I Think My Neighbors Heard Me Screaming Last Night

Fans or no fans in the stands, this year's NHL Playoffs have been pretty damn exciting. Here we are in round two with eight teams fighting to get to the final four. So far, only Tampa Bay has made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. The other three match ups are all going to Game 7's, with the winner moving on, and the loser leaving the bubble and heading home for the season.

I am a Flyers fan, and their series with the Islanders is making me go gray fast. The Islanders won the first game and the Flyers won the second game in overtime after blowing a two-goal lead. Little did I know that would become a reoccurring theme.

The Islanders won games three and four to take a commanding three games to one lead in the best-of-seven series. Tuesday night was game five and the Flyers blew another two-goal lead before winning it in overtime.

The Islanders looked to finally wrap up the series last night in game six. Again my Flyers got out to a two-goal lead and blew it. They had to come from behind to tie the game in the third. Once again they won it with just under five minutes left in the second overtime.

There is a saying in hockey that a two goal lead is the most dangerous lead to play with. When a team is up by two goals, they begin to relax and sometimes make crucial mistakes. If the other teams scores and cuts the lead to just one, then they have the momentum and sometimes that leads to the game-tying goal.

I was ok watching the first three games of the series, but starting with game four, and then the last two games with Philadelphia facing elimination, I started to get more vocal during the games. Every time the Flyers scored in the last two games, my wife could hear me clapping and cheering as I watched the game down in my bar in the basement while she watched TV in our living room upstairs.

Every time the Islanders scored, she heard some choice four letter words seeping through the floors from the Freezone Bar and Grill. I honestly think when the Islanders tied the game last night my neighbors heard me screaming.

Game 7 in both Western Conference semifinal match ups are today, and the Flyers and Islanders will play game 7 tomorrow night. I was thinking about watching the game out on our deck while having a campfire, but if I start screaming again, I'm sure one of my neighbors in West Endicott will be calling the police. Maybe I'll buy myself a muzzle.

By the way, two former Binghamton Senators are playing in this series. Jean Gabriel Pageua for the Islanders, and goalie Brian Elliott for the Flyers. Elliott has only played one game in the series so far. He has mainly served as the backup for Philadelphia's young goalie Carter Hart.