Sorry to all Philadephia fans (especially you No Limit), but the Flyers have absolutely no chance to repeat history and come back from 3 down again in 2011 like they did in 2010 against the Bruins....and here's why.
1. Goaltending
I don't want to be disrepectful because the Flyers are obviously a damn good hockey team, being the #2 seed in the NHL playoffs and advancing to the 2nd round of the playoffs, but HOW THE HELL DID THEY DO THAT?? Boucher is one of the toughest goalies to watch play and to be honest, it must be 100 times tougher to try and root for the team with this guy in the net. A couple of the goals in Game 3 in Boston were weak goals by the B's that should have been gobbled up, but simply wasn't.
On the other end is Tim Thomas for the B's. The soon to be Vezina Trophy winner and possible even MVP of the whole league in the NHL. He is coming off the best save percentage in the history of the NHL and doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. This guy has been lights out and really slowing down a very high powered offense that the Flyers have. With the Flyers goalies letting up softies and Thomas not letting up any, this is going to be impossible for the Flyers to win 4 in a row.
2. Coaching
Julien is literally coaching for his job and you can see that in the play of his players on the ice. Since the B's were down 2-0 in the Canadians series both head coach Julien and the GM, Peter Chiarelli were on the hot seat to be fired after another early playoff exit. Since then the B's have won 7 out of 8 games and are playing with smarts from there coach but also playing with a purpose. It has happened a handful of times this year when Julien was on the hot seat during losing streaks and the team has flat out come to play for their guy. That is no different in this NHL Playoffs and the Bruins really respect Julien and want to keep him around. No chance they let this slip by again and watch their coach get canned.
3. Desire and Focus
There has obviously been some Bruins players in interviews on the radio or television and these guys are just focused. They don't care about what happened last year or what the Flyers players or coaches are trying to say to get in their heads. Every single Bruin is focused on Game 4 and improving to better their chances to win the hockey game.
A bunch of newcomers has obviously helped that. Horton, Marchard and others are playing in their first NHL Playoffs ever and are bringing the intensity and desire that is needed to win the Cup. When other players see these guys flying around and giving up their bodies for the puck or whatever, it is contagious and other players feed off it.
These are the 3 reasons why I think that the Flyers and this Bruins team will come out on fire again in game 4 and it will be up
to the Flyers goalie to answer the bell. Nobody is home for the Flyers
and the Bruins complete the sweep tonight in game 4.