Flyers comeback halted in OT
Sabres 4, Flyers 3
Flyers comeback halted in OT
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
At first, this was going to be a story about the disaster that was Brian Boucher’s night in the Flyers’ goal, and about how coach Peter Laviolette, now desperate, has spun the wheel of goaltending roulette one more time.
Then it became a story about something completely different.
The Flyers, to their everlasting credit, down by 3-0 in the first period -- and doesn’t that sound familiar? -- fashioned the kind of comeback that would have considered amazing if we all hadn’t seen them do the impossible last spring in the playoffs against Boston.
So it was with, well, routine amazement that we watched them tie it with two goals in the second period and one in the third. From there it was into overtime. And at 5:31, it was Tyler Ennis who finally won it, scoring on a rebound.
And now we all get to see what the Flyers have left after falling behind in the series by three games to two. Game 6, the first elimination game of the series, is Sunday afternoon in Buffalo.
The start of the Game 5 was an abject disaster for the Flyers. Boucher allowed goals by Ennis and Thomas Vanek that were from angles so sharp as to be Euclidian impossibilities. They were the worst two goals allowed by the Flyers in the playoffs since...
Oh, hey, Michael Leighton is back.
Actually, Boucher was not pulled until after the third goal, this one by Marc-Andre Gragnani, with 4:24 left in the first period. In the tunnel, he threw his helmet and violently attacked a nearby rack of sticks. But that damage was minor compared to what he had committed on the ice.
There was no reason to see it coming. Boucher had never had anything approaching that kind of a game in the playoffs before, not ever. There was no hint in earlier series games, either. His best game, in fact, might have been his 1-0 defeat in Game 4 on Wednesday night in Buffalo.
But this was a disaster, even worse the Game 2 disaster authored by Sergei Bobrovsky; remember him? Anyway, Boucher was out and now Leighton was in. He had been pulled twice in the Stanley Cup Final last season, and then he hurt his back, and then he spent the season in the minors, and now he’s back in net for a team that prefers either to balance upon the high wire or to wrap it around its own neck.
Leighton had a pretty good seat for the kind of comeback that the Flyers now seem to attempt every year. Last season, it was the historic Game 7 in the second round against Boston -- and the first goal came from James Van Riemsdyk. This time, it was Van Riemsdyk again, on a rebound that he was able to corral with his long reach and slip it around Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller.
That was at 8:12 of the second period. Less than 2 minutes later, the score was 3-2 courtesy of an Andrej Meszaros blast from about 50 feet. The Wells Fargo Center had gotten back into on the Van Riemsdyk goal -- and, really, in the minutes leading up to it as the Flyers pressured the Buffalo net. The building was convulsing after the Meszaros goal. And when Danny Briere scored on a pass from Mike Richards from behind the net in the third period, it was 3-3 and it was bedlam.
The Sabres, to their credit, pulled themselves together and had the better of the play for the next few minutes. But Leighton was good, and the game settled into the kind of nervous affair that is so familiar to anyone who has ever watched playoff hockey.
As time ticked down, everyone know that the next mistake might lose it, or the next bounce might win it.
Ennis got the bounce, a big one off of the pad of Leighton after a point shot by Buffalo’s Mike Weber.
Buy Flyers playoff tickets - that would be Sunday..... Happy Easter. Dont let that bunny hide his eggs in your mouth too.....
- Is that the best you can do? It's clear that, as a product of the Buffalo school system, critical thinking is difficult for you, but come on: The Easter Bunny? "eggs in your mouth"? Intellectually you're 12 years old.
Change your avatar to a photo of the banjo player from Deliverance. It's more appropriate.
Flyers in 7. 
3 goalies in 5 games = no goalie.— jibberjabber- jimmyjamsjames... On the bright side, at least we dont' live in Buffalo. I'd take that any day over losing a game. Every one in the city might have one full set of teeth together.
well jimbo... i've lived in both, and i can tell ya' that i'd much rather be up there... what a cesspool of filth and crime ya' got down here... yikes, you guys don't get out much...
— alltalkadelphia - GOOD NEWS THE PHILLIES ARE WINNING 2-O— brjsphila
- and that's why they play the game... all that payroll doesn't do much when you choke on the ice— alltalkadelphia
- LOL! did you freaks really think this was the year? of course not! God hate philly teams cuz philly fans so obnoxious! when they are good what do you think gonna happen? duh! injuries! guys go down. DONE! DONE! DONE! in reality, this city got only one team. and that the phils. everybody else? so what! they aint gonna do nothin! ok?! nothing! why u think they sell out? not like baseball some great sport. it cuz only phils can get something done! ok?
- Your avatar should be a photo of the banjo player from Deliverance. I'll bet you sound exactly the same as you write. You're not in the running for one of those high tech jobs in Buffalo that badgolfdog was raving about, of course neither is he.
- Not like you;ll ever get a job. Oh wait, McDonalds is hiring. Maybe if you bathe and delouse yourself, they'll hire you to scrub the dumpster
- I wouldn't say not since Bernie Parent, rhawnhurster, I'd say not since Pelle Lindbergh, with all respect to Hextall.— flyers1313
- I wont pull the football away, I swear!— NYPHILLYPHAN
- This series is still winnable but it's laughable to think we're serious contenders with what we have in goal and how the team frequently take entire periods off. Laughable. One thing's for sure- Pronger is a definite for game 6.— Kanayd
- Anyone complaining about Leighton after that game is showing what a total moron they are. The team stinks. It does not matter who is in goal.— AreaMan
- at least the sixers dont get ur hopes up. iggles and flyers they make u think they got something when of course they dont! who are the freaks in charge of these teams?! why wont somebody fire them! please! fire them!!! NOW!!!!!
1983 and 1976 and when did the iggles last win? its a DISGRACE! just let these sorry teams go somewhere else. ok? i just gonna watch the phils cuz they the only team worth a damn! ok?
- Sorry Flyers.....no heart=no win!— kingyankhater
