Game 2, Philadelphia @ Buffalo

The Flyers lost a heartbreaker Saturday night, 3-2, in double-overtime. I had to work and didn't get to see any of the game, but received periodic updates from my brother. He was calling from a DC-area sports bar where he and his brother-in-law -- who's from Buffalo, of course -- went after the Nationals' game was rained out. (Thanks again, C.) There are several things worth mentioning about Game 1: First, despite giving up 9 power plays to the Sabres, the Flyers were able to kill off all of them. Penalty killing has been a thorn in the Flyers' side all season long and to shut down Buffalo's power play -- which ranked number one at home during the regular season -- is a huge step to build on. Second, as I understand it, the play of Robert Esche was huge. Most reports cites Esche as the sole reason the game wasn't a blowout, let alone that it went into double OT. Three, the devastating hit by Brian Campbell that laid out RJ Umberger was absolutely, positively, 100% clean. I'd also like to give credit to both Umberger and Campbell for their goodwill about the hit. Umberger -- "It was a legal hit . . . I was going up ice and I didn't expect [Campbell] to step up there. He just caught me off guard." Campbell -- "He got a suicide pass. I stepped up and just hit him. I feel bad that he's hurting. You hope you make a hit like that and he pops up and gets going." Finally, with all due respect to Richie Ashburn, baseball is not the only game that's a matter of inches. An inch here or there is all that stood between the Flyers and a win in Game 1 when Sami Kapanen rang a backhander off the post in the first overtime. The puck proceeded to bounce off the post and over a prone Ryan Miller back out into the Sabres zone and play continued. An inch here or there and the game's over. Ed Moran's column today is about whether or not the Flyers can recover from such a crushing loss. He takes the obvious route and uses Umberger's health as an analogy for the team's psyche. Not once is there a mention about where Peter Forsberg was in Game 1 (25 minutes of ice time with 1 assist and two shots on goal is not enough for the "best player in the world"). There was nothing about how the Flyers need to starting playing a more physical game since Buffalo is so much faster. I think the one thing we can agree on is that it's imperative for the Flyers to step up their effort in tonight's game.