Flyers to the Finals!
Flyers 4, Canadiens 2
Flyers to the Finals!
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Sometimes, there is no need for either adjectives or embellishment. There are moments that speak for themselves, moments such as this one.
The Flyers are going to the Stanley Cup Finals.
For the first time since 1997, the Flyers will play for the big silver trophy that they have not won since 1975. The final score was Flyers 4, Montreal 2. The opponent will be the Chicago Blackhawks, who haven't won the Cup since 1961.
History will record that Jeff Carter scored the game-winner in the second period, and that captain Mike Richards had the first goal and the primary assist on Carter's decisive goal. Carter also scored into an emtpy net at the end after an outrageous effort by Richards to keep the puck alive.
The cliche-ridden, all-important first goal? Well, the Flyers didn't get it. The Wachovia Center opened with a roar but the Canadiens silenced it just 59 seconds into the game when Brian Gionta took advantage of a mixup on the Flyers' defensive coverage, taking a pass from Scott Gomez and scoring.
Mike Richards got the noise back in a big way, shorthanded. A loose puck was carreening into the Montreal end and it was very clear, for about a second, that there was going to be a four-way collision involving Richards, Montreal defenseman Roman Hamrlik, goaltender Jaroslav Halak and the puck. As it turned out, Hamrlik ended up taking Halak out of the play like a ten-pin and the puck and Richards both rebounded to freedom. When Richards got to his feet, he was able to backhand the puck into the empty net.
In the second period, the Flyers' opportunism continued. First it was Arron Asham, at 3:07 of the period, who sneaked behind the Montreal defense and was the recipient of a pass from Matt Carle, who had just saved the puck at the blue line. Then, at 4:31, it was Jeff Carter's turn. In his second game back from a broken foot, Carter was, appropriately enough, the "toe" on a beauty of a tic-tac-toe play that went from Kimmo Timonen, to Richards behind the net, and back to Carter in front.
That's how the second period ended, 3-1. But the Canadiens, to their everlasting credit, kept coming. A team that had come from behind against both Washington and Pittsburgh in the first two rounds of the playoffs, threw everything it had at the Flyers in the third period.
The breakthrough came at 6:53, when Gomez scored off of a pass from behind the net from PK Subban. That made it 3-2 and left the entire building pretty much roaring incoherently for a half-hour. Goaltender Michael Leighton was excellent down the stretch, and then Carter got the empty-netter to seal the trip to Chicago.
No matter what happens in the finals... Ya gotta luv this team.. Im still pinching myself... win or lose... this team has givne us a season for the ages!!— nixman101- Check out this pic from the Montreal Gazette: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/montreal-canadiens/index.html— Ken_Spencer
Haha...Vs is advertising Game 6 on Wednesday...too funny.— kjuggs77- LET'S GO FLYERS!!!! Great game - who cares about the bandwagon - I say jump on and join us, get excited about SC Finals hockey and the Flyers. (The only one that can't is Big Tom) Let's get orange and black all over this city. LET'S GO FLYERS!!!— ferg_1977
- Come on Tonka. I've been given everybody a hard time too but they've earned some props. We both said Montreal was going to trash them, and Boston and we were wrong. I think Chicago is gonna paste them, but give them their night. Try not to be a total sore loser.— Big Tom Threw 3
- This will be a great series, but I finally have complete faith in this team. It took a few years, but Paul has finally pulled it together. Flyers in 6, time to show the Hawks a good 'ole fashioned Eastern Conference beat down— StewBrad36
- Tonka: Chicago is going to crush alot of peoples dreams in Philly. LOL - Tonka is always wrong - he said the Canadiens would beat the Flyers....:)— Ken_Spencer
- Go FLYERS!!!!!— Big Tom shoots 3 blows 3
- Tonka, sucka!— Big Tom shoots 3 blows 3
- @ joeyc444 Keep dreaming - it's your nightmare come true. Hawks will take down the old men.— hockeygirl11
- Congrats Flyers and Orange and Black Nation! Chicago has a tee time reserved in the Original SIx Open. One by one the Flyers add to the field: New York, Boston, Montreal..... Let's go Flyers!!!— peteinmich
- Congrats on getting to the Stanley Cup Finals Flyers. Reality will soon be arriving in the form of the Blackhawks. Hawks in 5.— HawksOneGoal
- Not since 74-75 have i been this excited,go Flyers— Edu
- This will be a good Cup Finals. Everybody rest up for some great hockey (both the team AND the fans). This is the time. This is the year. It is a good time to be a Flyer fan. Go Flyers.— LuckyDog
- Note to Paul Holmgren: Dear Paul - Thank you for having the cojhones to 1) draft...and then sign Mike Richards to a 10 year contract 2) trade Scottie Upshall for Dan Carcillo 3) comb the WW and find a gem in Michael Leighton and 4) get Chris Pronger despite all the fan and media flack for, supposedly, "paying too high a price".— dri_as_a_bone
