Skip to content
Flyers
Link copied to clipboard

Bruins knock off Flyers in overtime

Maybe the Flyers like living on the edge.

Brian Boucher can't stop David Krejci's shot in overtime in the Flyers' loss to the Bruins in Game 2. (Michael Bryant/Staff Photographer)
Brian Boucher can't stop David Krejci's shot in overtime in the Flyers' loss to the Bruins in Game 2. (Michael Bryant/Staff Photographer)Read more

Maybe the Flyers like living on the edge.

Maybe they enjoy having to overcome astronomical odds to win a playoff series against the Boston Bruins.

Maybe they still think they're in the Bruins' heads and that another memorable comeback is on the horizon.

Or maybe, just maybe, they simply aren't quite as good as the Bruins, who took command of the Eastern Conference semifinals with a pulsating, 3-2 overtime win over the Flyers Monday night at the tension-filled Wells Fargo Center.

David Krejci, who had two goals in Boston's 7-3 Game 1 win, scored the game-winner on a left-wing blast 14 minutes into overtime.

Goalie Tim Thomas made 52 saves and was brilliant for the Bruins, who have a two-games to-none lead in the best-of-seven series - and are 4-0 in OT games in this year's playoffs.

"He was pretty good tonight," said winger James van Riemsdyk, who had given the Flyers a 2-0 lead with a pair of first-period goals. "I think it's just a matter of us bearing down on those second chances."

Game 3 is in Boston on Wednesday. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette came close to guaranteeing a win in that contest.

Laviolette, playing psychologist, claimed the pressure had shifted to the Bruins because there's now "an expectation for them to win the series."

"I really like our guys," Laviolette added. "I think we're going to go to Boston and play a strong hockey game and win the game."

The Flyers fired 54 shots at Thomas, their most in a playoff game since they had 75 shots against Toronto in a 2003 conference quarterfinal.

"That was definitely the way we wanted to play, but he made the key saves," said Danny Briere, who fired nine shots, including six on net.

When trailing by 2-0, the Flyers are 3-13 in series.

Then again, they became the first team in NHL history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit and a 3-0 Game 7 deficit against Boston last year.

The overtime was wild as both teams had great scoring chances.

Boston's Rich Peverley clanked a 40-footer off the left post with about nine minutes left, and Scott Hartnell made a diving block to thwart an excellent opportunity by Mark Recchi with just under seven minutes to go.

Mike Richards, van Riemsdyk, and Ville Leino came close to scoring in OT for the Flyers.

The Flyers had a 22-7 edge in shots in the third period, but Thomas had all the answers, including a key stop on Richards with 4 minutes, 25 seconds to go. (In the third, the Flyers set a home playoff record for shots in a period.)

With an open net and about one second left in regulation, Briere fanned on a bouncing puck in front, then fired a shot that Thomas smothered at the buzzer.

"I never saw it," Briere said of his first attempt in the frantic end of regulation. "It was already behind my stick when I saw it. It's one of those bounces - if it stays on my stick, instead of hopping over it, it's in the net. The hockey gods wanted it the other way tonight."

Brian Boucher, who missed the last 8:59 of the second period because of an injury, also made several big saves - none bigger than when he stopped Nathan Horton from in close with 5:50 left in the third.

After Boucher had a clunker in Game 5 against Buffalo, Laviolette surprisingly went with Michael Leighton in Game 6.

Boucher wasn't at his best in the opener of the conference semifinals against Boston, but this time, Laviolette stuck with him for Game 2.

The Flyers were trying to rebound from a 7-3 loss to the Bruins - the most goals scored against them in any Game 1 in their history.

Boucher played well on Monday - except for a shot by Brad Marchand from the high slot that tied the game at 2-2 - but he had to leave after suffering an injury. Boucher appeared to injure his left hand after making a save on Johnny Boychuk's long slapshot.

Enter Sergei Bobrovsky, with the score knotted at 2-2. The rookie played well and kept the score tied with six saves the rest of the second period.

The Flyers dominated the first half of the opening period, taking a 2-0 lead on a pair of van Riemsdyk goals, including one 29 seconds into the game.

But Boston, showing the resiliency that enabled it to overcome a two-games-to-none series deficit against Montreal in the quarterfinals, scored two goals in a 1:25 span to tie the score at 2-2. Chris Kelly scored on a rebound, and Marchand beat Boucher from the high slot.

Boston lost a key defenseman, Adam McQuaid, after he ran into the boards in the first period and appeared to suffer a head injury. The Flyers were minus standout defenseman Chris Pronger, sidelined with what is believed to be a hamstring injury.