Flyers go down with a thud
Bruins 4, Flyers 1
Flyers go down with a thud
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Some dreams in sports die hard, others quickly, still others with a crashing thud. Which is about where the Flyers are now, crashed.
Game score: Bruins, 4, Flyers 1.
Series score: Bruins 3, Flyers 0.
Appropriate musical score: Taps.
They had a lot of scoring chances in the first two periods against the Bruins, but not nearly enough finish. And when the Bruins scored the goal that made it 3-1 early in the third period, a power play goal by old pal Mark Recchi, the Bruins finally were able to accomplish what they like to think is there forte -- clogging up the neutral zone and protecting a lead.
And that was that. History suggests it is pretty much all over now, all over but the final accounting.
The first period might have been the Flyers’ best period of the series overall, but they still trailed by 2-1 when it was over. As omens go, it was not among the best.
They got the first goal, from Arron Asham on the back end of a 2-on-1 with Claude Giroux -- a great outlet pass by Blair Betts started the play -- and an oddly quiet Wachovia Center exploded. But they held the lead, their first of the series, for all of 1 minute, 39 seconds. A redirected goal by Blake Wheeler tied the game, and then a one-on-one, forehand-to-backhand move by Miroslav Satan on the doorstep made it 2-1 for the Bruins at 5:45.
And that’s where it stood. The Flyers began to pile up the shots, and the offensive zone possession time. They had a bunch of chances, and Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask appeared to be gettable. But the Flyers could never seem to corral the rebounds in front of Rask. Also, the Bruins blocked a ton of shots, 17 by the end of the second period. It was still 2-1 after the second.
The third Bruins goal came after a tripping penalty on Asham that really kind of wasn’t a penalty -- but no matter. They call ‘em, you kill ‘em. When Recchi scored on a rebound to make it 3-1, that was effectively that. The Flyers kept at it -- the shots were lopsided in their favor -- but they couldn’t sustain enough pressure on Rask, or corral enough rebounds.
On a late power play, coach Peter Laviolette changed goaltenders, inserting Johan Backlund, in order to create an artificial timeout and give his first power play unit a chance to rest and stay on the ice. Boucher returned at the next whistle and then came out again with 2:20 left for an extra skater. Patrice Bergeron scored into the empty net to make it 4-1 with 1:52 left.
And that was that. Crash, thud.
You can try to pull the injury card on Carter and Gagne but bottom line...This team isn't built to win the cup.— pflynn20- You Philly fans were right. We were afriad for the Bruins at your rink. I thought they might get trampled by fans leaving the game DURING the third period. Did Carcilla play? I don't remember seeing him. If only he could embellish a few goals......— fmd
- As a hockey fan I feel bad for the Flyers. They have the worst bandwagon fans in the league. That rink was quieter than a regular season game on Long Island. With half the rink emptying at the beginning of the third, Philly doesn't deserve a playoff quality team (regardless of their success or lack there of this year). Philly fans need to watch the Montreal game tomorrow night for a lesson on what being a fan is supposed to be like. For shame Philly...— BruinsRI
- I love the team but they dont have enough to compete. Half an AHL lineup wont do it. The loss of Carter and Gagne and Laperiere was too much to overcome. Just goes to show that injuries will kill you. This team health should sweep the Bruins.— rgreen72
- Yawn. The most boring playoff game I've ever seen. Let's get the injury excuse quotes ready. As if a team with Scott Hartnell playing 20 minutes and Braydon "no stones" Coburn/Matt "cement head" Carle playing regular d-shifts would actually be a legitimate contender. And what in the world happened to Kimmo Timonen? He looks no better than a Phantom. What a mess in Flyer land, as usual.— duffers
- heres laviolets comment, theres always next year, havent we heard that enough?— Dukelvr13
- No.— younggunna917
- Let's all chant. Fly-ers SUCK!! Fly-ers SUCK!!— Pittsburghhater
- Rough series/season for the Flyers. Thanks for beating the Devils. Richards and Pronger have been a pleasure to watch, especially in the playoffs.— Han Solo
- Stop crying about injuries. The Bruins scored three goals after their second line center went down tonight. They are missing their top goal scorer for the series just like the Flyers. Got to go take a Carcilla now and you bet I'll wipe my Hartnell real good when I'm done!— fmd
- The team needs some big changes in the offseason. Gagne and Carter would not have won this series for the Flyers. This is a chemistry issue...no net presence whatsoever and no top caliber finishers. Both Gagne and Carter are exterior players and are not clutch playoff performers...see Carter playoff stats. Losing Knuble was enormous...just need to restart the engine with some new players. Too much mediocrity on this team.— ant8817
- Let's go boys, time to jump off the bandwagon. Let's all back the Phillies because we only want to get behind a team when times are good and there's no adversity. That's just who we are as Philadelphia sports fans. Weak, spineless, front runners. I wonder if they conduct polls in other cities to see which team is the most popular at the moment. Pathetic.— jdbeach
- Webster's dictonary defines this word "_ _ _ _ _" To remove from a surface with or as if with a broom or brush, to destroy completely!! can u guess the word??? hey hey hey...good bye!— iamcanadian
- Here come the injury excuses. How pathetic! The Bruins are missing their #2 and #3 defensemen (Seidenberg & Stuart), their top goal scorer (Sturm), and tonight lost Krejci and McQuaid at the beginning of the first period. Also, Savard hasn't played in 6 weeks. Stop the lame excuses and just admit you got beat!— zakman
- Why do all the imbeciles come out and attack Philly fans. The game was obviously over, there's a Phillies home game about to let out and it's a Wed. night. The Bruins were easily the better team tonight, enjoy it and move on. Hey, why not bring up throwing snowballs at Santa 50 years ago while you're at it.— smartini
