Daily News Online Extra: Flyers search for glimmer of hope

The questioner began with a statement, that only two teams in NHL history have come back from a 3-0 deficit in a seven-game series to win. To which, Chris Pronger replied, "Thank you."

(Pronger always appreciates a helpful reporter.)

"It's happened twice before -- we'll see," Pronger said, and it is what you would expect one of the leaders of the Flyers to say. Standing there on a little interview riser in the Flyers' dressing room after Game 3, towering over the cameras and recorders arrayed around him, Pronger was sifting through the ashes of the Bruins' 4-1 victory, the game that situated the Flyers directly in the historical crosshairs, down by three games to none in the series.

Anyway, Pronger was talking. In one of his answers, he identified the slightest, faintest glimmer for the Flyers in this series. Again, you can barely see it and, in all likelihood, it isn't going to matter in the end.

But see if you can spot it:

"As I've said from the beginning, I'll say now: we can't change the way we play," Pronger said. "We've got to play the same way we did the first two periods -- aggressive, skating. You know, they're a banged up team over there. We've got to play into that, and get pucks in deep, and force them to turn and go get it. We can't change because we're down three-nothing. We've got to continue to stick with the program and play the way we know how."

Did you see it?

They're a banged up team over there...

It is not a joke. Two more Bruins went down in Game 3. The Bruins announced on Thursday morning that David Krejci suffered a dislocated wrist on that mid-ice clobbering he received from the Flyers' Mike Richards and is done for the season. He was taken to a Baltimore hospital immediately after the game, and surgery was performed.

Krejci is the second top-six forward to go down for the Bruins in this series; Marco Sturm tore up his knee on a nothing kind of play along the boards at the start of Game 1. The other Bruin injured in Game 3 was rookie defenseman Adam McQuaid, and it is unknown exactly what is hurting him or when he might be back. Such is the nature of hockey secrecy in the springtime.

Goal-challenged all season, the losses of Krejci and Sturm would seem -- in some absurd rough justice/hockey gods kind of way -- to balance out the Flyers' losses of Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne.

The Flyers are also missing Ian Laperriere (who, depending upon his citizenship status, should really consider a run for political office -- such is his popularity now because of a shot-blocking, body-sacrificing style of play that Philadelphians just love). Then again, the Bruins are also missing Dennis Seidenberg and Mark Stuart.

It is a long list. And if the Flyers have really missed the skill of Carter and Gagne in front -- and they have -- the Bruins can only be commended for the way they have weathered things so far. Seeing as how they have four chances to win one game, you have to think they will find enough to get through here.

But the injuries are a complication. So start there. Then ask this question to Pronger: did you think Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask played his best game of the series in Game 3?

Listen to Pronger's reply:

"I don't know," he said. "He obviously played well, made some good saves. But I'm not sure."

Truth is, the Flyers think Rask is gettable if they can just get some more traffic in front. The problem is a defense, led by Zdeno Chara, which has done a really good job with its defensive-zone coverage. The Flyers had tons of pressure in Game 3 but not enough really clean and open shots at Rask in those high-traffic areas.

There were rebounds that the Flyers just couldn't reach. There were about a dozen pucks that whistled through the slot, begging to be redirected -- but the Flyers' sticks just weren't there. Again, credit the Bruins' defense. They are winning this series because of that defense. It is the most formidable obstacle, not necessarily the goaltender.

With that, the Flyers have no choice but to grab on to whatever hope they can. Right now, it is the Bruins' injury report.