In the Crease: Flyers Weekly 4/1

By John Casey

A loss, a win, a suspension, and ANOTHER goalie.

In a week where the Flyers played just two games, there is still a lot to talk about with this team.

Before the weekend even began, we learned that the Flyers were going with rookie goalie Johan Backlund against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins on Saturday in Pittsburgh. It was Backlund's first NHL start and it was coming against the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

Backlund was playing well through the first two periods of the game. The Flyers only trailed 2-1 after two periods in their final regular season contest at Mellon Arena. The only problem was Backlund hurt the same groin he just came back from a week prior. It was a major blow to an already fragile Flyers team. Two more goals by the Penguins in the third sealed the game.

The Flyers played the type of game they needed to against the Devils at home Sunday. They got on the board early and never let the Devils get back in the game. Brian Boucher played very well bouncing back from his recent struggles. The Flyers got some breaks. The Devils hit a couple key posts. Martin Brodeur gave up some soft goals early. That being said, a win is a win and beating the Devils 5-1 has to do wonders for this team's confidence.

In the Devils game, Dan Carcillo came together with David Clarkson in the third period. Carcillo received a five-minute match penalty on the play. His stick made contact with Clarkson's head giving him a gash over his eye that required a few stitches to close. Was it intentional? It's tough to say. Carcillo is saying no. Clarkson is saying yes. Clearly the only person that truly knows is Carcillo and I would not expect him to come out and admit to purposely hitting somebody in the head with his stick.

The fact is that the Flyers lost him for their next two games. Carcillo has played a key role lately for the Flyers. He was showing some offense while keeping his cool for the most part. He did make contact with a linesman a few weeks back and was not given a suspension. Regardless of the situation, a player should not be making contact with any official. Carcillo got lucky on that one. He did not get so fortunate on this occasion.

With Johan Backlund out for Sunday's game, the Flyers needed someone to back up Boucher. Most people figured they would once again recall Jeremy Duchesne from the Phantoms. That was not the case.

Paul Holmgren shocked us all by recalling rookie college senior Carter Hutton from the Phantoms instead. By college senior I mean he still takes classes during the week at UMass-Lowell while playing for the Phantoms on weekends.

Hutton walked into Hershey in his second AHL game and defeated the Bears 4-3 two Sundays ago. Hershey was currently riding a 23 game home win streak. It really showed a lot for him to beat the Bears in such a hostile atmosphere as the Giant Center.

That, combined with the recent struggles of Duchesne since being sent back down, is what probably earned Hutton the emergency recall. It must have been an awesome experience for the 24-year-old out of Thunder Bay, Ontario. He was returned to the Phantoms after the win over the Devils.

***The Week Ahead***

As the month of April begins, the Flyers head to Long Island to play the Islanders Thursday night before coming home Friday night to play the Canadiens. On Easter Sunday afternoon, the Flyers play the red hot Detroit Red Wings in front of a national audience on NBC. The team only has three games left after the Wings, and the first is against the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Tuesday night.

All of the games in the next week could be big for the Flyers in terms of playoff seedings, and even making the playoffs.

As the standings sit right now, the Flyers are holding on to the sixth seed in the East. They have 82 points, tying them with both the Bruins and the Canadiens, who hold the seventh and eighth seeds respectively.

You would think finishing sixth would get the Flyers a playoff matchup with the winner of the northeast division, right now the Buffalo Sabres. Well, think again. With a Buffalo win tonight over the Panthers and the Penguins losing to the Lightning, the Sabres have jumped over them into second place in the east. So as it currently sits, the Flyers would be heading to Pittsburgh for their third playoff matchup in the last three years.

But not so fast. The Devils are just two points back of the Penguins for the atlantic division lead. The Penguins are nowhere near clinching the division yet.

The next two games for the Flyers are huge. They have a game in hand on the Canadiens as it stands right now. That game is tomorrow night against the Isles. A win over the Islanders would set up a chance for the Flyers to put themselves up four points on the Habs heading into the final week.

But you cannot forget about the Bruins. They have the same amount of games played as the Flyers but less wins, putting them in seventh.

And through all of that, sitting just two points back of the Flyers, Bruins and Canadiens is the Thrashers. The Flyers and Bruins both have a game in hand on Atlanta. Any kind of losing streak by any one of these three teams could see the Thrashers getting into the playoffs even after they dealt away Ilya Kovalchuk. The Rangers sit two points back of the Thrashers in tenth.

All of this can get very confusing. That is why the Flyers are taking one game at a time, so they say. All the players are currently saying the right things. They are not looking past the Islanders tomorrow night. The rest of the season the Flyers just have to worry about winning the next game. Looking too far ahead can only hurt them.