Flyers to open series against Bruins on Saturday

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Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Posted: 10:15 p.m.

By Sarah Baicker
CSNPhilly.com

After a day of rest spent away from the rink, the Flyers finally know who theyll face in the Eastern Conference semifinals: the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins, who finished the season with a 46-25-11 record and just three fewer points (103) than the Flyers, defeated the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night in Game 7 to move on to face the Flyers. The series will begin Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center at 3:05 p.m.

For me, the Bruins present a balanced lineup, coach Peter Laviolette said. They have good forwards up front, depth up front. Mostly when I look at the Bruins I see balance, that back end and up front. They can play a game with skill. They can play physical.

This season, the Flyers record against Boston was 1-3and though the Bruins struggled to defeat sixth-seeded Montreal, theyll pose a big challenge to the Flyers, especially in net. The Flyers proved they could best Buffalos Ryan Miller, but another tall task awaits them in Bruins netminder Tim Thomas.

Thomas had an impressive season, in which he led the NHL with a 2.00 goals-against average and had nine shutouts, in addition to breaking the leagues single-season record for save percentage at .938.

The storyline, of course, is that this will be a rematch of last years historic Eastern Conference semifinals, in which the Flyers managed to defeat the Bruins in seven games after being down 3-0 in the series.

E-mail Sarah Baicker at sbaicker@comcastsportsnet.com

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