In an interview with Yahoo! Sports’ Dmitry Chesnokov published Friday, Pittsburgh Penguins’ forward Ruslan Fedotenko admits that despite losing the first two games of the second-round series against the Washington Capitals, playing Philadelphia was much harder.
“The Capitals have a lot of skilled players,” said Fedotenko, who is a former Flyer. “They try to beat you one on one. They convert on almost all their chances, especially on power play. But I think that it was tougher to play against the Flyers, even if you cannot say so by [looking at the] score.”
Despite losing the series in six games, the Flyers pushed the Penguins to the brink. They let a late lead slip away in game two and watched a three-goal lead disappear in game six. The Flyers also failed to convert on eight power play chances in game four, in which they lost 3-1.
However, when asked the same question, forward Evgeni Malkin stated that Washington’s speed makes them tougher to face.
“Every round is getting more difficult,” said Malkin. “It is a long season and the fatigue is accumulated. And all games are every other day. And Washington is playing quicker than Philadelphia.”
Phila.Bright 