Some argued that Cole Hamels should have been the opening day starter for the Phils in 2008 and Saturday night he showed why. Hamels struck out five while allowing only one hit and no runs in seven innings of work. Since he let up that one hit, Cole took it upon himself to get a double of his own to redeem himself in the bottom of the second inning, and Hamels didn’t give up the Derrek Lee double until the fourth inning (go ahead ColeHamelsFacts.com, that one’s free of charge).

Aside from an impressive outing from their starting pitcher, the Phillies also showed up at the plate. The Phillies offense featured 11 hits, including home runs from Pedro Feliz and Ryan Howard. A struggling Shane Victorino also had a pair of hits, although he would leave the game in the sixth inning with a pulled calf in his right leg.

The win marked the second straight for the Fightin’s, both against the Cubs who entered the 2008 campaign with a high powered offense making them one of the favorites to win the National League pennant. The wins were largely based on two terrific outings from Brett Myers and Cole Hamels. Each went at least seven strong innings and left little work for their bullpen. Perhaps the most satisfying about the Phillies recent play is that their win Saturday night puts them at .500. The Phillies have struggled annually at the beginning of the year, and their fair start (especially against divisional teams) gives hope for another great season in the City of Brotherly Love.

Almost as exciting as the 7-1 victory was news on reigning MVP Jimmy Rollins. Unfortunately it looks like the Phils will be without J-Roll for the rest of the weekend, but he should be ready to go on Tuesday when the Houston Astros come to town for a three-game set.

In other news relating to Philadelphia, the Detroit Tigers are REEEAAALLLLY bad. How does that relate to the Fightin’s? Former Phillie Gavin Floyd–yes–that Gavin Floyd, was un-hittable for 7 1/3 against the awful Tigers who have started the season 2-9.

The buzzer sounded and that was the end of period 2 in the first game of this Eastern Conference Quarterfinal matchup between the Flyers and Capitals. The Flyers scored 3 times in the 2nd, were aggressive offensively - leading in shots 19-15, and here’s the big one: had held Ovechkin to 0 shots. Smooth sailing baby…game 1 victory.

Ah yes, that reminds me, they did in fact actually play that other 20 minutes. The way the Flyers approached the final period however, makes me question if they understood this wasn’t a scrimmage, but a playoff hockey game. On the road in the playoffs, you have to get a split at least. The Flyers had that all but locked up with a 4-2 lead through 2. How could this happen? They blew it.

A lot of people are going to point fingers and shake their head at Lasse Kukkonen’s pass attempt to Modry with under 5 minutes left that led to Ovechkins game winner. Now to be fair, it was a terrible pass. For one, the best player in the NHL was shadowing Modry on the boards. Kukkonen telegraphed the pass and it was soft too. It was an awful mistake, but it wasn’t that pass that really sealed the Flyers fate in the Capitals win, it was their attitude and style of play the last 20 minutes; 20 minutes they better shake off by 2pm Sunday.

As noted earlier, the Flyers weren’t dominating in shots but they held a slight lead after 2 periods, 19-15. The 3rd period though was a reversal of fortune: the Flyers had a scorching 3 shots in the entire frame while Washington poured on 12; 3 that found twine. The orange and black looked like the Devils tonight in the 3rd period, at least in their style of hockey. From the drop of the puck in the final 20 minutes, they played to protect their 2 goal lead. But we don’t have Marty Brodeur, or the experience of playing protect-the-lead hockey like Jersey has perfected over the years. I mean, 3 shots in a period? The Flyers offense was on fire; Jeff Carter was a speed demon creating numerous chances and Briere and Prospal had 2 goals a piece. Everything was flowing smoothly. But it came crashing down as they played in reverse, and the Capitals took advantage.

Just 1:50 into the 3rd, Mike Green scored to cut the lead to 4-3. You would think the Flyers would change their approach, but it wasn’t the case. They continued to inexplicably play protective hockey, holding on to their 1 goal lead. Needless to say, the Capitals relentless attack wore down the Flyers, who were on their heels the whole time. The Caps tied it, and Ovechkin - who didn’t record a shot for the first 53 minutes - scored the game winner with 4:32 left.

There’s obviously a lot of changes to made for game 2 which is just one day’s rest away. For one, we wish the best for Patrick Thoresen who went down on a play where the Capitals ended up scoring. But that’s not the most important part here; doctors are expected to perform surgery on Thoresen’s injured groin ASAP which is apparently so severe that it may include the removal of one of his testicles. You absolutely hate to see players go through something serious like this, and I sincerely wish the best of luck to him as he recovers, surgery or not.

That said, some positives to take out of the game are highlighted in the first 2 period. For one, Huet looked average at best for Washington. Prospal’s first goal showed that if the Flyers just continue to fire pucks on net, good things are going to happen. Briere, who finished the regular season on fire, continued his hot streak with a couple more goals. Along with that, Prospal continues to mesh perfectly with Briere and had 2 goals himself. Jeff Carter, although not on the score sheet, had a few real nice shots and was all over the ice in tonight’s game; he was one of the best players for the orange and black in game 1.

Now, in such a baffling loss, there’s plenty of things to point figures at for an immediate fix. One thing that will help is Umberger who will move up from the 4th line due to Thoresen’s injury; he obviously brings more offense to the table. As noted quite extensively the Flyers have to play aggressive hockey for 60 minutes, not 40, not 59, but 60. Chris Therien made a good point on post game live, saying that even though the Flyers will forget about this effort tonight, the Capitals will remember the ability come back. The defense looked flat and lost some battles in the faceoff circle, along the boards, all in the final period. Also, the entire 3rd period was played in the Flyers end; there’s no way you can win a hockey game like that. But the most concerning part of this loss was Biron. The first goal from Brashear (what?) wasn’t his fault; the goal scoring machine that is Brashear snuck back door unnoticed and had an easy chip in. But even so, no team is going far in the playoffs when your goalie gives up 5 goals. I’m not saying the Flyers players were weary of Marty as the game went on, but it’s always nice to know there’s a guy on top of his game to bail you out behind you in net. He has to be sharper come Sunday.

All in all, experts and analysts on every hockey and sports channel and site, myself included, will talk this game up until Sunday. The fact is that it’s a best of 7 series and this was 1 game. Although it was a tragic sort of loss in that the Flyers absolutely fell apart in the 3rd, the talk will be quite different heading back to Philly if the Flyers pull the split on Sunday.

Game 2: Sunday, 2pm on NBC