Back in 2011, when James van Riemsdyk was a lad of just 21, an abbreviated playoff run conjured up memories of Keith Primeau’s Herculean 16-point effort in powering an injury-plagued Flyers team to the brink of the Stanley Cup finals seven years before. Swooping to the net sometimes, anchoring in front of it at other times, JVR scored seven goals in 11 games as the Flyers advanced to the conference semifinals before getting swept by the Bruins.
There were differences of course, as there are now. Primeau was a veteran, 32-year-old, broad-shouldered 6-foot-5 center, a faceoff master who had scored just seven regular-season goals that year in his role as a checking-line center.