Claude Giroux: “We’ll be ready for Game 4. We’re going to tie up the series and go back to New York.”
— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) April 23, 2014
The second part of that statement will come true -- win or lose in Friday’s Game 4 at Wells Fargo, Philly will head back to MSG for Game 5.
As for the first part? For that to happen, the captain will need to step up.
The NHL’s third-leading scorer during the regular season -- with 86 points -- Giroux has been quiet through the first three games of this series, failing to score a goal while notching just a pair of assists. What’s more, it took Giroux until Game 3 to register his first shot on goal, and he only finished with two as Philly fired a grand total of 32 at Henrik Lunqvist on Tuesday.
Another thing Giroux and the Flyers will need to improve? Power-play efficiency at Wells Fargo. The Flyers, who ranked 25th in home power play this year, went 0-for-5 and could only muster four shots with the man advantage -- a dramatic dropoff from Sunday’s win at MSG, when the club scored twice on the power play.