Bump makes his return to action with a splash

PITTSBURGH – Alex Bump had to wait to three games before he got his first taste of Stanley Cup playoff hockey.
Maybe the powers that be should have put him in a little sooner.
At least that’s the way it looked when Bump finally got his chance to play in Monday night’s Game 5 at PPG Paints Arena.
Bump scored his first playoff goal in the second period and helped cut Pittsburgh’s lead in the game to 2-1. Later, Travis Sanheim scored to even the game at 2-2.
Unfortunately for the Flyers, Pittsburgh scored later in the period and went on to a 3-2 win, sending the best-of-seven series back to Philadelphia for a Game 6 on Wednesday with the Flyers still up by a 3-2 margin.
One thing you can be sure of: Bump still will be in the lineup for this one.
“It was a crazy atmosphere,” Bump said, recalling his special first playoff goal. “But we can’t let it get to us. Kind of a full circle moment I guess.”
Bump has played in big pressure games before when his Western Michigan University team won the NCAA Division I championships.
He looked pretty relaxed playing against the Penguins.
“Just knowing I’ve played in these games before,” Bump said. “I’ve played in front of a bunch of fans. It doesn’t intimidate me at all. I love it actually.
“I was itchin’. Just tried to play my game. Shoot the puck, go to the net. That’s kind of what playoffs are I guess.”
Bump said the Flyers might have had a better outcome if not for a slow start. Not too many games are going to be won by opponents at PPG if they fall behind by two goals like the Flyers did on Monday night.
“I think we kind of sat back a little bit,” Bump said. “I think we found our game maybe halfway through the first. We fell off a little bit after their first goal but we can’t let that get to us.”

>Better clears

Sanheim played a strong game, scored a goal and made a number of good defensive plays.
He said the Penguins did a good job of bottling up the Flyers’ offense with an intense forecheck.
“They’re coming hard but there are some battles that we have to win,” Sanheim said. “Ones that we were winning earlier in the series. And executing our wall play. There just hasn’t been enough of it the last two games.”

>More shots, better shots

The Flyers had only 15 shots on net for the game but countless ones which were either blocked or went wide. That has to change in Game 6 on Wednesday.
“I think it was a bit of both,” said Owen Tippett. “We need to hit the net more in tight chances. We either didn’t hit the net or there was a guy in the lane. I think for the most part we can do a better job hitting the net.”