Flyers' season ends with Game 6 loss

The Flyers faced the horror of blowing a 3-0 lead in a Game 6 they had to win and the history of a franchise that had never overcome a 3-1 series deficit.

That was their perilous situation coming into the third period of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal today against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

With a Wachovia Center crowd of 20,072 cheering the Flyers' every move, it was Pittsburgh's Sergei Gonchar who silenced the throng, scoring past Marty Biron at 2:19. Sidney Crosby tacked on an empty-net goal in the closing seconds as the Penguins won, 5-3, to take the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, four games to two.

Like that, the Flyers' season is over. It was an unimaginable loss after such a lead in such an important game, and the bitter effects likely will last well into the summer. Expect plenty of self-examination up and down the organization, which hasn't won a Stanley Cup in 34 years.

"We got exactly where we wanted to be [with a 3-0 lead]," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "When you get a 3-0 lead, you should win. I'm extremely disappointed."

It marked the first time the Flyers have blown a 3-0 lead in a playoff game since a 5-4 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals in Game 7 of the Patrick Division semifinals on April 16, 1988.

The Flyers' loss was symbolic of their series. They had a little inconsistent play and a lot of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin disrupting things.

"Obviously disappointed," Flyers captain Mike Richards said. "We knew they had a lot of offensive weapons. We sat back and tried to protect the lead too much."

The Flyers had a productive power play after the Gonchar goal, but several shots and puck control did not turn into a tying goal. Another time, they had Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury flailing around on the ice, but they could not get the puck in a good scoring position. Joffrey Lupul was denied by Fleury on a deflected puck with less than 6 minutes to play.

The Flyers managed just five shots in the third period and finished with 25 overall. The Penguins finished with 34 shots.

"You have to give them a lot of credit," Richards said. "Their big guys stepped up."

Crosby scored two goals, his first off a deflection that crazily wound up on his stick with 3:01 to play in the second period. That tied the score at 3.

"Malkin and Crosby looked like they took the game over," Stevens said. "Our competitiveness at the net by our team was not as strong as [the Penguins']."

Richards got the Flyers rolling in the first period. With his team needing a spark to smooth over some early uneven play, Richards arrived in Max Talbot's face as the puck lay at the feet of the Penguins center.

Some stick work and a nudge or two later, Richards steamed forward at center ice with the puck. His shot was stopped by Fleury but the rebound was gathered by Mike Knuble. He backhanded the puck into a mostly open net for a 1-0 lead at 17:48 of the first period.

As the announcement of Knuble's goal was being made, just 51 seconds later, Lupul snapped a shot over Fleury's shoulder off a cross-ice pass from a patient Claude Giroux.

And as quick as a slap shot, the Flyers took control of Game 6, a game they had to win to keep their season alive.

The Flyers have never come back to win a series in their long and colorful history in which they trailed 3-1. They were an ominous 0-13 when facing a 3-1 series deficit coming into today's game.

When Danny Briere scored on a power play at 4:06 of the second period for a 3-0 lead, the Flyers looked golden. When Dan Carcillo pummeled Talbot on the next shift, this game looked like a sure victory and a Game 7 date in Pittsburgh was on the docket for Monday.

But Pittsburgh did not go meekly into the sweet summerlike afternoon. Fourteen seconds after the fight and 29 seconds after Briere's goal, Ruslan Fedetenko scored to cut the Flyers' lead to 3-1. A full-blown scrum ensued to the side of the Flyers' net. This wasn't playoff hockey, this was old-school hockey.

The Penguins' Mark Eaton converted a two-on-one break at 6:32 to cut the Flyers' lead to 3-2. The breakout occurred on a missed Flyers' offensive connection. Crosby soon tied the score.

"We had to keep doing what we were doing," said Jeff Carter, who scored a team-high 46 goals during the regular season but only one goal in six playoff games. "We were getting in on their [defense], turning pucks over. Everybody came into the playoffs confident. One goal, that's not good enough."

For a game that meant everything to the Flyers, they started slowly. The Penguins controlled play early, with puck control and stick-to-stick passes. The Pens seemed to have their skating legs in full gear and kept the Flyers on the chase. The Flyers looked tentative - squeezing the stick as they say – and could sustain no offense. Their rushes up ice with the puck possession were limited and unthreatening.

In a sport where the first goal can set the game's tone and often can sway the outcome, if the Flyers hoped for momentum carryover from Game 5, their early play didn't show it.

When the Flyers hit the ice surface at 2:39 p.m., the stands looked about one-third full. Flyers fans, orange-clad and golden-voiced, made up for their later-arriving brethren. They roared in delight for a team that even the most faithful weren't sure would even be here, having to overcome a Game 5 in Pittsburgh.

This level of noise, a half-hour ahead of the faceoff, was an indication of what was to follow. If the Flyers' season were to end today, it wasn't going to get pinned on the fans. They take their most intimidating fans label seriously and were determined to let the Penguins know it.

Despite their series deficit going into today, it was hard not to notice the Flyers have arguably outplayed the Penguins in every game since Game 1. Pittsburgh might even admit that, grudgingly. The Flyers have used their play to confidently fuel a belief that they can overcome history, and steep mathematical odds. Only 20 of 229 teams have overcome a 3-1 series advantage to advance to the next round.

And with a strong defensive game in Game 5, and Biron's shutout goaltending, the Flyers could see a way out, a way to a Game 7 and all its possibilities.

Instead, history had to wait.