Hurricane Brind'Amour hits Philadelphia

Now that was a tough game last night. The Flyers had the chance to move back into first place with a victory, but it was not to be so. I found a few glaring reasons why that didn't happen, in addition to 10 million reasons why Peter Forsberg continues to be the best player in the world.

First of all, in the third period there was no Peter Forsberg. He pulled his groin at the end of the 2nd, and didn't return. Combine that with the plethora of other injuries the Flyers have sustained, and your left with the team that's given large amounts of icetime to more rookies than anyone else in the league.

Second of all, when they go into the third with a lead, they stop forchecking, and start to play a little defensive, neutral zone trap New Jersey Devils type of game. Now let's think this through. If what you did in the first two periods was successful in securing a lead for you, why not continue? This is my one major beef with my main man Hitchcock.

Third, they had some serious defensive breakdowns, even though they were able to maintain control for a good portion of the period. The goal to tie the game and send it to overtime was a simple lapse in concentration that resulted in a quick goal.

Fourth, they just suck at shootouts. Maybe it's because they don't have as much experience as other teams, or maybe it's because Forsberg wasn't there to score. But they suck. Nittymaki is not a good shootout goalie, as you may have noticed all of their goals came with the player not even attempting to deke, just shooting right away. He's been great otherwise, but this is his weakness. Good thing when it counts, they get rid of the God-awful shootout.