Giroux, Flyers were able to forget all about the Game 1 Penguin rout
PITTSBURGH » Claude Giroux was done with the examinations of conscience, the recurring memories of two nights earlier, the repeated promises of doing better next time.
Game 1 of this FlyersPenguins playoff series was history, Giroux finally concluded, so now it was time to start blaming himself and get back to business.
“I’ve been thinking about it the last few days,” Giroux said Friday, when asked to assess his performance in the series’ opening 7-0 Flyers loss to the Penguins Wednesday. “I was just terrible, really didn’t play my game. I’ve played in playoff games before and obviously, that’s not the result that we wanted.”
But now it was only a couple of hours prior to Game 2 Friday night, and Giroux’s thought process had adjusted.
“Both personally and as a team we’ve just got to be better, that’s all,” he said. “We’ve got to be responsible with the puck, because if we’re not, they’re going to come right back at us. But at the same time you can’t not make plays. I feel like we were playing too safe (Wednesday night); we were a little too worried about them. We have to change that mindset. We have to play our game and make them worry about us a little more.”
The Penguins perhaps are a little more worried about the Flyers now, after a 5-1 Philadelphia victory that ties the series heading to Sunday’s Game 3 in Philadelphia. Who’da thunk?
“I think we expected it,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “It was pretty tough for us to walk out of their arena the other night. That wasn’t us. I don’t know if anybody gave us much of a chance in this series. I don’t know if anybody still will. But I know this: We introduced us into this series tonight.
“We didn’t play well two nights ago. Tonight we played our asses off in a tough game on the road.”
Both Giroux and Shayne Gostisbehere indicated Friday they thought a series opening case of nerves had not served their team well two nights earlier. That wouldn’t be the case on this night.
“It’s tough when you’re coming into a two-time defending champion’s building and you see how electric it is in there,” Gostisbehere said. “Some guys are going to be tight; it was the first playoff game for some of these guys.”
Giroux thought the early case of nerves was exacerbated by the way the experienced Penguins immediately took advantage by posting a three-goal edge in the first period of the series.
“They got that first one, then the second, then the third one ... everything was just not going our way,” Giroux said. “Then you start doubting your game, you start doing different stuff and you get away from the game plan. It was just one thing after another. But we’re going to put that behind us.”
The Flyers did just that Friday, playing a controlled, defensively stingy game.
“Their power play is probably the best in the league,” Giroux said. “Our PK did a good job of shutting themn down and that was huge.”
*** didn’t Hakstol change a thing when it came to submitting a Game 2 Flyers roster. Same roster, same lines, same defensive pairings, same goalie. That would be Brian Elliott, he of the 10.34 goals-against average coming out of Game 1.
“Great pro,” Hakstol said before the game of Elliott. “He’s answered the bell for our team time and time again. Coming off an injury, he’s got three games now under his belt. No question that he’s working to rebuild his game to his top level. There’s no guarantees that come with that, but I’m not worried about guarantees. I’m confident in Brian because I know who he is as a person and who he is as an athlete.”
Flyers rookie Nolan Patrick thinks Hakstol’s response to the Game 1 blowout was an appropriate one.
“I don’t think there is any panic from the players or the coaches,” he said. “It’s just one game. We’ve lost games during the year and we didn’t make a bunch of adjustments then. So we’re not going to do it right away