After completing a comeback of epic proportions, the Philadelphia Flyers are ready to face the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The euphoria needs to subside and the Flyers need to rechannel their focus toward a hockey team that is riding the hottest goaltender in the playoffs, Jaroslav Halak.
Here are my keys to the series:
-Michael Leighton: Leighton keeps putting together stellar performances. Despite a rough start to Game 7, Leighton shut the door from that point on and made all the key saves. He is clearly the underdog going against Halak, but if Leighton has the psyche to worry about his own game instead of trying to outperform Halak, he will be fine.
-Mike Cammalleri vs. the Flyers D: Cammalleri has carried the Habs offense and missed two of the four regular season meetings against the Flyers due to injury. The Flyers top four defensemen have gotten the job done shutting down the top scorers on both the Devils and Bruins. It's a tough matchup to call. Regardless, Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen will always be on the ice when the Gomez or Cammalleri line is out.
-Coaching: If you had told me how important coaching was going to be in the last series, I would have laughed it off. Peter Laviolette is the real deal and has figured out how to motivate this team. It is no fluke as to why he won the Cup with Carolina. On the other side, Jacques Martin has had a lot of success, but cannot seem to get his team over the hump to get to the Stanley Cup Finals. Laviolette has not changed his mind set and the Flyers will be prepared.
Like the West, I expect this series to be a long, drawn out war. Regardless of who wins this series, they will viewed as significant David's to the Goliath's that are the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks.
It's hard to not trust this team now and it's not going to be easy, but we will be back in the Finals for the first time since 1997.
Prediction: Flyers in 7.
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