From: catcher@netcom.com (Paul W. Francisco)
Subject: Flyers/Pens 10/6
Organization: Night People
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 18:02:18 GMT

Some thoughts on the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh game last night...  This
was the first time I've been able to watch any NHL game, except for
tha All-Star game, in over a year.  Thanks to ESPN!  So, being the
Flyers fan that I am, I happily put on my Pelle Eklund jersey and wandered 
off to watch the game.  

Philadelphia is not ready for a run at the Cup, that's for sure.  As
for a run at the playoffs, it's hard to say based on one game against
the defending champs.  On the contrary, Pittsburgh looks really good.
I knew they were, but this was the first time I had been able to see
them for myself.  They'll be tough to stop with all those weapons.

Flyers goalie Dominic Roussel looked fantastic.  He is the only reason
that the Flyers didn't lose 10-3.  Outside of the first goal, which was
a pretty bad bounce for him, the goals he gave up were ones on which he
had no chance.  His ability on point blank shots amazed me time and time
again.  I hope the Flyers defense is buying him nice dinners for the rest
of the week for saving them.  If he is consistent, the Flyers may do ok
this year.  If not, look out.

Eric Lindros looked pretty good to me.  He had good passes most of the
time and did get the one nice goal, and didn't do anything that I noticed
as obviously stupid.  

What was Brian Benning thinking?  I am of course speaking of his slash
on Lemieux.  It was blatant, got him tossed, and put the Pens on a 5
minute power play.  I don't care how good Roussel was, he isn't going
to stop the Pens for that long on the PP.  The biggest problem is that,
sure, Mario was tugging on Benning's jersey a bit, preventing him from
getting back into the play.  But that also means that Lemieux isn't
getting into the play.  Benning for Lemieux, hell, that's a trade I'd
make any day, even for just one rush down the ice.  Maybe he's the
one that should be buying all these dinners for Roussel :-)

Overall I'd say that the Penguins outplayed the Flyers for the full first
and second periods, and played even for the last 18 minutes of the third.
They just had a small lapse where maybe they had gotten too confident.  Bang,
bang, tie game.  They each had plenty of chances for the remainder of the
period, and both goalies came up big to avoid losing.  Barasso's stop on
Brind'Amour was unbelievable, and maybe a bit lucky.

Speaking of lucky, the Pens got some more with that puck that was lying on
the line.  I did agree with the refs that Fedyk did not hit it in with his
stick and should noy have been a goal for that reason.  But it did raise a
question in my mind, since it seemed as if it was angling just slightly 
toward going in.  How much of the puck has to cross what part of the line
to be considered a goal?  I wasn't completely convinced that the front end
of the puck hadn't crossed over the line by the time Fedyk hit it.  It was
impossible to tell for sure from the angle of the camera, but it may have.

From a Flyers perspective, I'd have to count this as a bit of a victory.
We went into their building, got completely outplayed, and still came away
with a point.  We found out that we still have good goaltending.  In a 
couple of years, we may be ready for a shot at it.

Those are some of my observations.  I'll leave the more detailed analyses
to Pete and Lori.

-- 
Paul W. Francisco        	    In the shadow an angel cries...
catcher@netcom.com                      - Front Line Assembly