Can the slow get slower?

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

The flyers defensemen spent a lot of time in the box last night, forcing longer shifts for the other guys. Especially with Gauthier getting the boot 6 minutes into the second period. They also spent a lot of time skating around on the PK. With the 2OT from saturday, and the events of Game 2, is it possible we are going to see a tired, even slower Flyer's defense Wed night?

[Taro T]

The flyers defensemen spent a lot of time in the box last night, forcing longer shifts for the other guys. Especially with Gauthier getting the boot 6 minutes into the second period. They also spent a lot of time skating around on the PK. With the 2OT from saturday, and the events of Game 2, is it possible we are going to see a tired, even slower Flyer's defense Wed night?

It's possible, but remember Gauthier will be fresh, as he didn't play the 2nd half of the game. They also used Kapanen as a D-man in the 3rd, which eased the load some.

 

Desjardins, Hatcher, and Pitkanen played 23-24 minutes; which isn't terribly excessive for D.

 

I noticed on the stat sheets that Rathje only took 1 shift at the beginning of the 3rd. Did anyone hear why he left the game? I never heard a reason for him being out on the broadcast.

 

I'd expect fatigue to be more of an issue if the series were going 6 or 7 games or in later rounds. I don't see it as a huge issue in game 3. (They played 5 games in the last 8 days of the season, but then had 3 full days off before playing Saturday.) Besides, how much slower can these guys get?

[Alaska Darin]

I suspect the decision to not play Rathje was to rest him because of his well documented injuries more than anything new he's sustained.