Snap Shots: Pens 5, Flyers 0 (Game 4)
* The Flyers just have no answers left for the Pens. Pittsburgh outmatches Philadelphia in every facet of the series, whether it's scoring, goaltending, special teams, etc. Even Pittsburgh's Game 2 loss, one could argue the Pens had the better of the play. All of it adds up to a 3-1 series lead following back-to-back road sweeps in Games 3 and 4 in Philadelphia. The Flyers were never in the contest. And the series may be over before the weekend.
* Sidney Crosby has tormented the Flyers throughout his career. But he saves his best performances for in-person. After posted 2 more points in Game 4, Crosby now has 17 points (6G-11A) in 10 career playoff games at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers hate Crosby and the feeling is mutual. What they don't realize is that Crosby thrives off of that hatred and in this type of environment. They're only feeding the beast.
* Crosby's 2nd point of the game was a nice wraparound goal that he tucked in by the goal post. It was also his 173rd career playoff point, moving him past his boss - Mario Lemieux - and into sole possession of 1stplace in the franchise's all-time postseason scoring list.
* And speaking of history, goaltender Matt Murray knows a thing or two about that. He won his 25th career playoff game in just his 36th career appearance tonight. That is an NHL record for fewest games to reach 25 - besting 5 guys that are currently in the Hall of Fame (Bill Durnan, Terry Sawchuk, Gerry Cheevers, Grant Fuhr, Patrick Roy all at 37 games).
And to top it all off, Murray did so with a 26-save shutout.
* A lot of times when we talk about goaltenders, we talk about timely saves. The timeliness of the save can be even more important than the quality of the save.
Case in point was on the Pens' second goal of the game. Philadelphia had two extended shifts in the offensive zone, generated a lot of pressure, the crowd was roaring and excited. The momentum was building. Then along came Phil Kessel,
Kessel sneaked a shot through the five-hole of Brian Elliott to silence the crowd and crush the Flyers' momentum. It was like a boxer that absorbs 20 body blows and then counters with a knockout punch. The fact that the Pens scored was bad enough for the Flyers. But to have it come just as they were starting to generate some life was crippling. That's a save that you need your goaltender to make. He didn't, and it cost Philadelphia the game, and possibly its season.
* And speaking of timely saves, after the Pens gained their 2-0 lead they had a power play late in the first period. As the penalty expired, Travis Konecny exited the penalty box and had a breakaway. Murray stoned him with the right pad, and the Pens took a 2-0 lead into intermission.
* This is another Brian Dumoulin appreciation block. As noted above, the Flyers had their best opportunities of the entire game during two extended offensive zone shifts. The Pens were tired and dragging. Philadelphia was moving the puck well and put six pucks on net - three got through. Dumoulin found the puck and instead of icing it, found an extra gear to skate the puck all the way out of the defensive zone, pull up in the neutral zone and dump the puck for a line change. I don't know how he found the energy to pull it off, but a minute later Kessel scored to give the Pens a 2-0 lead. It was an incredible individual effort by Dumoulin that helped keep the Flyers off of the scoreboard.
* Rookie Dominik Simon palyed in his 1st career NHL playoff game, and picked up his 1st career playoff point - assisting on Crosby's second-period goal.
