Sunday, May 16, 2004

Primeau shows his worth!

Skipped over by Wayne Gretzky on Saturday morning, Philadelphia Flyer Captain Keith Primeau continued to prove his value in a Flyer uniform during the afternoon. Primeau once again dominated the hockey game much as he did back in Game 2. He continues to have a successful run on the ice in the playoffs, with seven goals and four assists over eleven playoff games thus far. His team leadership the deciding factor on whether the Flyers will attempt to now claim this series.

Primeau scored a short handed goal and set up another in the Flyers 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Flyers were back to hitting, controlling the play and rising to the occasion of a back check from time tom time. Robert Esche made some key saves but continues to look fragile in the Flyer net, his last period of play in the game a nightmare for any goaltender. With time winding down Esche found himself in the cross hairs of a Tampa Bay attack, only to surrender a sloppy goal with less than 40 seconds to go, his shot drifting high and away from Esches’ catching glove and into the back of the net, brining the Lightning to within one goal, but time was the enemy and Primeau wrapped up the game with one final effort, ensuring the Bolts didn’t get past their blue line as he tightly checked and worked the puck as the clock ticked down.

Game five goes Tuesday bay in Tampa the teams tied at two a piece this series now becomes a sudden death best two out of three affair. The Lightning need to revisit their strategy of game three, where they were able to jump into the play and control the Philly attack. Getting the puck back down to the Flyer end and peppering Esche with shots, should they get enough chances there’s a very good possibility they’ll be scoring goals. It only takes one lucky break to move along in a series, the Flyer’s will be looking for a few things to go their way on Tuesday, hard work and luck could be a winning combination for Philly in a pivotal game five.

No comments: