Flyers edge Sabres in Game 3 to take series lead

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Monday, April 18, 2011
Posted: 9:53 p.m.Updated: 11:37 p.m.

By Tim Panaccio
CSNPhilly.com

BOX SCORE

BUFFALO, N.Y.The saying is nearly as old as the game of hockey itself.

Two things win in the playoffs: goaltending and special teams.

The Flyers had both Monday night at HSBC Arena as they turned back the determined Sabres with a 4-2 win in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series.

An early power-play goal, followed by a four-minute penalty kill, then a 5-on-3 kill all sandwiched around Brian Bouchers 35 saves propelled the Flyers to a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is Wednesday.

The 5-on-3 was at a pivotal time there in the third, Boucher said. If you want to win games, youre going to have to kill situations like that. We did a great job on that one and on the four-minute kill late in the firstGood job by the penalty killers and gutsy.

Good heads up by Boucher to get a timeout on the two-man disadvantage when his mask became loose. That allowed Kimmo Timonen, Mike Richards and Braydon Coburn to catch a breather.

The strap to the mask was loose and I kind of felt the mask was unsafe on my face, Boucher said. Ive seen other goalies flip their mask off and I didnt know what would happen but the referee said that was the right play.

The big kill came at 6:51 with Nikolay Zherdev in the box for slashing and Darroll Powe in for driving Marc-Andre Gragnani into the right post.

If they had scored on that 5-on-3, it may have been the turning point the other way, said Sean ODonnell, who joined for the 5-on-4 portion. It was a great job by those guys out there. I dont think either one was a poor call. We got ourselves in a big hole.

Boucher helped out too with two saves on Tyler Ennis. Boucher was making his first playoff start this series and first since Game 5 of the Boston series (May 10) last spring.

I have a belief in myself and I knew I put a lot of work into this year to have a good season, Boucher said. I know there may be questions from the outside, but for myself, I feel I can do the job. And Im happy to get a chance.

Coach Peter Laviolette wanted to restore calm to the series and Boucher delivered.

He made it seem easy on a lot of occasions, said Danny Briere. We owe him a lot

This game didnt resemble the chaos of Game 2, but more like the controlled, tight defensive performance of both teams in Game 1.

Ive liked all of our games so far, Laviolette said. There was a stretch in the first period where I didnt think we were at our best ... We were on our heels a little bit and didnt establish our forecheck.

I really liked our second period and we got into penalty trouble in the third period. But after that, we played a real smart, aggressive game. No games are easyI think our guys have played some pretty good hockey for three games.

After a pitiful 1-for-10 performance on the power play in Game 2, the Flyers were 1 for 3 here and scored on their first power play of the night.

After twice failing to get the puck up ice and into the zone on the ensuing power play, Matt Carle tried a long dump and it ended up on Jeff Carters stick coming into the zone.

Carter angled in from the right side and fired the puck from the right circle. Whether it hit defenseman Mike Webers stick is uncertain, but it beat Miller for a 1-0 lead at 4:42. That was Carters first point in the series.

It was kind of a broken play, Carter said. We just tried to dump it in and it hit their D. It gave me some room to walk in for an open shot and I was lucky to get one through.

That was about the best the Flyers had to offer as they were outshot in the period, 16-6. Those 16 shots were a series high for one period for Buffalo.

The Sabres tied with a power play goal at 11:55 when Drew Stafford had a turnaround from the high slot with Boucher screened out.

Near the periods end, Scott Hartnell not only interfered with Drew Stafford, he also took the net off, giving the Sabres a four-minute power play to end the period.

During that extended double minor, Boucher had three quality stops on Paul Gaustad, Brad Boyes and Gragnani.

The momentum the Flyers got off that big kill and Bouchers saves carried into the second period penalty run over, then Danny Briere, everyones favorite ex-Sabre, scored his second goal of the series at 2:44, regaining the lead for the Flyers.

Sabres defenseman Chris Butler went behind the net with Hartnell for a loose puck but fanned on it as Hartnell retrieved and centered into the slot where Briere buried it.

Since leaving the Sabres, in seven games as a Flyer in this building, Briere had five goals, four assists for nine points against his former team.

It was kind of a lucky bounce on their defense behind the net, Briere said. The puck jumped over Butlers stick. I saw that and I saw Scotty with the puck there.

I was yelling as loud as I could for him to hear me and see me. It was a nice gift to get the puck right in the slot all by yourself.

As the game lulled the crowd to sleep, Zherdev did it again. Subbing for the injured Andreas Nodl (right eye), the Russian winger came into the lineup and scored.

This time, Z planted himself at the right post for Richards' perfect pass to the post, where Zherdev made a backhanded tap-in, making it 3-1 with less than four minutes left in the period.

Whats been most impressive for me is Zherdevs attitude, Laviolette said. Hes worked really hard and hes committed like everybody else. He got an opportunity tonight.

He scores a big goal for us. He set up Richie after that through the crease on the back doorHe made a difference.

Zherdev now has points in four of the six times he returned to the lineup after sitting out games, including the regular season

The next shift, the Flyers almost got another goal by Richards in the crease but Weber blocked it. Buffalo came back up ice and cut it to one at 18:22. Boucher made a routine block of Tim Connollys long shot. The rebound ricocheted into the high slot.

Nathan Gerbe shot it back in and Boucher simply fanned missed it with his glove hand. A bad goal and Boucher knew it, too, as he was visibly angry with himself.

Still, Boucher passed the bigger test on the 5-on-3 kill.

It was definitely a good move going back to him, ODonnell said. Boosh made a couple of big saves and just handling the puck. As a D-man, he just seems to have a calming effect out there. He played well and we got the win.

E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net

Related: Flyers notes: Once-waived Zherdev comes throughBuy Flyers Gear

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