Flyers Vs. Bruins: Winter Classic Shifts to Spring

Flyers fans are still riding high after the 5-game drubbing of the New Jersey Devils, which was so dominant that it may have been the cause for coach Jacques Lemaire's retirement. After nearly a week of waiting through the Capitals' epic collapse, the opponent is now clear for the Flyers, and it is a familiar one. This series will be a rematch of this season's Winter Classic and, hopefully, we will be treated to several Spring Classics (though we do know none of these games will be played outdoors, unfortunately.) As the Winter Classic and the rest of this season's meetings showed, these games will be hotly contested and there is no clear-cut favorite entering the series. This season, both teams went 2-1-1 with wins coming both at home and away, so season series statistics don't really provide much insight into who has the advantage heading into this series. What is known, for sure, is that both teams are riding the highs of their first round success, they match up well and this one will likely be a long series that is as physical and intense as they come.

At the forefront for the Flyers is the ever-present injury problem. Even the most blindly faithful Flyers fan can't really say that the injuries to Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, and most recently Ian LaPerriere won't strongly effect the team in this series. That said, however, the Flyers have beaten the odds thus far and seem to be at a point where they are playing with a mental toughness that can carry a team through adversity. The second major point for the Flyers in this series is the man affectionately known as "Boooooosh." Brian Boucher has played extremely solid hockey and, despite the litany of power plays, the defense has held up very well to the point where Boucher has not had to be the hero. On the offensive side, they will need the continued emergence of young guys like Claude Giroux to produce goals in this series because, as good as they may play at times defensively, the simple truth is that they need to score some goals to win. If they can continue to play the same way on defense, limit the penalties, and get some offense out of some of the quieter guys (read: Scott Hartnell) the Flyers have a very good chance in this series.

If the Flyers can find a way to solve the riddle that is goalie Tuuka Rask, find a way to navigate around the mammoth Zdeno Chara in order to score, and to control the distribution abilities of the returning Marc Savard, then things will look bright for the Orange and Black. It is a tough task to pull off, though, so I see this series going six or seven games. Boston may have more depth at this point, especially in light of the Flyers' injuries, but the Flyers pack a lot of punch in their offensive attack. It may come down to which of the two goalies maintains a hot streak and which one falters. No matter what, this series will be one to watch with lots of fireworks, and a few scrums as well.