This is the second time in franchise history that the Penguins have gone down 3-0 in a series and forced a Game 6.
The other instance was under similar circumstances, in 2012 -- the Penguins were the higher seed over the Flyers, forced a Game 6 in Philadelphia ... only to lose in that game and be eliminated.
The Penguins' coach in that series, Dan Bylsma, wrote a piece on the NHL's website on Tuesday sharing his thoughts on the series and looking ahead to tonight's game. And he believes that these Penguins are different.
"Regardless of the score of the games, we never got emotional control of that series back," Bylsma recalled of 2012. "We never got off the nastiness and the focus on getting back or winning the physical fight or getting involved in a physical fight. We never got off that."
Bylsma recalls that being made clear on the first shift of Game 6, when Claude Giroux knocked down Sidney Crosby with a hit, and "it just continued" on the way to a Flyers 5-1 win.
"By going out and winning Game 4 and then winning Game 5, Pittsburgh and coach Dan Muse have gotten the focus back on just winning a hockey game and playing the way they need to play," Bylsma wrote. "It’s really not about the other stuff."
THE ASYLUM
Bylsma: This isn't like 2012
This is the second time in franchise history that the Penguins have gone down 3-0 in a series and forced a Game 6.
The other instance was under similar circumstances, in 2012 -- the Penguins were the higher seed over the Flyers, forced a Game 6 in Philadelphia ... only to lose in that game and be eliminated.
The Penguins' coach in that series, Dan Bylsma, wrote a piece on the NHL's website on Tuesday sharing his thoughts on the series and looking ahead to tonight's game. And he believes that these Penguins are different.
"Regardless of the score of the games, we never got emotional control of that series back," Bylsma recalled of 2012. "We never got off the nastiness and the focus on getting back or winning the physical fight or getting involved in a physical fight. We never got off that."
Bylsma recalls that being made clear on the first shift of Game 6, when Claude Giroux knocked down Sidney Crosby with a hit, and "it just continued" on the way to a Flyers 5-1 win.
"By going out and winning Game 4 and then winning Game 5, Pittsburgh and coach Dan Muse have gotten the focus back on just winning a hockey game and playing the way they need to play," Bylsma wrote. "It’s really not about the other stuff."
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