VIEWS: It took them nearly seven games, but the real Philadelphia Flyers made their appearance in these Stanley Cup playoffs. That dysfunctional gang of thugs showed up. With just over five minutes left in their 4-1 loss Saturday, the Flyers decided to send a message. And the message was this: The only way they can compete with Pittsburgh is with their fists. And even that is iffy.

But at least interim coach Craig Ramsay proved he has a future behind the bench in Philadelphia, should general manager Bob Clarke decide to part ways with Roger Neilson -- which would surprise no one. Hey, Ramsay showed the creativity to use Rick Tocchet at center for a face-off with his team trailing by three goals late in the game.

Tocchet's warning to the Pens before the puck was dropped: "Get ready. Here comes a five-on-five."

And he wasn't talking hockey. As soon as the puck hit the ice, so did Tocchet's gloves and stick. He grabbed Pens center Tyler Wright, and suddenly everybody was paired off in a scrum that belittled an otherwise fine series. When it ended, the Flyers had earned 84 of the 114 penalty minutes handed down by officials. And Ramsay said he was proud of his team. Perfect.

For those keeping score at home, the Penguins won two games in Philadelphia in less than 48 hours -- after losing 16 in a row there.

Flyers goalie Brian Boucher stops the Penguins' Martin Straka's shot in Game 2. The Flyers were outscored 6-1 in Games 1 and 2.(AP)

Now the Flyers head to Pittsburgh, where they're just 4-15-5 since 1991-92 with no indication their big, lumbering team can skate with the fleet and skilled Euro-Pens, a team that features 14 players who were born across the pond. The Flyers have been outscored 6-1 in the two games. Their only goal came from Simon Gagne, the immensely talented rookie who is one of the few members of the team with the speed and skills to match the Europeans.

To bring the series back to Philadelphia for Game 5, the Flyers will have to find a way to get to goalie Ron Tugnutt, the journeyman who has turned aside 72 of 73 shots in the series. But having center Keith Primeau leading your attack in the postseason doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. Clarke traded big-hearted Rod Brind'Amour for Primeau at midseason, the first step in the Flyers' long-expected divorce from Eric Lindros.

But Primeau is a poor imitation of Lindros. Or even Brind'Amour. Somehow, Primeau missed the net by about eight feet when he stood just four feet away from it in Game 2. Which explains why he has just seven goals in 77 playoff games. That's a goal every 11 games -- or about one every other series.

NEWS: The New Jersey Devils scored just two goals in their opening two games at Toronto, yet stole home-ice advantage with a 1-0 victory in Game 2.

VIEWS: No mystery about this one. Great defense and spectacular goaltending work wonders in the postseason. But give credit to coach Larry Robinson, too. His players did.

The Devils were feeling awfully good about their game even after losing the opener, 2-1. They beat Toronto everywhere but on the scoreboard, and just a little fine-tuning would fix that after several New Jersey shots rang off the posts and crossbar behind Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph.

But Robinson had a different read on his team, and didn't mind saying so in a meeting before Game 2.

"Larry really shocked us with what he had to say," said captain Scott Stevens, the dominant skater in this defense-minded series. "He told us that we had played all right, but that there were a lot of things we could improve on. He told us that it wasn't enough to be good, it wasn't enough to be good enough to lose. He was a little (ticked) off. It was good for us. It was a wake-up call."

The Devils answered the alarm, and they're heading back to New Jersey with home-ice advantage in the series against the regular season's best road team.

New Jersey GM Lou Lamoriello took a huge gamble replacing coach Robbie Ftorek with Robinson in the final month of the regular season. Looks like a smart move now, with the Devils 5-1 and looking as good as they were in 1995 when they swept Detroit in the Stanley Cup Finals.

NEWS: Colorado had a surprisingly easy time with Detroit in the first two games, both victories, in what was supposed to be the most compelling series of the second round.

VIEWS: And if the Red Wings don't wake up, it'll be over in just two more games.

While the Avalanche have been playing almost perfect hockey, the Wings are struggling in every element of their game except goaltending. While Colorado is getting great play from its biggest stars, notably Peter Forsberg, Ray Bourque and Patrick Roy, Detroit's best-known stars haven't shown up for this series.

Captain Steve Yzerman looks like he's playing on a bad wheel -- not that he would ever complain about it or the Wings would ever mention it. Remember, he missed the last week of the season and his team's first playoff game with a knee injury. But Sergei Fedorov, the former MVP, is skating in circles in this series and looks disinterested. And Brendan Shanahan has been inexplicably AWOL.

Detroit's best skaters have been grinders like Darren McCarty, Martin Lapointe, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and crease-crasher Tomas Holmstrom. But their intensity has gotten them in trouble with penalties the Wings suddenly are having trouble killing. The Wings' only goal in the series came on a gimme, when Roy mishandled the puck and left a gaping net for Holmstrom.

When the series began, it was billed as the real Stanley Cup final because it featured the league's two strongest teams. In that regard, it has been a miserable failure -- men against boys, really. And for the second consecutive year it looks like Colorado will send the archrival Wings off for another early summer vacation.

Slap shots

• Don't be surprised to see Edmonton try to unload power forward Bill Guerin and puck-handling defenseman Roman Hamrlik in the offseason. Both would look good in a St. Louis uniform, and the Blues have lots of the kind of young, inexpensive, Euro-bred talent the Oilers love.
• In 1991-92, there were only eight skating millionaire players in the NHL: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman, Scott Stevens, Paul Coffey, Chris Chelios and Raymond Bourque. At last count, there were at least 280.
• Phoenix captain Keith Tkachuk might need surgery to repair ligament damage in a badly damaged ankle that required painkilling shots for him to suit up for the playoffs. Those close to Tkachuk said he shouldn't have been playing. Look for Tkachuk to be traded in the off-season so the Coyotes can get out from under his $8.3 million salary in the final year of his contract.

The final word

"We don't want to overreact, but we didn't play very well. There are no excuses for what happened. We played our game in spurts, but we didn't do it consistently. … Sure, the second-guessing is incredible. But to me, that's great. The fans love it. If you listen to the talk shows here, it's full of, `Should Larry Pleau be fired? Should (head coach) Joel Quenneville be fired?' Hey, people care, and they want answers -- that's why they're paying $85 a ticket to go to the game, right?" -- St. Louis Blues general manager Larry Pleau, after his Presidents' Trophy-winning team was ousted by San Jose in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.