Flyers ready for 'clean slate' against Hurricanes in Eastern 2nd Round

The Philadelphia Flyers took a day to exhale after their 1-0 overtime win in Game 6 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday clinched their Eastern Conference First Round series.

It was a break a few of the players looked like they needed after a bumpy series that saw them take a 3-0 lead, then lose the next two before winning it on Cam York's series-winning goal with 2:28 remaining in overtime.

But they won't have long to rest, with Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Second Round looming.

"We have some guys that we know have to get going," coach Rick Tocchet said. "But it is a clean slate, and it's 0-0 again. So you can use that mentality too to energize yourself for the new game."

Several of the Flyers' top players seemed to fade once they got up 3-0 against the Penguins, including some of the younger forwards, who drove them to that series advantage.

Among them was Porter Martone, the 19-year-old rookie who scored the winning goals in Games 1 and 2 and had an assist in Game 3. In the final three games, he did not have a point and had just six shots on goal.

That came after Martone had 10 points (four goals, six assists) in the final nine regular-season games after making his NHL debut March 31.

But Martone wasn't the only player who looked tired. Denver Barkey, a 21-year-old rookie forward who was part of a strong forecheck early in the series and scored in Game 4, had three shots on goal in the final two games. Alex Bump, a 22-year-old rookie forward, scored a goal and had nine shot attempts (four on goal) in Game 5, but was limited to two shots on goal in Game 6.

"There's some young guys, 'Ports' has hit a little bit of a wall," Tocchet said. "The last thing he needs is a ton of information. Probably needs a couple of points for his game to help his game, no different than the Bumpers, the (Matvei) Michkovs of the world. A little bit less is more, but the points we're giving them have to be heightened. So instead of six or seven points, give them two points but these are really important two points that you're going to have to do, especially against Carolina. That might help, especially the young guys."

Michkov, who was scratched for Game 5, responded with his best game of the series in Game 6. He nearly scored on a breakaway with 4:33 left in the second period, and later in that shift, almost stuffed a loose puck in the crease between Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs and the post. In overtime, he used his body to protect the puck while being defended by Ben Kindel at the Pittsburgh blue line and made a backhand pass to York to set up his goal.

His 17:26 of ice time was a series high, and the third most the 21-year-old has played this season.

"I thought last night was a building block for him," Tocchet said. "There's still stuff that he has to work on, like everybody, like 'Barks' and Bump. He's no different. I think the building blocks, a great assist, a nice backhand to 'Yorkie.' So you got to give him credit in some areas of the game that he helped us last night. So, can he build the next game? That's really what it comes down to, the building blocks."

But the Flyers will need more than just one player raising his game to get past a Carolina team that was the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and swept the Ottawa Senators in four games in the first round.

The Hurricanes also won three of their four games against the Flyers during the regular season. All four went past regulation, three ending in a shootout. With the margin for error so small, the Flyers will have to reset quick.

As an example, Tocchet cited three-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Toews, who didn't score a goal in his final eight games in the run to the Chicago Blackhawks' championship in 2010 but still had six assists and was voted the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.

"Things might not go your way, you might not score a goal for six or seven games, but that new opportunity every game is important," Tocchet said.