If there's one certainty in playoff hockey, it's that it ain't over 'til it's over. And the Philadelphia Flyers took full advantage of that adage in their 4-0 victory over the Boston Bruins Monday night to extend the Eastern Conference Semifinal series to 3-2.
While the Bruins moaned and groaned throughout the game with unconnected passes, inconsistent play and a number of penalty kills to boot, the Flyers found a way around and through the Bruins inconsistencies to give the team another breath of life heading into Wednesday night's game six in Philly.
"As a young team it takes a while I think [to keep it under control], and we've certainly had our ups and downs through the course of this season with penalties and kind of losing our composure," Flyer captain Chris Pronger said. "But the last couple months of the season and in the playoffs we have done an excellent job of understanding what's at stake and keeping our eyes on the puck."
The Flyers had a couple of trying instances that could have easily sunk them this game. Early in the second period, for example, a pileup in the Flyers crease after a loose puck dwindled behind Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher, left a mess in the crease and a hurt Boucher. Boucher ended up leaving the game, being helped off the ice, and did not return. While the injury was not released, nor the current status of Boucher, it was announced that Boucher would not be returning to the lineup.
Replacing Boucher was Michael Leighton who had not played a game since March 16, where he suffered a high ankle sprain against Nashville. But, even with a cold goaltender who had never played in an NHL playoff game, the Bruins were unable to capitalize. Instead it was the Philly defense that shined, allowing the Bruins only six shots in that second frame.
"Well yeah, that was a huge disappointment," Bruins Marc Savard said about the lack of shots on Leighton. "Especially when he comes in with 15 minutes left [in the second period] and maybe one or two shots on that period. So that's obviously terrible."
"[I was] a little bit nervous at the start, but I've played in the playoffs before, obviously not in the NHL, but I like playing playoff hockey," Leighton said. "It gives you the extra adrenaline and that extra challenge and like I said, I felt good tonight and I felt comfortable."
But the Bruins were lagging behind well before the Boucher injury took place. Similar to the previous game in Philadelphia, the Flyers struck first and they struck early.
Just 6:41 into the game, Flyers forward Ville Leino put a rebound from a Pronger bullet from the blueline up over the stick of Bruins net minder Tuukka Rask on just their fourth shot of the game.
Game play continued to go downhill for the Bruins when Bruins Vladimir Sobotka took a double minor penalty for high sticking, putting the Bruins on the penalty kill for four minutes. The Bruins racked up nine penalties on the night, one of which cost Boston a goal late in the second period.
"Yeah, I mean, we're taking penalties because we weren't on top of our game," Bruins Mark Recchi said. "We didn't play well and they did and you know, you're going to get in trouble if you're not skating and you're not on your toes and we paid for it tonight."
Though the Bruins might have Savard back, the Flyers couldn't be happier to see their own forward Simon Gagne return to the ice. Gagne in his two games back since a broken toe sidelined him in the previous games against Boston, has accounted for three goals, two of them in Monday night's game, and one via the power play.
"Well, he's another good player added to the lineup," Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference said. "We know that. There's a lot of good players and a lot of people that played their roles very well, so he's just an added piece, but he's definitely not — I mean, it's not like some of the other guys weren't pulling their weight without him in the lineup, so he's done well and he's just another person to worry about."
Gagne's first goal came late in the second period after Steve Begin was sent to the box for boarding with less than three minutes to go. Flyers captain Mike Richards circled behind the Bruins net, found Gagne waiting out in front unopposed and tossed the puck to his stick, and Gagne one-timed it through the five-hole of Rask to create a 3-0 lead.
Six minutes prior to that goal, however, it was Steve Hartnell who netted his first goal of the playoffs, when an initial shot by Briere was stopped by Rask and Hartnell was left to pick up the shrapnel at 11:16 of the second period.
The Bruins tried to create some offense and were close a couple of times, most notably in the play that took Boucher out of the game. The Bruins managed to beat the goalie, but not enough to get it past the goal line and into the net.
With another Gagne goal scored in the third period, after Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman broke his stick at the blueline which resulted in turnover, the Flyers punched their card into at least one more game back at the Wachovia Center this season. Only this time they are flying back with confidence and two straight wins under their belts — a much better circumstance than being down 2-0 earlier this series.
"The old cliché, one at a time," Hartnell said. "We believe that we deserved a better fate in the first three games, but this is what we are dealt with and we have kept playing the same way. Going back, we have played well in front of our home fans, and get it back here for a game seven. But right now we are going to enjoy it here for the next little while and focus on game six."
