Flyers notes: Briere comes up big on faceoffs

Share

Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Posted: 11:58 p.m.

By Tim Panaccio and Sarah Baicker
CSNPhilly.com

Everyone knows about Danny Brieres prowess as a goal scorer.

Few people, however, would give him much chance of beating Paul Gaustad on two critical draws in the offensive zone.

Guastad came into the playoffs as the NHLs best draw at 59.6 percent. Briere won both his draws Tuesday over Gaustad that led to critical Flyers goals in their 5-2 Game 7 victory.

Its one of those plays that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt, Briere said. Most of the time it doesnt. I guess they were key.

Especially, the one at the end of the first period. That was a huge momentum swing, getting a goal. We peppered Ryan Miller most of the first period. We barely let them into our zone and it was still 0-0. So to get a deflection and see the puck go in was a huge relief. And also a huge momentum swing coming back into the room.

Hot start
In the first six games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, the Flyers mostly struggled through each first period. In fact, through those six games, they had been outscored 11-5 in the opening 20 minutes of play.

That changed in Game 7. For the first time all series, thanks to a last-minute goal from Braydon Coburn, the Flyers carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. From there, they only continued to build on it.

We didnt have a good start pretty much all series, Claude Giroux said. I think it was pretty clear that we wanted to come out strong and when we saw the fans, we had a little more motivation. Just the shots, 16-2, I think a lot of guys were working hard, were hard on the puck, skating, and I think everybody showed up.

Inside joke
As the seconds ticked down in Game 7, the ArenaVision screen panned to a shot of Flyers winger Ville Leino on the bench as Leino reached his stick up high and appeared to applaud with it along with the fever-pitch Wells Fargo Center crowd.

Was Leino just doing his best impression of the crowd, which spent the latter part of the third period on its feet?

Not exactly.

Thats an inside joke we have, Leino said. But the crowd was unbelievable.

Carters return
Jeff Carter said he was feeling a little better with a badly sprained right knee. He said he feels he can return to play in the second round of the playoffs. Whether that is at the beginning remains to be seen.

Murrow Award
Comcast SportsNet was awarded a 2011 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Building a Memory, the retrospective on the Spectrum which was produced by Brad Nau. The Spectrum was a very special place for so many millions of people, said Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Ed Snider. Building A Memory highlights the great events, the terrific people and the wonderful memories that the Spectrum created for me and everyone who has ever attended an event there over the past 42 years. Id also like to commend Brad Nau who gave so tirelessly of his time to produce this great show.

Loose pucks
Buffalo is now 0-5 lifetime in Game 7s on the road and 1-6 overall.The Flyers are now 9-6 in Game 7s and 6-3 when they are played at home. They have won three consecutive Game 7s dating back to the 2008 postseason.This was just the third time the Flyers have ever won a series that they trailed 3-2 after five games. The others were the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals vs. Boston and the 1989 Patrick Division Finals vs. Pittsburgh.Brieres six goals are the most for a Flyer in a playoff series since R.J. Umberger scored eight in the 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals vs. Montreal. Briere now has 94 points (41-53-94) in 93 career playoff games.The Flyers blocked 28 shots, the same number as the Sabres had on net. Chris Pronger led the way with five blocks.

E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net. E-mail Sarah Baicker at sbaicker@comcastsportsnet.com

Related: Flyers' power play clicks at just the right timeFlyers handle Sabres in Game 7 to advance

Contact Us