PIT VS PHIPenguins in unfamiliar 0-3 territory

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By Tim Panaccio in Philadelphia

THE DROP

The Penguins practiced in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, where they have been since losing on Sunday.
 
The Flyers were at their facility in South Jersey.
 
One team is happy with its 3-0 series edge. The other is not.
 
"Everyone has got their own reasons for why we're losing and their own opinions," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "They're entitled to those. But we know in this room we still have yet to put a game together.
 
"That's no one's fault but our own. There's nothing we can do about that now. The only opportunity that we have is to make it better next game. That's what we're going to try to do."
 
This is where you draw back from playoffs from the past and coming from behind. Except Pittsburgh never had to come back from 0-3 in 2009 when it won the Stanley Cup with the current 11 players on their active roster.
 
"I've never been in this scenario, really," Crosby said. "Maybe once, actually, but it's the same mentality whether you've been through it or not. You've got to win one. You've got to focus on winning one.
 
"You've got to be desperate and leave it all out there. For us, the good thing is that we still haven't played a full game yet. I think we'd all love to see the result with a full game. Hopefully it's the result we want."
 
Asked about fan reaction in Pittsburgh where people say they are "embarrassed" by their hockey club, Crosby, who as captain should have said they had every right to be, took a step backwards with his own spin that was un-captain worthy.
 
"You know what, I think the tough part is that if they're in this room, they'd see how much every guy cared. It's more than one team that's doing that stuff out there. They should have nothing to be embarrassed about.
 
"They should be pretty proud of the guys they have here. It's a terrible situation to be in, being down 3-0. But that's when you need your fans the most. We're not going to sit here and make excuses. We can't fix the fact that we're down 3-0. But I think we all believe we can come back and I think this is when you lean on your fans the most."

HATRED
 
The Flyers weren't really biting on all that hatred stuff coming from Sidney Crosby after Game 3.
 
"I don't like any guy on their team there," Crosby said.
 
Why not?
 
"I don't like them, because I don't like any guy on their team, so..."
 
No one asked him about whether that included his best friend, Max Talbot.
 
Claude Giroux was asked about Crosby's comments.
 
"With the first three games, it's not hard to like them," Giroux said. "Obviously, we are not big fans of them and that is why this series is so entertaining for the fans."
 
Flyers coach Peter Laviolette was asked about all this hatred stuff.
 
"We're just trying to focus on next game," he said. "I haven't thought much about it."

ROOKIE IMPACT
 
As if the Penguins need to be reminded that their 11 players from the 2009 Stanley Cup team aren't having an impact in this series, it's there every game in the form of the Flyers rookies.
 
Six Flyer rookies have played in this series. Their combined stats are 6 goals, 6 assists and 12 points. That's six more goals than Evgeni Malkin, the NHL's Art Ross winner, has in this series.
 
The Flyers are proving that their rookies can be impact players in a Stanley Cup playoff round.
 
"I don't think we will stop talking about them," Max Talbot said. "Coots [Sean Couturier] again, outstanding job. Maybe he doesn't have a hat trick, but all game long he played solid and he's tough to play against.
 
"You look at a guy like Matt Read stepping up with the goals. They did it all season long and I feel like these guys knew their role all season long and they're a big part of our team so they just keep on doing it and it's a big part of our success right now."
 
Couturier has shut down Malkin every game.
 
Matt Read had two goals in Game 3 for the Flyers.
 
"We have a great rookie bunch in here and everyone plays their role and whose night it doesn't matter," Read said. "We just make sure the team's winning and I was lucky [with] a couple goals. I'll move forward and worry about Game 4."

STATE UPDATE

The Flyers corrected a stat earlier this week: They have been ahead 3-0 in a playoff series 9 times (not 10) and are 9-0. They are also 3-6 in Game 4 when holding a 3-0 series lead.

EMBARRASSED
 
Penguins owner Mario Lemieux was said to be "embarrassed" as his club's behavior during Game 3 of the series, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
 
The paper cited a source as saying that what embarrassed Lemieux the most was the actions of Arron Asham, punching a defenceless Brayden Schenn in the head from behind and James Neal, for his violent blind hit on Sean Couturier.
 
Tim Panaccio reports for CSNPhilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @tpanotchCSN

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