That wasn't supposed to happen... | RossyB's Philadelphia Flyers Blog

...or at least that's what Gary Bettman was thinking as he watched the Green Light at Wachovia Center light up at the end of the 3rd period. The Flyers aren't meant to be doing this, what's going on? Who aren't I paying enough? he mut be thinking.

Yes, I am one of Bettman's seemingly infinite number of critics. The Flyers won 3-2 against the Habs in Game 3 giving the Flyers 2-1 lead in the series. "Just as I predicted" I say with a smug grin. That was before I saw the scoresheet (I didn't get to see it all of it). When I did, I almost suffered a stroke, to see that the Flyers almost (but didn't quite) drop another lead. I know Biron is hot and all (And I shall sing his praises later), but the Flyers need to learn to boost their defence and not sit on a lead. Would it be different if Modry were playing? I don't know because I don't know enough about him. The Flyers have been able to scrape through the playoffs, relying on Marty Biron's spectacular goalkeeping rather than a proper defence. These first two series are littered with examples where the Flyers have taken the lead and dropped it. It may make for entertaining hockey, but it's beggining to make me feel ill. I think the best remedy however, may just be for the Flyers to kick the offence up a notch. As they say, "the best defence is a good offence". I could also argue that Hatcher shouldn't have recieved the 5 minute major, but I didn't see the hit - so I'll keep quiet about that till I've seen it.

Anyway, I'm just glad the Flyers didn't drop the lead in the end and are now 2-1 up, deffying the odds again. I here talk that the Flyers are the "Cinderella" of this years playoffs, fighting above their weight. If I remember my fairy tales, every one wanted a dance with Cinderella because she was special. If I remember correctly, the Penguins lost their last game to AVOID the Flyers, knowing that they would suffer. If things stay this way, the Penguins will suffer anyway.

Back to Bettman. Being A Flyers fan, I can show you evidence that the Officials are against the Flyers. The Penalty at the end of the third in Game 1 and the 5 minute Major in Game 3. Biron himself said in a post-game interview: "Tonight we had to fight through a lot of adversity," he said. "It was a gutsy effort trying to battle through all the freedom they had, hitting [Biron] and slashing [Biron] the way we're not allowed to. It's pretty amazing." Could Bettman be fixing the games? The Pengiuns seem to be fighting above their weight and the Flyers are having a tough time with silly penalties. Most Flyers, Habs and Caps fans would agree with me that the officiating so far in the playoffs have been appauling. However, I shall not continue this train of thought (at least not here) till I recieve evidence suggesting what is going on, one way or the other.

Game 3 showed that this will still be a tough series, If Price stays in, it might be a bit easier as I can imagine he's a bit shaken from the last 2 games. The Flyers will need to step up on the offense, maybe add a bit more pace to their game and stay out of the sin-bin.

It would be great if the Flyers won in 5, but my prediction still stands: Flyers in 6