Philadelphia Flyers Schadenfreude: Massive Game 7

By Marc Naples | May 26, 2016

May 24, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Boyle (11) scores a goal on Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) during the third period of game six of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Philadelphia Flyers arch rival Pittsburgh Penguins are still alive in their chase for the cup unfortunately, and a massive game 7 looms tonight.

My hopes of enjoying seeing the Pittsburgh Penguins lose haven’t really been working out. I have gotten them up a few times, but these Pens have been persistent.

I got a bad feeling about things going back a few months. Then, I was there in person to witness the end of the Philadelphia Flyers’ recent dominance in Pittsburgh. At the time, I thought “that’s okay, I don’t have the highest hopes for the Flyers this season, but the Pens don’t look that tough against other teams.”

Then Pittsburgh only finished the season as one of the best teams in the league over the last 3 months. Much to my chagrin, Crosby was revived, and the Penguins kept on winning. In fact, the Penguins were playing well enough that they hadn’t lost back-to-back games since mid-January.

When the regular season ended, my own analysis pegged the Penguins as possibly the best team in the East. That said, it was one thing to watch them beat the Rangers, but it was another when they faced the Washington Capitals. Even though the Capitals had freshly beaten the Flyers, I did not hesitate to (temporarily) jump on board the Capitals bandwagon. That was not meant to be.

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Next up was the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was pretty easy to get engaged for this series, as the Lightning are a good team but faced lineup questions. Now with the series winding down, the series has had it’s ups and downs from my Flyers/Lightning perspective.

Either way, here we are for Game 7. I can’t remember the last time I was as invested in a game that didn’t involve the Philadelphia Flyers. Perhaps I am a bit more susceptible at the moment as I am currently living in Pittsburgh. I am moving in 6 weeks, and it would be truly horrific for one of my last memories from living here to be watching the Penguins celebrate a Stanley Cup win.

Even worse, much-hated Penguins stars like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have awoken. While it’s true that the team has mostly relied on the “HBK” line, I can’t overlook the fact that Crosby now has 5 points in the series, and the game-winning goal in every Penguins win. This is an unraveling nightmare.

Another minus is that old friend (and possible Flyers double-agent based on his performance in 2012 series between Flyers and Pens) Marc-Andre Fleury will not be playing in Game 7. His return to the lineup, lasted all of one game after losing game 4.

The last straw would be if former Flyers Matt Carle or Braydon Coburn have poor games. Sometimes having former Flyers makes it easier to root for another team, but myself and many other Flyers fans didn’t weep when Carle and Coburn left. They could be frustrated players to watch at times, and then watching them haunt me even though they’re no longer on the Flyers would be excessively cruel.

A Penguins Stanley Cup would be a truly intolerable situation. While I’m already making some backup plans for a finals series with the San Jose Sharks, I really, really, really want the Lightning to win tonight. It’s almost like a Philadelphia Flyers versus the Pittsburgh Penguins game at this point.

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