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Laviolette: Flyers need to be aggressive

Coach Peter Laviolette says the Flyers need to be on the attack mode when the drama-filled Eastern Conference semifinals resume Monday in Boston.

Scott Hartnell and the Flyers will need to play fast and loose if they hope to win their series with the Bruins. (Steven M. Falk / Staff Photographer)
Scott Hartnell and the Flyers will need to play fast and loose if they hope to win their series with the Bruins. (Steven M. Falk / Staff Photographer)Read more

Coach Peter Laviolette says the Flyers need to be on the attack mode when the drama-filled Eastern Conference semifinals resume Monday in Boston.

"I don't want to come out and sit back," he said in a conference call with reporters Saturday, one day after the Flyers stayed alive in the series with a tense 5-4 overtime victory at the Wachovia Center. "We have to do to them what they're going to try to do to us."

The Bruins, who have a 3-1 lead in the series and need one more victory to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 1992, started quickly in both wins in Boston. They outshot the Flyers, 15-8, and built a 2-0 first-period lead in Game 1, keying a 5-4 overtime victory.

In Game 2, the Bruins took a 1-0 lead after 5 minutes and 12 seconds and eventually won, 3-2, on Milan Lucic's goal with 2 minutes, 57 seconds left in regulation.

"I'd rather . . . swing hard than sit back and watch them do their thing," Laviolette said when asked about the importance of the game's first 10 minutes Monday.

The Flyers did not have practice Saturday. No one was probably more appreciative of that than their top four defensemen: Chris Pronger, Matt Carle, Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn.

Pronger played a game-high 37:33 and contributed a goal and an assist, along with a plus-3 rating, on Friday.

"In the back of our mind, we knew we had two days off to recover," Laviolette said. "He'll be more than ready" on Monday.

The other top-four defensemen also logged lots of time: Coburn played 33:52; Carle, who had four assists and was plus-5, played 32:35; and Timonen played 32:02.

The third defensive pairing of Ryan Parent (4:24) and Lukas Krajicek (8:47) was used sparingly. In the OT, Krajicek played 35 seconds and Parent did not play.

Boston's top defensemen also played an inordinate amount of minutes, led by Dennis Wideman (33:13), Zdeno Chara (33:04), and rookie Johnny Boychuk (31:58).

The Bruins are understandably content with their position in the series.

"We've got a couple days off," said former Flyer Mark Recchi, the Bruins' 42-year-old right winger, after scoring his fifth and sixth goals of the postseason. "We'll regroup and recharge, then go again on Monday."

"Any time you go into another team's building and you come out with a split, it's obviously a positive," Boston coach Claude Julien said.

Julien and the Bruins are happy to return to TD Garden, where they are 5-0 in this year's playoffs. All five wins were by one goal.

Laviolette and his players are just glad they have a chance to redeem themselves.

"If we go out and play a good hockey game, and we can get a lead and play our style, then maybe the crowd is less of a factor," Laviolette said after Friday's win. "I know it was a good place for Boston; they've had some success there, but I like the way we played our first two games there. I just don't like the results. They could have gone either way."

Breakaways. Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said there was "nothing to report" on winger Dan Carcillo, who missed the third period and overtime because of a knee injury. Carcillo will apparently play Monday. . . . Pronger is the first Flyers defenseman to register 10 points in a postseason since Eric Desjardins in 2000 . . . Chara's neutral-zone turnover started the sequence that led to Simon Gagne's game-winning goal Friday. . . . Boston goalie Tuukka Rask allowed five goals on 34 shots in Game 4. "I've got to be better," he said. "And I will be better next game, for sure.". . . In the series, Rask has a 2.69 goals-against average and .908 save percentage, while Brian Boucher has a 3.62 GAA and .876 save percentage. . . . Danny Briere leads the Flyers in goals (3) and points (6) in the series.