Most everyone expected a high-scoring game between the Penguins and Flyers. But not many envisioned it being so one-sided.
That's exactly how Wednesday night's Game 1 went down, as the Penguins skated off with an easier-than-expected 7-0 win.
Will Game 2 follow the same script?
If recent history is any indication, the score might be different but the result will be the same.
In the last three playoff series between the Keystone State rivals (2008, '09 and '12), the Game 1 winner has gone on to win Game 2 and the series each time.
1. Expect a desperate effort from the Flyers.
They say "a playoff series never starts until the home team loses." Hogwash. It makes for a nice cliche, but not one steeped in reality. If the Penguins hold serve at home and take a 2-0 series lead, this series will be all but over in short order. It might not be a sweep, but five games, tops.
Suffice to say, the Penguins can expect to see a much better effort from their visitors tonight. Save for a 10-minute span to start the second period of Game 1, the Flyers were absolutely brutal in every aspect. Three turnovers led directly to Penguins goals, two of their best players -- Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier -- were each minus-4, and their goaltending was, well, see No. 2.
The Flyers, who generate much of their offense from their blueliners, had just 24 shots on goal and had another 26 blocked. It will be imperative for Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov to get shots through.
Below, Gostisbehere had a shot blocked by Carl Hagelin that led to Evgeni Malkin's first-period goal Wednesday:
The Flyers are just 3-15 when losing the first two games in a seven-game series but 17-17 when a series is tied at one game apiece. The last time Philadelphia won a series after trailing even 1-0 in a series was in the first round of the 2011 playoffs when they went on to beat Buffalo in seven games. They are 0-3 since.
The last time the Penguins won the first two games and lost the series was in the 2000 Eastern Conference Semifinals ... to the Flyers.
2. Shoot early and often.
All indications are Brian Elliott will get the nod again in goal for the Flyers in Game 2. The Penguins should only hope so.
They scored three goals on their first 10 shots and five on 19 against the 33-year-old journeyman Wednesday. With the chance to take a stranglehold on the series, Elliott should expect a similar barrage early tonight.
Most believe Elliott is not fully healed from core muscle surgery in February -- he has made just three starts since then, including Game 1 -- and it has shown.
When Malkin made Elliott move laterally across his crease, the Flyers goalie was painfully slow getting across:
He would not be the first goalie the Penguins have tortured (see: Bobrovsky, Sergei), but Elliott's numbers against Pittsburgh this season are brutal. Including the regular season, he's allowed 14 goals on 85 shots.
His backup, Petr Mrazek, isn't much better against the Penguins. Though he has a strong 1.98 career GAA in the playoffs, he is 2-5-1 against Pittsburgh since the 2012-13 season.
3. Build off Game 1.
The Penguins did plenty of good things in their 7-0 win in Game 1. Most encouraging, though, was their commitment to playing a 200-foot game.
Obviously, they prefer to play in the offensive zone, but they showed themselves to be quite capable when playing in their own end. The Penguins' 26 blocks helped to insulate Matt Murray, who had to make just 24 saves, five of them in the third period. Even their much maligned penalty-killing unit was perfect, killing off all four power plays without allowing a shot against.
Wednesday's effort was the closest the Penguins have come to replicating their "blueprint" performance against Dallas March 11. In that 3-1 home win, they limited the Stars to just 18 shots, four of them in the third period.
It's hard to see Game 2 unfolding exactly like the series opener, but the Penguins would be wise to try and copy the effort.