I watched with my own two eyes during Game Three, when the mighty Montreal Canadiens were falling apart right on the big screen. Young and incredibly talented Carey Price looked shaky, inexperienced and nonchalant. All of the bounces (not the calls) were going the Flyers' way and the fans were making noise as if they were a Gulfstream G450 ready for takeoff. Three goals, including a backbreaking shorthanded pop from Mike Richards, had the Flyers amazingly in an familiar position - rocking a big lead going into the third period.

And that’s when the silly pills Derian Hatcher sprinkled on his Wheaties in the morning kicked in. Hatcher, despite a lack of mobility and speed, is one of the Flyers best defensive defenseman and unquestionably a leader. That is why rearranging Francis Bouillon face in the boards was so unnecessary with a three goal lead and their prized goalie riding the pine. The only way back for the Habs was a penalty like this and, of course, they made the most of that opportunity by getting two goals in the five minutes. Hatcher said in the Philly papers that the 15 minutes (of game time) he spent in the locker room waiting for the end of the game was “the longest of his life,” and it should be. Hatcher should be teaching Flyers how to win games in the playoffs, not blow more two goal leads. Those lessons come from his actions, and his actions were shameful.

Yes, the Flyers ended up winning the game but what they lost was the idea that Montreal knew they were going to likely lose the series. The Flyers had them bleeding and ready to die, but let them back in the series again thinking that their backup goalie might just energize them. I can just imagine the Guy Carbonneau speech in the locker room about how if Washington could come back on these Flyers – why not us?

That conversation should have never happened with a three goal lead as the game should have been a blowout or at least a 4-1 victory with an empty net goal, but not this year with this Flyers team. They haven’t learned how to close and the guy who should be best able to teach the young team was trying to wash the guilty blood from his hands.

The Flyers are playing with tremendous skill right now and are more importantly riding the hottest goaltender in the NHL in Marty Biron. That will win some games, but until the team learns to stay out of the penalty box, they are going to have trouble closing out games and series. Hatcher now needs to lead the hard-hitting but not stupid penalty-taking team to the next level of being a playoff team. This starts tomorrow and is done by example that comes from a player who has the hardware to get the respect needed in the locker room.

John Stevens, who doesn’t seem rattled by any of the nail-biting outcomes, needs to have his team truly ready to play and win on Wednesday more so than ever in the series if they want to avoid prolonging this series which could have very easily been a sweep. The Flyers on home ice need to send a message to Montreal that they are just a better team as they did before they blew the two-goal lead in Game One. This is an important statement to make if for no reason better than to prove to themselves that they are now closers. The Flyers have the hot goalie, but don’t have the tremendous pressure to win as they normally do year in and year out, and that is exactly why they are dangerous right now. A hot goalie, continued strong scoring and more discipline might just get this team pretty far.