the Rangers and they barely made it to a fifth game.

Besides the loss of Kimmo Timonen, Philly's other tangible concerns have to include the suspicion that R.J. Umberger probably won't score eight goals in the next five games, which he did in the last five, that, while the Flyers are as hot as anyone east of the Penguins, they qualified for this tournament only 48 hours before it began, and that for all of their recent efficiency, a good argument could still be made that the Flyers might not be as good as the Rangers, who just got dismissed in five games.

I dunno- the Flyers figure to score three plus most nights- should be enough to get a game or two- particularly since the Penguins have got to be a little smug at least one night in this series. I’m just weighed down by the whole thing.

Two Down; Fourteen To Go

I fired up the internet this morning ready to write about the Flyers thoroughly satisifying triumph last night. I ended up wasting much of the morning reading Mike Wise’s hilariously fulfilling commentary in the Washington Post. It makes one wonder if he’d ever seen an NHL play-off game. There are just so many good parts: agonizing over the loutish fans, calling the Flyers’ thugs, pleading with the NHL to intervene- to simply do something, anything!

For most of the evening, there was this unmistakable air of testosterone coming from the Flyers' direction that just reeked of physicality, a way of exerting their mauling style on the Capitals that just sent their denizens into some medieval state of euphoria.

"We want to make it physical between the whistles," Flyers Coach John Stevens said. "I think it's important for no other reason then it's the best tool we have to defend, to be honest with you. I think it's very important that we move our feet and finish our checks and get people pushed off the puck."

Translation: "We will keep punking the Caps until the NHL commissioner tells us not to."

I like this too!

Did we mention they show fights on the video scoreboard every period here, more than most arenas show dunks in the NBA?

Something about this R-rated environment is just not conducive to Ted Leonsis' Family Pack Night or Ovie on Ice. The contrasts are so stark and revealing.

The Caps' postseason slogan: "Rock The Red." The Flyers? "Vengeance Now," which comes across as less of a slogan and more of a sequel to Charles Bronson's "Death Wish."

What an ass.

Look, while they’ve surely been a bunch of turtles so far (I think that picture to the right is in fact the Caps' defense emerging from the locker room), the Capitals are far from done here. The Flyers picked up another key injury on defense. They’re still very shaky back there at the best of times. And the Caps are a mere one road win from pretty good about things. Frankly, it isn’t like they can play either more scared or much worse.

But Washington has got problems. They were run out of the rink last night. The Flyers' coach is making his counterpart look bad. Huet stinks- and is getting worse.

As I wrote after Game 1, every Philadelphian looks at the Caps and totally gets their situation. It is the Allen Iverson Sixers all over again- a bunch of role players who need the stars’ jump to get them going. Part of why the Caps can’t get anything from their other lines is they don’t play them. Ovechkin is seemingly logging 26-27 minutes a night? He doesn’t kill penalties- so it honestly seems he plays all the time otherwise. Maybe they have no other option- but you can’t scream about contributions from secondary players if they get twelve, thirteen minutes of ice a night- mainly on special teams.

The Flyers have been chippy and aggressive- but blaming them for refusing to skate with Capitals seems kind of dumb. Plus, in case you missed it, Briere and Prospal are skating with them like crazy.

Watching the Flyers defense "cling" to their assignments like, well, they are bitter about something, I still think the series goes deep. Even with Hatcher dressing again, the injury to Kimmo Timonen is a hard nut. I’ve been all over Hatcher from the get-go in Philadelphia. But, his surly manner helps here and his plodding manner doesn’t hurt that much. Heck, nobody on the Flyers defensive corps can skate with these characters- so we might as well be strong on the puck, in the corners and in front in our own end.