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Anonymous
>>464862 I hate it when Flyers "fans" blame the defensemen for everything.
Honest to God, the Flyers are primarily unlucky. I don't think I've ever seen so many goals scored off pucks that hit the defenders and redirect in. Conversely, I've never seen offensive pressure like the Flyers can apply not produce goals (and yes, I do realize Philadelphia is one of the top offensive teams, but they've really had many, many missed opportunities even then)
As far as the defensemen are concerned, their "mistakes" are coming from their role in the attack. Philadelphia learned against Pittsburgh last post-season that the entire team needs to move together for their forecheck to work properly. This leaves the team vulnerable to counter-attacks, but that's just how the game is being forced to be now. The real anamoly is Coburn sitting in the box every game. His PIMs are ridiculous. Granted, Alberts and Kukkonen aren't the far above AHL caliber, but they aren't getting much help either.
Help from the goaltenders and forwards. Biron and Nittymaki can steal games. Unfortunatley, they're very inconsistant. Unless Biron really gets in a groove like he did against Montreal last post-season, Philadelphia will just need to deal with this (and they can since they do score goals). The real key is the half-assed backcheck. I tear my hair out every time I see Carter gliding in after the play when we all know he has the speed to disrupt any transition he faces.
Philadelphia was getting burned by swift counter-attacks and lackluster checking in their own zone.
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