The Sports Granola

With a pivotal Game 3 shifting to South Philadelphia tonight, one has to ask two questions - which Flyers team will show up and which Capitals will show up.  Both squads have shown their vulnerability and at times brilliance.  In terms of brilliance, the Capitals won only one period while the Flyers have won 5.

On Monday, the Capitals did not practice but had a bunch of meetings before taking a train up to Philly.  The long shifts on Sunday by Washington could be a factor of fatigue on Tuesday night. 

Besides his game winning goal in Game 1, Alex Ovechkin has been a non-factor in the series.  The superstar has shown his frustrations by slamming his stick on the ice and taking a whack at Scottie Upshall.  In Game 2, Ovechkin only recorded 5 shots on goal but lead all forwards in ice time.  That doesn’t match-up.

At the start of the game, the Orange&Black can’t get over hyped by the crowd and lose their composure as Washington will, they always do, begin with an up tempo game; rolling line after line. 

The home ice could be a factor for the Flyers.  Philly doesn’t need cheap gimmicks to get those in attendance into the game, but there will be a sea of orange as t-shirts distributed.

I’m concerned about Marty Biron’s psyche at the start of this game.  His mind could be on the arrival of his new daughter (not yet named) and the pressure of playing his third playoff game in front of the home crowd could be a distraction.  I don’t know, I’m just filling space here.

Enrico over at the700level.com was at the game on Friday night in the Verizon Center.  He commented on the video montages during stoppages of play, and some revisionist history that was occurring.  There’s a lot of that in Washington already, and it’s crept into sports.  I still think it’s comical that our nation’s capital is rooting for a Russian as if he’s a founding father.

Derian Hatcher could be ready for the game Tuesday and take the place of Jaroslav Modry who’s been a defensive pariah late this season.

The Flyers will win Game 3 if Biron remains solid and the front line of Danny Briere and Vinny Prospal finish on Washington’s mistakes. Also, the Flyers defense needs to maintain their game plan of keeping the Caps shooters to the outside, thus, reducing their scoring chances.

The Caps will win if they take shorter shifts and are able to avoid the smothering defensive system the Flyers are playing. Cristobal Huet, like Biron, can not let in the soft goal and the Caps have to worry less about hitting someone and worry more about making better plays in the nuetral zone.