One stride, two strides, three strides, and Brian Elliott was alone in the middle of the Wells Fargo Center ice Wednesday night, Michal Neuvirth gliding past him, the far end of the Flyers’ bench still a long way away, a predictable shower of boos soaking him in sound.
Sure as the Flyers were going to exhume that grainy 43-year-old video of Kate Smith belting out “God Bless America” and rerun it before Game 4 against the Penguins, a soft goal or two was all it would take for Elliott to take a seat and Neuvirth to get his chance to prevent this series from becoming what it has become.