Flyers hurting; series shifts to Philadelphia

VOORHEES, N.J. (AP) — The Flyers’ playoff predicament is a cruelly familiar one.

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins lead Philadelphia 2-0 in this playoff series — just like last year in the Eastern Conference finals. T

his year’s quarterfinals shifts today back to Philadelphia for Game 3 with the Flyers looking to make this a competitive series — again, like last season.

At this pace, the Flyers are looking at a repeat scenario with a postseason exit.

The Flyers lost Game 3 at home with the series basically on the line in the conference finals last season, so there’s no guarantee a return to the raucous atmosphere those orange-and-black diehards add to every game will mean much other than a rocking arena.

“Our minds are in a lot better place than we were last year,” Flyers center Danny Briere said on Saturday. “We’re feeling a lot better. I thought we should be talking about a 1-1 series. We win one game and we’re right back there.”

History is against the Flyers.

They have won only two best-of-seven series when trailing 0-2: Philadelphia won four straight after dropping the first two to Toronto in the 1977 quarterfinals and did the same thing to the Penguins in the 2000 Eastern Conference semifinals. All 17 NHL teams that have jumped out to a 2-0 lead in each of the last two postseasons have gone on to win the series.

The Flyers tossed those omens under the Zamboni.

“We’re coming back to our building thinking this is our game to have,” Flyers goalie Martin Biron said.

It could be if Philadelphia eliminates the pesky penalties and undisciplined play that have led to the first two losses. The Flyers were whistled for 34 penalty minutes in Game 1 — not a total surprise for the NHL’s most-penalized team — then appeared to keep their sticks in check with only 6 penalty minutes in regulation of Game 2.

Overtime cost them big.

Mike Knuble extended his arms, not once, but twice into the back of Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik and was whistled for cross-checking. Claud Giroux picked up a slashing penalty only 30 seconds later, giving the Penguins a two-man advantage that Bill Guerin would cash in with the winning goal.

Knuble, a 12-year veteran, made his second costly mistake in two games. In the Game 1 loss, he tried banking a pass off the back wall, but the puck skittered to Malkin and he quickly snapped it past Biron for a 3-0 lead.

“Two games in a row something stupid happened to me,” Knuble said. “You feel like you’re single-handedly thwarting your team’s chances and ruining your team’s chances. You feel one way the night before, then you feel it again. You’re disgusted.”

Knuble, though, wondered if the cross-checking call was made to even things. Referee Bill McCreary had already called one cross-checking penalty on Penguins defenseman Hal Gill in OT, so officials were looking for a Philadelphia infraction.