The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Flyers, Game 2

Yes, we know...it's early. But we're going to be on the road today, and we thought we get things rolling for tomorrow with an early prognosto...

The odd thing about a 5-4 game...both teams had moments they could hang their respective hats on. Both teams could say, "if we play like that..."

Well, that's the thing, isn't it? Which team can impose its will on the other. For stretches last night each team did just that. The Caps had the first half of the first and second periods, the Flyers the second half of those periods.

The Caps owned the third, and in that there is a lesson. What the Caps did in the third period was correct errors of execution they were guilty of in the first two periods -- not moving their feet in the offensive zone, lack of a forecheck -- that got them in deep trouble.

The Flyers have a different problem. Is Martin Biron the goalie to win this series for them? There is already a headline in Philadelphia asking precisely this question. Here is the argument offered by Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Phil Sheridan...

"There is a difference between being a good NHL goaltender and being the kind of goaltender who can carry a team through a playoff run. To borrow a phrase from The Godfather, you need a goalie to be a 'wartime consigliere.'

Last night, Biron was Tom Hagen. Good, but not a wartime consigliere."

Biron was good at times last night. He was never great (neither was Cristobal Huet, but he had less help in getting looks at the puck). If this comes down to a goaltending series, it is an open question whether the Flyers aren't going to come up a bit short.

The Caps can -- and did -- correct (if for one game) the things that were putting them in a hole. The Flyers might not find that so easy to do.

Caps 4 - Flyers 2.

Best wishes and get well soon to Flyer forward Patrick Thoresen, who gave new meaning to "taking one for the team" last night, when he blocked a Mike Green drive by taking the puck to the groin. This is a hard enough way to make a living without having to risk permanent injury. Whatever jersey a player wears, one has to respect the desire to make a play that would lead a player to give himself up in that fashion. Get well soon, Patrick.