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Biggest Playoff Upset
by PuckStopsHere on 04/23/10 at 11:26 AM ET
Comments (11)
I think the biggest upset in the 2010 playoffs has just occurred. The Philadelphia Flyers have defeated the New Jersey Devils. Philadelphia was without their first two choices to be starting goalies as Ray Emery and Michael Leighton were injured. This left the Flyers with Brian Boucher in goal. Boucher was coming off a lacklustre .899 saves percentage and had not won a playoff game since the year 2000. Philadelphia almost lost their playoff berth with due to their goaltending problems. They went on a streak where they lost seven of eight games and needed a run where they won three of their last four games to clinch a playoff berth on the last day of the season. Things looked even worse when Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne both suffered foot injuries that will keep them out for weeks, if not the rest of the season. Nevertheless, Philadelphia defeated New Jersey four games to one in the first round.
Brian Boucher was a surprising hero in the first round of the playoffs. He put up a .940 saves percentage and a 1.59 GAA. Meanwhile his counterpart from New Jersey. The aging, winningest goalie of all time in Martin Brodeur posted an .881 saves percentage and a 3.01 GAA. Boucher clearly won the goaltending dual in this series.
New Jersey as a team did not play a poor series. They controlled the play most of the time. They had a strong Corsi advantage. They just ran into the hotter goaltending in a short series. Sometimes unlikely players play well. Brian Boucher is a good enough goaltender that he can get hot for a spell. The best guess is that it won’t last. No goaltenders can consistently play at the level that Boucher has so far in the playoffs for an entire season. The better goalies have a better chance of staying at that level because it is less of a departure from their expected level.
Philadelphia’s first round success was improbable. They were outplayed but nevertheless won. They had a strong goaltending performance from an unlikely third choice goaltender. These things happen in short series. It will likely stand as the biggest upset of the 2010 playoffs, unless the Flyers manage to make it out of the second round.
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Tags: Brian+Boucher, Philadelphia+Flyers,
Comments
Wow, did you even watch the series? For real, if you did then there’d be no way you could say that NJ outplayed Philly with a straight face. Yikes, please at least watch a series if you’re going to comment on it.
Posted by Wow on 04/23/10 at 12:05 PM ET
surprised my arse – i called it first – remember, Garth?
Posted by some kid on 04/23/10 at 12:06 PM ET
Biggest upset of the playoffs? Nah, probably not, depends on what happens in the other series.
Philly was a great, but underachieving team. The talent on the team is extremely strong and it finally came together, along with goaltending, in the playoffs.
Nice call on Boucher, PSH, swing and a miss again. In fact, I put $30 that Philly would win the series just because you didn’t think had a shot. Thanks for the cash big guy!
Posted by Chris from NOHS from Columbus, OH/Grand Rapids, MI on 04/23/10 at 12:11 PM ET
Flyers won 5 of 6 games the two teams played this year. So, statistically speaking, it is not much of an upset at all.
Posted by blammo from Vancouver, BC on 04/23/10 at 12:15 PM ET
It’s the only series that’s finished. Why are we even talking about the biggest upset? It’s the only series that’s finished.
Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 04/23/10 at 12:18 PM ET
I understand that they didn’t have their #1 or #2 goaltender, but…Philly won the season series 5-1. No clue how anyone could think this is a huge upset.
Philly has had NJ’s number all year.
Posted by Flashtastick56 from Milford, CT on 04/23/10 at 12:18 PM ET
Philadelphia’s first round success was improbable.
I think you’ll find that this was one of the most predicted upsets amongst people making predictions. Marty is not the elite goaltender he used to be, and the rest of the team needs to retool to compensate for his decline. He’s still a great goaltender, but not to the extent that you can build the whole system on his shoulders.
It’s the only series that’s finished. Why are we even talking about the biggest upset? It’s the only series that’s finished.
Statistics are on his side, obviously.
Posted by MarkK from Maryland on 04/23/10 at 12:30 PM ET
Philadelphia’s first round success was improbable.
I think the Flyers heading in to the playoffs were thought of as a quick exit but they did take 5 of 6 from the Devils in the regular season despite a myriad of goalies, injuries, and often indifferent play.
I think the key to their success is creating a lot of traffic in front of the net. If you let Brodeur see the shot he’ll make the save 9 1/2 times out of 10. The deflections and the aggressive attack by the Flyers against a surprisingly passive Devil defense helped Philly get through. The Flyers limited the rebound and second chance opportunities and gave up the bulk of their 9 goals short-handed when the Devils actually had some time and space (one check of the stats would show you that).
I even heard Tim Saunders say if there was one potential playoff opponent the Flyers wanted to play first it was the Devils simply because they match up so well against them.
They were outplayed but nevertheless won.
Quite the contrary. The Devils, outside of Ilya Kovalchuk, were nowhere to be seen. Listless and at some times lost they rarely looked in sync or like they cared. t was almost like they were totally relying on a 36-year-old Brodeur to put them on their shoulders when his game has slipped noticeably the past couple of seasons. Changes will have to be made in New Jersey, either on the ice or behind the bench. You don’t exit the playoffs in the first round three-consecutive seasons, the third exit the most lifeless of the three, and expect to be considered an “elite” team in this league.
Posted by TJ on 04/23/10 at 01:17 PM ET
New Jersey have sucked in the playoffs for years..
this is a complete non surprise…
Posted by Pharazon from England on 04/23/10 at 02:19 PM ET
remember, Garth?
*ahem*
I…don’t recall…at this time…
Posted by Garth on 04/23/10 at 09:47 PM ET
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Posted by Leo_Racicot on 04/23/10 at 11:32 AM ET