Posted by Scott Burnside
PHILADELPHIA -- It's easy to forget, but the Philadelphia Flyers were on the opposite side of the comeback fence last season. In the first round against Washington, the Flyers opened up a 3-1 series lead, but watched as the Caps forced a seventh game at home. That game, and the series, was decided when the Flyers' Joffrey Lupul scored the winner in overtime.
"You think about it," Flyers goalie Martin Biron said. "I remember last year after Game 6 sitting on the train to go to Washington thinking we just let a very good opportunity slip away.
"But when I got to the rink the next day and we were getting dressed, it was 'Do we have the music in the room that gets us going?' It's the same thing being down 3-2 [now]. You think about it now; tomorrow's got to be as huge as yesterday was, tomorrow's even bigger. You're home, you've got to win. Once you come to the locker room and you do your meetings and you play your soccer game and you get dressed, all of this goes away and it's about the game."
Mike Knuble suggested last season's series is a lesson in why it may be harder to close out a series than hang around.
"I think everybody underestimates how difficult it is to close a series," Knuble said. "We found that last year with the Capitals. They were able to hang around and drag the series out and really tested us.
"When you're closing it out, you think you feel like you have time and there's not that urgency. When you're on your way out, if you have that chance to go out, there's that urgency."
So does Knuble think there's less pressure on the Penguins to close out the series in Game 6 in Philadelphia than there was in Game 5 in Pittsburgh?
Knuble paused.
"I don't want to say too much about that," he said.
Let the music play!
Biron was asked what kind of music got the Flyers revved up, but he refused to divulge such sensitive material.
"That's a secret," Biron said. "I can't let you guys in on it. If I let you guys in on it, if I let you know, you guys would not even know what it is because I don't know what half the music is."
Someone guessed Olivia Newton-John.
"It is not Olivia Newton-John, that's for sure," Biron said with a laugh.
It's the grinders
There was much discussion about the fact that two of the Flyers' last four goals were scored by guys whose roles aren't necessarily that of offensive studs, Daniel Carcillo and Arron Asham.
It was Asham's rising laser-like shot that broke a scoreless draw in the second period Thursday night and turned out to be the winner in the Flyers' 3-0 victory.
Asham, who had scored just one other playoff goal before Thursday's marker, seemed mildly offended with the surprise over his feat.
"We're paid professionals. We're good enough players to be here," he said.
He pointed out that even the league's tough guys generally put up solid offensive numbers in junior.
"You know where to go and what to do," he said.
ESPN.com Stanley Cup playoffs blog
