PHILADELPHIA — As a whole, the Flyers seemed shocked the Rangers have had the audacity not to engage them in a bloody mess of a first-round playoff series.
On Friday morning at Wells Fargo Center, with Game 4 just hours away and the Rangers leading this best-of-seven contest, 2-1, the home squad went about describing how surprised they are that the tenor of the series has not been much more physical, and how surprised they were at the number of penalties that have been called.
“It’s crazy,” said Philadelphia instigator Zac Rinaldo, referring to the two teams combining for 34 penalties, 70 penalty minutes, and 39:18 of man-advantage time resulting in six power-play goals. “To me, that’s not playoff hockey, but it is what it is.”
Rinaldo led the Flyers this regular season with 153 penalty minutes, yet has taken only one penalty — a slash late in the third period of Game 1 when the Rangers were already leading, 4-1. He has averaged just 6:22 of ice time, and when asked if he thought this rivalry matchup has been as physical as he expected, he balked.
“No, not even close,” he said. “It’s a weird series.”
Then Rinaldo made his declaration of trying to change things, hoping to fulfill the prediction of his captain, Claude Giroux, who after a 4-1 loss in Game 3 said the Flyers were going to tie up the series and head back to New York even at 2-2 for Game 5 on Sunday at noon.
“I think I’m being a little too careful out there,” Rinaldo said. “I’m going to change that. But if I only play 5, 6 minutes a game, I don’t want to take a penalty.”
It’s clear the Flyers’ goal has been to be tough with the Rangers, hoping a little after-whistle pushing and shoving might get under their skin. Yet for the most part, the Rangers have done a good job staying away from that, and it’s helped them to get into position to take over the series.
“It’s the playoffs, so we want to be physical — we’re a physical team,” said forward Jakub Voracek, not known as being much of a brute but still managing to get into a fight with the smaller Carl Hagelin in Game 3. “If it’s in their head, it’s hard to say.”
The Flyers will get a boost with No. 1 goaltender Steve Mason expected to get his first start of the series after dealing with a suspected concussion, but just as Game 3 was more intense than the first two, it’s likely to be ratcheted up yet again.
“I thought it was going to be worse, to be honest,” Voracek said. “The first two games were pretty emotionless for their side. But they’re up 2-1, so they’re doing something right.”
Only the Rangers scratches skated in the morning, and from those indications, the lineup will stay the same. The only players who participated were forwards J.T. Miller and Jesper Fast — confirming Dan Carcillo will stay in for Fast, the switch that was made for Game 3. Justin Falk was the only defenseman, but it’s likely Raphael Diaz will continue to be scratched, though he didn’t skate. Cam Talbot was the only goalie.
Forward Chris Kreider, still recovering from March 28 surgery on his left hand that has sidelined him indefinitely, skated by himself at the other end of the rink. He was doing conditioning drills, and not stick-handling with his left hand.