Miller directs Buffalo to another shut out of Flyers

BUFFALO - Coach Peter Laviolette slammed the door, walking off the Flyers' bench.

The bloodthirsty crowd at HSBC Arena was already at a crescendo, screaming louder and louder with the Flyers and Sabres squaring off one-by-one long after the final horn had sounded in Game 4.

Emotions were boiling over.

The third period had just about everything a playoff hockey game should: a raucous atmosphere, thwarted breakaway attempts, multiple saves by the goal post, diving stops, and bodies strewn across the ice like a battlefield.

It was only fitting that Game 4, a 1-0 Buffalo victory that tied the series at 2, ended in a postgame donnybrook on the ice, the true rite of spring declaration that a playoff series is officially underway.

"We threw pretty much everything but the kitchen sink at them," Dan Carcillo said.

Last night, the Flyers skated off the ice in Buffalo the same way they began the third period: with a slew of question marks. Faced with a daunting, 4-minute, 58-second penalty kill to wipe the slate clean of Mike Richards' major elbowing penalty, the Flyers solved the Sabres' power play without any problems.

Solving Ryan Miller at the other end of the ice wasn't nearly as easy.

"I think all of our guys played really hard," Laviolette said. "We had to handle the first 6, 8, 10 minutes of the game. After that, I thought we settled in and really went on the attack. Especially in the third period - it seemed like we were down their end the entire time."

The only thing that didn't come was the equalizer.

Now, after being shut out for the second time in this brief series, about the only thing they know for certain is that they have a return trip on their calendar set for Easter Sunday at 3 o'clock for Game 6.

And that one team, the winner of tomorrow night's Game 5 at the Wells Fargo Center, will have a chance to advance to the second round that day.

"It was a game that could have gone either way," Flyers goalie Brian Boucher said. "We killed some major penalties and stayed in it. We didn't get the result that we wanted, but it's not all that bad.

"Nobody ever said this series was going to be easy. It's 2-2 and we've got two home games if we need it."

It was the first time the Flyers have been shut out twice in one series since the 2002 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, when they were shut out in three consecutive games against Ottawa.

It is also just the fourth time in franchise history that the Flyers have been shut out more than once in the same playoff series.

"It's a good series," Danny Briere said. "These guys are battling hard. We never thought it'd be an easy one from the get-go."

Still, the loss wasn't for a lack of effort - just execution.

All alone, without a Sabres defender within 15 feet of him, Briere was stopped cold by Miller with just 8:53 remaining in the game. Less than 3 minutes later, Miller made a diving stick save on a Richards shot that was flubbed.

"We had a lot of pucks and a lot of opportunities at the net," Richards said. "We had a lot of near-misses. Just opportunities we would have liked to have back."

The Flyers outshot Buffalo, 11-8, in the final frame. The only chances the Sabres were able to put together, including a crafty self-passing play by Tyler Ennis, came off rushes in which the Flyers were pressing hard to score. If it weren't for a near-flawless, 28-save performance from Boucher at the other end, the Flyers never would have had an opportunity to knot the game.

"Both goalies were good," Briere said. "The last two periods, we were in control of the puck a lot more. We created lots of chances. The effort, the way we were creating chances, was there."

The nervous energy filling the arena in Buffalo was palpable. With each shot came a gasp in the crowd, almost sensing just how close the Flyers were coming each time.

Miller nearly stole an Olympic gold medal for the United States last February in Vancouver. Is it possible that he could steal a series for the Sabres?

In the playoffs, though, just one stat matters - the final score. It is the same sentiment that was echoed following Miller's Game 1 shutout. The only difference was that last night, the Flyers forced Miller be Superman.

With Superman in net, and words, punches and elbows thrown in just the final seconds, it's safe to say that a declaration of war was ratified last night in Buffalo.

"It was a war when we left Philly," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "It'll be a war when we get there. It'll be a war when we get back here. That comes with the ante being upped when you get later in a series and the emotions really start running hot."

The Sabres were credited with 11 takeaways last night, the Flyers were credited with none. The Flyers had just two games during the regular season where they did not post a single takeaway . . . Both Ryan Miller and Brian Boucher took minor penalties last night, the first time Buffalo and Philadelphia goaltenders have taken penalties in the same game since Garth Snow and Buffalo's Steve Shields squared off in a fight in 1997 . . . Fifteen of the Flyers' 18 skaters registered at least one shot on goal.

For more news and analysis, read Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at

www.philly.com/FrequentFlyers. Follow him on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.