Does it get any hairier for a team on the brink of elimination than rolling the dice in a shootout to win a pass into the postseason as a No. 7 seed?
The watchability began when Brian Boucher turned away two Rangers and Danny Briere and Claude Giroux beat Henrik Lundqvist.
It was a great escape and what has happened since then to absorb an entire region into this breathless and unlikely drama has turned my "unwatchable" premise into, "Don't even blink until the final horn and then watch the replay at least twice." It has been that good, that compelling.
Who knew Michael Leighton would replace an injured Boucher and turn into a taller, 21st-century version of Bernie Parent?
Between Leighton and the Phillies' offense, this is the only town in America where the odds are good that you'll see a shutout no matter which sport you choose.
And with that, the shades and nuances of the Flyers-Blackhawks tussle between two Cup-famished franchises can do without my meager contribution.
A familiar stench emanating from Flushing Meadows compels me to join the growing number of concerned folks asking, "What the hell is up with the Phillies?"
No Rollins . . . No Lidge . . . No Happ . . . Chooch hurting . . . The Big Piece perfecting his opo-singles swing . . . Utley looking sallow and listless, as if that flu bug has taken up residence while he mans his way through it . . . Raul looking older than Jamie Moyer, and definitely playing older . . . Shane leading off second and failing to get a jump on an Utley single through the right side, then being held at third on a ball he normally would have scored on running backward.
