There were no positives to come from game 5’s massacre blowout for the Flyers. Nothing to look forward to but Saturday morning’s tee time and not even a goal to stand for all the accomplishments of the 2007-08 season. The Flyers were blown out 6-0 Sunday evening, and blown out of playoff contention, as the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Eastern Conference Finals and await their opponent in the Stanley Cup Finals.

There was no one single thing that the Flyers could have done Sunday to keep their season alive. Aside from having Marty Biron play like he did in the first two series, and a multitude of goals by the orange and black, their future looked bleak heading into game 5. Not even the return of leader Kimmo Timonen could help the club. Timonen picked up where he led off, leading all Flyers in ice time with 21:43, but he alone could not jumpstart this team. No one could.

It only took the Penguins 2:30 to grab the lead, as Sidney Crosby’s pass accidentally tipped off the foot of forward Ryan Malone, who could not touch the puck with his stick, past Biron for the first goal of the game. That would eventually prove to be the game winner, despite five more Penguin goals, and no answer by the Flyers. There was a chance of a Flyers goal in the waning seconds of the second period, but the officials ruled, somehow, that Patrick Thoresen impeded Marc-Andre Fleury’s ability to stop the puck that did actually find the twine behind him. The official’s ruling preserved Fleury’s shutout, as the Flyers weren’t able to muster a goal in the third period.

No passes worked. No breakout theory worked. No power play scheme worked. No shots found the net, and no hard work paid off. The Flyers were abysmal all series, and although the Pittsburgh Penguins deserve credit for winning this series, the Flyers not once played a complete game in the Eastern Conference Finals. For the first two periods of game four they seemed to really “get it”. They planted a man in front of the net. They fore-checked. They played tight defense and always knew where the Penguins were, but they did none of that for the remaining 13 periods of hockey they were forced to play.

Only Mike Richards really showed up this series, delivering his part to the Flyers physical effort, and netting three goals in the series. Danny Briere cooled off in the Montréal series and only scored one goal in the Conference Finals throw-down, and Vinny Prospal went missing after game 7 in Washington. After his effort in the latter rounds of the post-season, Prospal will almost certainly not be re-signed by the Flyers. Richards’ drive in the playoffs may have won him the captaincy next year, with Jason Smith’s departure imminent.

To be blown out 6-0 in the playoffs is utterly pathetic. Going into this series, the Flyers had knocked off the number three and one seeds, in that order. Yes, the Penguins were the better team. Yes, they were undefeated on home ice (and remain that way). But that is no excuse to leave months of accomplishment hanging in the rear view mirror without even putting up a fight. Last season the Flyers could only muster a league worst, and franchise worst 56 points. This year they rebounded all the way to the sixth seed in the playoffs, and eventually the Eastern Conference Finals. But the effort put forth in that Finals series was utterly pitiful and did no justice to the accomplishments made throughout the season.

Obviously after the 2006-07 season, the players had a bitter taste in their mouths from the worst season in the history of the 41-year-old club. This off-season, the taste should be just as bitter, if not more, after the atrocious effort and performance they put forth in every game this series, which will no doubt be highlighted by the six-goal proverbial nail in the coffin. Their embarrassing loss on Sunday poorly represents the much improved regular season from a year ago. Flyers fans searched for stability with the 07-08 bunch, and never really found it. The Flyers slogan all season long had to “vengeance”. They will need to have more of that next season to avenge their disappointing Eastern Conference Finals performance.

Dave’s 3 Stars of the Game

1. Marc-Andre Fleury - 21 saves
2. Marian Hossa - 1 goal, 3 assists

Photo courtesy: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images