The Pittsburgh Penguins have dug themselves a very deep hole in their opening series of the 2012 Eastern Conference Playoffs with the Philadelphia Flyers. Despite jumping out to two goal leads in both Game 1 and Game 2, the Penguins find themselves in an 0-2 series hole after losing 8-5 to the Flyers on Friday night. To make matters worse, Pittsburgh has lost both of these games on the friendly ice of CONSOL Energy Center. Panic is assuredly setting in amongst Penguins fans, but alas, Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says there is reason for hope:
While the Penguins clearly are in a perilous spot, there are precedents for teams winning a best-of-seven after dropping the first two games on home ice. The list even includes one featuring these two franchises.
In 2000, the Flyers lost the first two games of a second-round meeting with the Penguins, then ran off four consecutive victories to advance to the conference final.
The Penguins now must travel to Philadelphia for Game 3, with their playoff hopes on life support. If Pittsburgh wants to play another game at CONSOL, they will need to turn the tide on the Flyers and win on the road in Philadelphia.
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