I think that the biggest problem with the Flyers, other than inconsistent play, is a lack of toughness. Without Riley Cote in the lineup, there just isn't much toughness there. Pittsburgh outmuscled the Flyers, and they deserved to win as a consequence. It's hard to imagine the Broad Street Bullies without a bunch of hard-hitting tough guys, but that is the case with this year's team. GM Paul Holmgren, who was as tough a customer as one could want when he was playing, should know that the team seems to lack toughness. Hopefully, his off-season will include adding toughness to the Flyers so that they don't get pushed around the ice again as they did against Pittsburgh.
Until then, fast, highly mobile, high-scoring teams like Pittsburgh will continue to make the Flyers look bad. Let's hope we see a return to tough forechecking soon, or else the Flyers are destined to more early exits from the playoffs.
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