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How Hartnell's confrontation became Flyers' celebration

BOSTON - "What if . . ." It's a clever series of reminiscence spots - commercials running during the playoffs, pitch-perfect, classically produced, with chilling piano music lilting in the background.

Scott Hartnell celebrates his goal with Ville Leino and Danny Briere. (Yong Kim / Staff Photographer)
Scott Hartnell celebrates his goal with Ville Leino and Danny Briere. (Yong Kim / Staff Photographer)Read more

BOSTON - "What if . . ."

It's a clever series of reminiscence spots - commercials running during the playoffs, pitch-perfect, classically produced, with chilling piano music lilting in the background.

This moment won't make the "History Will be Made" series. There's no footage. But . . .

What if Scott Hartnell didn't demand of Peter Laviolette the reason for his benching in the third period of Game 3?

Maybe Hartnell fades further into the recesses of a lousy season. Maybe he doesn't hustle throughout Game 4 against the Bruins; finally score in Game 5; then, last night, help produce two of the goals in the biggest comeback in NHL history.

Hartnell scored the Flyers' second goal then assisted on the tying goal en route to the club's 4-3 win, completing the unlikely trip from a 3-0 series deficit to the Eastern Conference Final, just the third team to accomplish that feat.

Before the Flyers hit the comeback road, Hartnell, goal-less for 20 games at that point, needed a heart-to-heart, a little bit of the lash.

"It made me a little bit mad," Hartnell said. "I played a little bit harder. Played a little angry."

He played a lot better. It came about like this: Hartnell had barely played in the third period of Game 3. So, after the team's practice May 5, he approached Laviolette at the Flyers' Skate Zone in Voorhees, N.J. It was not a pleasant discussion.

"We had it . . . not out, or whatever. I didn't know what he was thinking. We cleared the air a little bit. I was upset. A little mad. He was upset, I think, with my play," Hartnell said. "I asked him, 'What do you need me to do out there? You're who I have to make happy.'

"He said, 'Make plays. Move your feet. All the things that make you an effective hockey player.' "

With Jeff Carter, Ian Laperriere and Simon Gagne injured, Laviolette was desperate for supplementary help. Gagne was due to dome back in Game 4, but Laviolette had no idea what Gagne would be. All he knew was that he wasn't getting the help he needed from Hartnell, and he let Hartnell know.

"We did have a conversation," said Laviolette, a severe and private type unwilling to disclose much of the meeting's tenor. He let slip this message he gave Hartnell: "This is a chance to forget about maybe the games you haven't liked, and focus on what you can do."

After a strong Game 4 showing, Laviolette put Hartnell on a line with Ville Leino and Danny Briere, a combination aimed at generating offense lost with Carter. It only worked, Laviolette noted, because of Hartnell: "He went out there and played his [butt] off."

Hartnell scored here in Game 5, ending the 21-game drought. It was his second stretch of futility this season, having endured a 20-game run with one goal in a 14-goal season, about half of the output the Flyers expect of him.

"I felt like I didn't have any confidence with the puck," he said. "It's amazing what one little shot can do for your confidence."

He hadn't looked like a 14-goal guy the past four games. He looked like an All Star last night.

Mike Richards' hustle led to the Flyers' first goal, from James van Riemsdyk, and Gagne deposited the winner on a power play in the third period, but it was Hartnell who kept the momentum going through the key second period, when his line scored twice to tie the game.

Hartnell who streaked across ice, received Chris Pronger's pass, dumped it, took the hit that kept the puck deep, pushed it back to the blue line where Pronger delivered it to Danny Briere.

Briere worked his slippery body and magical hands behind the net, found Leino in front, who managed a weak spinning shot . . . that Hartnell flipped home on his backhand to make it 3-2 less than 3 minutes into the second. Hartnell was especially proud of the play.

"That first period we didn't have any sustained pressure. No cycles at all. There, in the second, we were able to get some time and space," Hartnell said. "I knew I had a lot of time to control it and pop it in the net."

Later, it was Hartnell, charging up the right boards, beating the Bruins defense, then delivering, if awkwardly, to Briere, who wrapped around Rask and shoved it in to even the score.

Along the way, before and after, he was everywhere; blocking Michael Ryder's shot late (after Hartnell gave it away); challenging giant defenseman Zdeno Chara as Chara rammed Leino after a whistle.

"Scott has played extremely well for us in Game 4, Game 5, Game 6 and Game 7. He's made a difference for our club; offensively, physically," Laviolette said. "That's huge. It's terrific, given the situation. Simon having been out, Jeff Carter being out, you lose a guy like Lappy - you need other guys to pick it up."

Of course, little comes of Hartnell's effort without Leino and Briere. Briere has six points in the four straight wins, but it is Leino, with four points in that span, who has garnered attention.

"They're getting better and better every night," Gagne said. "You can tell they have something going, maybe a chemistry going on. Ville is very impressive. He is getting more comfortable with the puck."

So, with the piano dripping like rain . . . What if Laviolette doesn't reconfigure the lines?

What if Hartnell doesn't ram two home in the TD Garden from almost the same spot 4 nights apart?

More importantly . . . What if there's no meeting?

Simple. History isn't made. *