No Fly zone in Philly

It ends with a punctuation mark like none other; the Sabres came into the den of the beasts and whopped them quite convincingly. Scoring quickly and frequently the Sabres demolished the hopes of the Flyers and their faithful by a score of 7-1 and took the best of seven series four games to two.

Things went so bad for Philadelphia during the course of game six that by the time the third period had started there were hardly any fans left to boo their efforts, or lack there of. Perhaps a merciful thing as things turned out for the non Flying Flyers of Philadelphia. The Flyers looked lost on their own ice, orphans in their own home by the time final horn had gone.

Buffalo got off to a quick start and never turned back, loading up the Philadelphia net with goals and turning the usually raucous Flyer faithful into a mob scene of disgust targeted at the guys in the orange uniforms. They Flyers surrendered three goals in the first period which completely sucked the air out of their play and their rink. By the time the Sabres had scored goal number four the epitaph for the Flyers season was already complete all that remained was to finish off the wake and await the burial of the season.

The Flyers suffered their worst loss in post season play since 1979, when they also lost a 7-1 decision that year to the New York Rangers. Buffalo will now forever be remembered as a team that came into Philly, politely listened to Kate Smith’s version of God Bless America and then completely destroyed the Flyers will to win.

They out hit, out skated, out shot, out scored and out smarted a Flyers team that felt they were in the driver’s seat to send the series to a game 7 showdown in Buffalo. In the end they were trussed up and tossed in the trunk, nowhere near the steering wheel and miles away from the gas pedal.

Buffalo now moves on to take on the challenge of the Ottawa Senators, most likely with a game one debut on Friday at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. Considering the amount of scoring the Sabres accumulated in their six game series with the Flyers, one wonders if they’ll have anything left for the Senators who aren’t afraid to put the puck into the net either.

For Bob Clarke, Ken Hitchcock and the Flyers it’s going to be a very long, very hot summer in Philadelphia. It’s been over thirty years since a Flyer team claimed the Stanley Cup. Judging by the way game six came to an end, it may be another thirty years before the Flyers will be back in the hunt again.