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Boston 2, Philadelphia 1
The Boston Bruins nailed down the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and completed their biggest single-season turnaround in 30 years with a 2-1 triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Under first-year coach Pat Burns, the Bruins went 39-30-13 for 91 points, 30 more than in 1996-97 when they missed the playoffs for the first time in three decades. It was the biggest one-year reversal in Boston since 1967-68, when the Bruins amassed 40 points more than the previous season in Bobby Orr's second year in the NHL.
In the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Boston will face the Washington Capitals, a team that features three former Bruins.
By losing for the third time in four games, the Flyers ensured a first-round playoff matchup with Dominik Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres.
Steve Heinze and rookie Sergei Samsonov scored for the Bruins and Byron Dafoe made 26 saves. Boston went undefeated against Philadelphia (3-0-1) for the first time since 1989-90.
Heinze extended his goal-scoring streak to five games with a power-play tally late in the first period. Jason Allison centered from behind the net and Heinze beat goaltender Sean Burke to the far side for his 26th of the season and ninth on the power play.
Boston outshot the Flyers in the first period, 15-3, before Philadelphia turned it around in the second with 15 shots.
Samsonov, who led all rookies with 22 goals, made it 2-0 just 1:47 into the third period. He took a pass from Dimitri Khristich at the right faceoff circle and beat Burke high with a wrist shot for his first goal since a hat trick against the New York Islanders on April 9th.
Chris Gratton spoiled Dafoe's shutout bid with a power-play goal at 8:38, putting a slap shot from the left point between the goalie's pads for his 22nd of the season.
Boston improved to 31-1-4 when leading after two periods and 10-9 in one-goal games. The Flyers fell to 3-21-2 when trailing after two and 14-15 in one-goal decisions.
-----------------------------
Philadelphia 0 0 1--1
Boston 1 0 1--2
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Boston, Heinze 26 (power play) (Allison,
Ledyard), 17:36. Penalties: Otto, Phi (fighting major, game misconduct),
5:29; Lacroix, Phi (slashing, fighting major), 5:29; Ellett, Bos (fighting
major, game misconduct), 5:29; Baumgartner, Bos (slashing, fighting
major), 5:29; Lindros, Phi served by Podein (instigator, fighting major,
misconduct), 5:41; Taylor, Bos (fighting major), 5:41; Svoboda, Phi
(roughing), 16:16; Mcgillis, Phi (tripping), 19:53.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Desjardins, Phi (tripping),
5:08; K Mclaren, Bos (interference), 6:51; Heinze, Bos (Obstr hooking),
10:37; Van Impe, Bos (closing hand on puck), 17:54.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Boston, Samsonov 22 (Khristich, K Mclaren),
1:47. 3, Philadelphia, Gratton 22 (power play) (Desjardins), 8:38.
Penalties: Gill, Bos (Obstr holding), 7:09; Mcgillis, Phi (hooking),
10:45; Mcgillis, Phi (holding stick, roughing), 19:48.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Philadelphia 3 15 9--27
Boston 15 11 13--39
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Phi - 1 of 4, Bos - 1 of 6. Goalies:
Philadelphia, Burke (39 shots, 37 saves; record: 16-23-9). Boston, Dafoe
(27, 26; record: 30-25-9). A:17,565. Referee: S Walkom. Linesmen:
Collins, Kovachik.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Philadelphia Boston
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Daigle 0 0 even 1 A Carter 0 0 even 5
Desjardins 0 1 even 2 Allison 0 1 +1 4
Forbes 0 0 even 0 Axelsson 0 0 even 2
Gratton 1 0 -1 2 Baumgartner 0 0 even 0
Klatt 0 0 -1 2 Bourque 0 0 even 5
Lacroix 0 0 even 1 Dimaio 0 0 even 1
Leclair 0 0 even 2 Donato 0 0 even 2
Lindros 0 0 even 3 Ellett 0 0 even 0
Mcgillis 0 0 -1 2 Gill 0 0 even 0
Otto 0 0 even 0 Heinze 1 0 even 6
Podein 0 0 even 3 K Mclaren 0 1 +1 1
R Brindamour 0 0 -1 1 Khristich 0 1 +1 5
Richardson 0 0 even 0 Ledyard 0 1 even 3
Samuelsson 0 0 even 0 Samsonov 1 0 +1 3
Sillinger 0 0 even 2 Sullivan 0 0 even 0
Svoboda 0 0 even 0 Taylor 0 0 even 1
Therien 0 0 -1 3 Thornton 0 0 even 0
Zubrus 0 0 even 3 Van Impe 0 0 +1 1
Kordic Healthy Wilson Abdominal
Joseph Healthy Mann Healthy
Druce Healthy D Malkoc Healthy
Coffey Healthy Prpic Healthy
NY Rangers 2, Philadelphia 1
Mike Richter stopped 31 shots for his second win in a month and Adam Graves and Alexei Kovalev scored first-period goals as the New York Rangers closed their season by winning their second straight, 2-1 over the playoff-bound Philadelphia Flyers.
Richter stopped six shots in the third period to preserve the victory, his first in two weeks and second since March 18th, but kept New York in the contest with 14 saves in the second, when the Rangers were outshot, 15-3. New York did not register its first second-period shot until the 11:37 mark.
"They're a team that can hold you in the zone well," Richter explained.
"We played real well ... and got the two-goal lead," said New York coach John Muckler. "They came at us awfully strong in the second period."
Richter made four incredible saves in a 73-second span late in the second, stopping a pair of one-timers from Paul Coffey and Trent Klatt and Shjon Podein's turnaround shot in front. Richter denied Chris Therien, who split the New York defense, with 20 seconds left.
"It was an annoying game," said Philadelphia coach Roger Nielson. "I don't think we had much emotion in the frst period and in the second period we really played well and only had one goal to show for it."
A Philadelphia-area native, Richter may have played his final game for the Rangers. He becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
"It's not a matter of me wanting to go there," said Richter, when asked if he might sign with the Flyers in the offseason. "It's a matter of them wanting me. So, that's far down the road and something at this point you can't really affect too much."
New York, which will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1992-93, claimed consecutive victories for just the fourth time this season. The Rangers won a season-high three straight in mid-November and finished with their lowest point total in a non-strike season since the 1984-85 campaign, when they totaled just 62 points, six less than this season.
"It's a little bit odd knowing that after 60 minutes the season's done," Richter added. "So you might as well end on a good note and try to play well."
Despite the loss, the Flyers enter next week's playoffs as the third seed in the Eastern Conference and will play one of four teams jockeying for postseason position. Philadelphia closes the regular season Sunday at Boston in a possible first-round preview.
"If we play solid, we can give ourselves a good chance to get through the first round," said Philadelphia captain Eric Lindros. "And if we get through that we can focus on the next one."
"We're doing a lot of things we want to do," said Nielson of hs team, heading into the playoffs. "Special teams have been really good lately. Our goalkeeping has been pretty sharp and we've been doing a better job at keeping our goal against down over the last 10 games."
The Flyers have allowed 21 goals in their last 10 games.
"Whoever we play (in the playoffs), it's going to be tough," Nielson added. "We'd just as soon it not be (Buffalo goaltender Dominik) Hasek."
Graves' 19th goal, a power-play tally with six seconds left in the second period, gave New York a 2-0 lead. Brian Leetch's slap shot from the left point deflected off Graves in the slot and beat goaltender Ron Hextall low to the glove side.
Kovalev, the Rangers' best player over the final month of the season, notched his 23rd goal 6:39 into the game to open the scoring. He skated toward the net from the right corner, threw the puck at Hextall and buried his own rebound past the sprawling goalie. Kovalev had 12 goals and eight assists in his last 16 games.
Dainius Zubrus scored the Flyers' lone goal and his first since March 29th, at 9:26 of the second, cutting New York's lead to 2-1.
Lindros added an assist on the goal, giving him two goals and two assists in three games since his return from a concussion, which forced him to miss a month.
"We just didn't go at them in the third period," Lindros said. "We had a good second period and gave ourselves a chance to get back in this game. For one reason or another, we didn;t get it done."
Hextall stopped 19 shots for the Flyers, who have alternated wins and losses in their last eight games.
"You're always a little apprehensive going into the playoffs, especially in our conference, where anybody could win," Nielson added. "It's a nervous time. That's the way it should be."
-----------------------------
NY Rangers 2 0 0--2
Philadelphia 0 1 0--1
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, NY Rangers, Kovalev 23 (Gretzky, Beukeboom),
6:39. 2, NY Rangers, Graves 23 (power play) (Leetch, Stevens), 19:54.
Penalties: Kovalev, Nyr (Obstr hooking), 0:11; Therien, Phi (hooking),
18:47.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Philadelphia, Zubrus 8 (Leclair, Lindros),
9:26. Penalties: Graves, Nyr (Obstr holding), 1:25; Therien, Phi
(interference), 6:19.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Cairns, Nyr (misconduct),
7:19; Stock, Nyr (slashing), 9:25.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
NY Rangers 10 3 8--21
Philadelphia 11 15 6--32
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Nyr - 1 of 2, Phi - 0 of 3. Goalies: NY
Rangers, Richter (32 shots, 31 saves; record: 21-31-15). Philadelphia,
Hextall (21, 19; record: 21-17-7). A:19,691. Referee: Jackson. Linesmen:
Champoux, Kovachik.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
NY Rangers Philadelphia
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Berg 0 0 -1 1 Coffey 0 0 +1 1
Beukeboom 0 1 +1 1 Daigle 0 0 even 1
Cairns 0 0 even 0 Desjardins 0 0 -1 2
Driver 0 0 even 0 Forbes 0 0 even 2
Errey 0 0 -1 1 Gratton 0 0 even 2
Finley 0 0 -1 0 Klatt 0 0 -1 5
G Smith 0 0 -1 1 Lacroix 0 0 even 1
Goneau 0 0 even 0 Leclair 0 1 even 4
Graves 1 0 +1 4 Lindros 0 1 even 3
Gretzky 0 1 +1 3 Mcgillis 0 0 even 1
Kovalev 1 0 +1 3 Otto 0 0 even 0
Langdon 0 0 even 1 Podein 0 0 even 1
Leetch 0 1 +1 1 R Brindamour 0 0 even 3
Lindbom 0 0 even 0 Richardson 0 0 +1 0
Samuelsson 0 0 even 0 Sillinger 0 0 even 0
Stevens 0 1 even 2 Svoboda 0 0 even 1
Stock 0 0 -1 1 Therien 0 0 -1 3
Sundstrom 0 0 even 2 Zubrus 1 0 +1 2
Lidster Healthy Kordic Healthy
Lafontaine Concussion Joseph Healthy
Karpovtsev Wrist Injury Samuelsson Healthy
York Shoulder Babych Foot Injury
Sweeney Shoulder
Philadelphia 7 Florida 3
John LeClair had a goal and a career-high four assists and Eric Lindros had two goals and an assist to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 7-3 romp over the Florida Panthers, who played their final game at Miami Arena.
LeClair's 51st goal pulled him within one of Aneheim's Teemu Selanne for the NHL lead and gave the Flyers a 5-3 advantage with eight minutes remaining. LeClair took a pass from Lindros and ripped a slap shot past goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck from the left faceoff circle.
"It was a fairly physical game and we have to play that way because we're big," said Philadelphia coach Roger Neilson, who coached the Panthers in their inaugural season of 1993-94. "The ice was pretty tough tonight but I thought we played the physical type of game we're going to need for the playoffs."
LeClair then assisted on Chris Gratton's empty-net tally that gave the Flyers a 6-3 bulge with 48 seconds to go. Vanbiesbrouck returned to the net and Rod Brind'Amour scored his 36th goal off a 2-on-none with LeClair with four seconds to go.
"Eric set the tempo, he had an outstanding game and we just followed," LeClair said. "Our power play was the big difference and we came up big and our penalty killing did an outstanding job. This was a special teams game and we won it."
Sean Burke made 33 saves for the Flyers, who are locked into the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Trent Klatt had two goals and an assist for Philadelphia, which converted three of eight power-play chances. The Flyers killed all eight of Florida's power plays, including a five-minute elbowing major on Daniel McGillis with just over seven minutes left in the first.
Vanbiesbrouck, who is free agent at the end of the season, replaced Kirk McLean at the start of the third period. He allowed two goals on 10 shots. The Panthers finished 81-78-29 at Miami Arena, their home since entering the NHL in 1993. They will play in a new arena in Broward County next season.
"I went to Beezer for two reasons," said Florida coach Terry Murray. "One for the emotion, that the way the fans were going to react would give us a lift. And two, I didn't think Kirk deserved to hear the chants of `Beezer' all third period."
The Panthers honored the players that have been with the team all five seasons at the end of the game and Vanbiesbrouck received a standing ovation. Florida lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Finals in the 1995-96 season.
"The support we get from the fans, it's just great," Vanbiesbrouck said. "It's hard to think about this as a game sometimes cause everybody thinks it's a business and I'm just a kid playing. A chapter is closed at the Miami Arena. It's been a special, special place. We were just a bunch of guys not expected to do much and we accomplished what most people will give their right arm for. I will cherish every monent. I've been thinking about this for a while and it's about the people who come to the arena and not the building itself.
The Flyers had a power play when Lindros opened the scoring with his 29th goal, 4:40 into the game. McLean made a pad save on Klatt's shot but Lindros buried the rebound from the left circle. Dave Gagner's 20th goal tied the game, 55 seconds later.
Just under four minutes into the second period, Lindros gave the Flyers a 2-1 edge as he beat McLean to the stick side from the right circle. Klatt's 24th goal, another power-play tally, made it 3-1 at 8:24 of the second.
Ray Whitney's team-leading 33rd goal pulled the Panthers within 3-2 at 9:55 of the second. The Flyers regained a two-goal lead on Chris Therien's third goal of the season with 7:59 left in the second.
The Flyers had another power play when Viktor Kozlov scored his 17th goal, cutting the deficit to 4-3 at 6:05 of the third.
----------------------------- Philadelphia 1 3 3--7 Florida 1 1 1--3 ----------------------------- FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Philadelphia, Lindros 29 (power play) (Klatt, R Brindamour), 4:40. 2, Florida, Gagner 20 (Whitney, Nemirovsky), 5:35. Penalties: Kozlov, Fla (interference), 4:30; Jovanovski, Fla (hooking), 7:47; Mellanby, Fla (misconduct), 7:47; Zubrus, Phi (tripping), 9:54; Therien, Phi (holding), 12:33; Mcgillis, Phi (elbowing major, game misconduct), 12:52; R Brindamour, Phi (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:17; Warrener, Fla (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:17; Lindros, Phi (high sticking), 20:00. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Philadelphia, Lindros 30 (power play) (Leclair, Desjardins), 3:56. 4, Philadelphia, Klatt 14 (power play) (Desjardins, Leclair), 8:24. 5, Florida, Whitney 33 (Gagner, Nemirovsky), 9:55. 6, Philadelphia, Therien 3 (Svoboda, Gratton), 12:01. Penalties: Mellanby, Fla (Obstr holding), 2:54; Eakins, Fla (Obstr hooking), 7:23; Team, Fla served by Whitney (Delay of game), 9:55; R Svehla, Fla (misconduct), 12:01; Forbes, Phi (Obstr hooking), 12:22; Jovanovski, Fla (holding), 16:11; Gratton, Phi (Obstr hooking), 19:20. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 7, Florida, Kozlov 17 (shorthanded) (R Dvorak, Murphy), 6:05. 8, Philadelphia, Leclair 51 (Lindros), 12:00. 9, Philadelphia, Gratton 21 (empty net) (Leclair, Klatt), 19:12. 10, Philadelphia, R Brindamour 36 (Leclair), 19:56. Penalties: Gratton, Phi (elbowing), 1:58; Kordic, Phi (fighting major), 5:18; Laus, Fla (fighting major), 5:18; Worrell, Fla (Obstr hooking), 5:46; R Brindamour, Phi (slashing), 8:43; Svoboda, Phi (misconduct, game misconduct), 9:53; Warrener, Fla (interference), 15:47; Lindros, Phi (roughing), 16:47; Jovanovski, Fla (roughing), 16:47. Shots on goal: --------------------------------- Philadelphia 10 8 11--29 Florida 17 11 8--36 --------------------------------- Power-play Conversions: Phi - 3 of 8, Fla - 0 of 8. Goalies: Philadelphia, Burke (36 shots, 33 saves; record: 16-22-9). Florida, Mclean (18, 14; record: 14-21-5), Vanbiesbrouck (start of 3rd, 10, 8). A:14,703. Referee: S Walkom. Linesmen: Morin, Murphy.
Dominik Hasek put on another spectacular goaltending display with 30 saves and Michal Grosek scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period as the Buffalo Sabres spoiled Eric Lindros' return with a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Hasek stopped 27 shots over the first two periods and defeated Philadelphia for the first time in four meetings this season. He was at his best in the second period, when he turned aside all 14 shots to keep the game tied, 1-1.
John LeClair scored on the power play in the first period for the Flyers, becoming the first American-born player in NHL history to record three 50-goal seasons. Lindros returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a concussion in a March 7th loss at Pittsburgh. But he, like most of his teammates, was continually frustrated by Hasek.
With 12:31 left in the second period, Hasek denied Lindros on a breakaway and managed to stop LeClair's rebound.
"I went to go five-hole and I missed the spot," Lindros said. "He really wants a guy to hit him with a puck. He really covered up the net well, gotta give him credit."
Two minutes later, Hasek robbed Rod Brind'Amour from point-blank range and, with 8 1/2 minutes to go, rejected Colin Forbes at the end of a 2-on-1 shorthanded break.
The save of the game came with just over seven minutes to play in the second when Hasek was caught out of the net without a stick but dove to his right and got his blocker on Trent Klatt's shot.
"He does it every single night," Klatt said. "It's an unorthodox style, but you've got to tip your hat to him because he does it every night. It works. You really don't know how to read him. It seems like he covers everything. It's not like you can say, `Hold your shot and go high,' he's just everywhere. The only thing you can do is shoot when he doesn't expect it or give it to Johnny and let him blow one in."
Hasek made a flurry of stops a minute later, denying Mike Sillinger, Chris Therien and LeClair in rapid succession.
"It definitely leaves their team shaking their heads, the feeling that it's going to be frustrating scoring against this guy," Ruff said.
Buffalo remained fourth in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Boston and two in front of Washington. The Sabres trail first-place Pittsburgh by four points in the Northeast Division with three games to play.
"They had the best of us the first two periods, but we really beared down in the third," said Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff. "We played responsible and got a break and scored the goal. It was a big effort for four games in six nights."
The Flyers went without a shot in the third period until just under six minutes remaining, but Hasek protected the lead with a stick save on Dainius' Zubrus' backhanded rebound with 18 seconds left.
"We had a chance to take the game over, but we didn't put them in the net," Lindros said. "(We) can't go home tonight, sit there and say we got beat by a goalie. We played a great game, but our third period was not up to par with our previous two, and we took a lot of penalties. We had four or five in the third and we've got to give ourselves a chance to win."
LeClair became the second player in Philadelphia history to record three 50-goal seasons when he fired a blast past Hasek from the right faceoff circle on the power play with 5:31 left in the opening period. Tim Kerr posted four straight 50-goal seasons from 1984-1987.
Buffalo tied it on Curtis Brown's shorthanded goal with six seconds to go in the period. He came down the right wing on a 2-on-1 but held the puck as he drifted to the faceoff circle and flipped a wrist shot that beat Ron Hextall low to the glove side.
"It's kind of a weird situation," Brown said. "I knew the time was running out in the first period and I knew we were on a 2-on-1. The ice wasn't real good at that time. I was just trying to settle (the puck) down. There's not a whole lot of time, just let a quick snapper (go). Luckily, it caught short side."
Grosek broke the tie 2:25 into the third period. He took a pass from Jason Woolley at the edge of the left circle, spun and snapped a shot that trickled between the pads of Hextall, who made 22 saves but fell to 0-5-1 in his last six decisions.
"I got a good pass from Jason Woolley and I turned around. I wanted to go top-shelf and I hit his arm and went into the net. It was a lucky goal," Grosek said.
-----------------------------
Philadelphia 1 0 0--1
Buffalo 1 0 1--2
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Philadelphia, Leclair 50 (power play)
(Svoboda), 14:29. 2, Buffalo, Brown 12 (shorthanded) (Smehlik, B
Holzinger), 19:54. Penalties: Kruse, Buf (Goali int), 5:54; Sillinger, Phi
(Obstr holding), 10:04; Barnaby, Buf (roughing), 13:26; B Holzinger, Buf
(hooking), 15:42; Barnaby, Buf (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:36.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Therien, Phi (interference),
4:54; Therien, Phi (closing hand on puck), 10:01; Lindros, Phi (high
sticking), 13:06; Zhitnik, Buf (slashing), 13:06; Barnaby, Buf (elbowing),
14:57.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Buffalo, Grosek 10 (Woolley), 2:25.
Penalties: Kordic, Phi (interference), 3:22; Mcgillis, Phi (holding),
5:34; Philadelphia bench, served by Zubrus (too many men on the ice),
8:51; Gratton, Phi (high sticking), 16:45; Sanderson, Buf (Obstr hooking),
17:59.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Philadelphia 14 14 3--31
Buffalo 8 4 12--24
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Phi - 1 of 7, Buf - 0 of 7. Goalies:
Philadelphia, Hextall (24 shots, 22 saves; record: 21-16-7). Buffalo,
Hasek (31, 30; record: 33-23-12). A:18,004. Referee: Roberts. Linesmen:
Cameron, Lazarowich.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Philadelphia Buffalo
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Daigle 0 0 -2 0 Audette 0 0 even 3
Desjardins 0 0 -1 1 B Holzinger 0 1 +1 0
Forbes 0 0 even 0 Barnaby 0 0 +1 0
Gratton 0 0 -2 2 Boughner 0 0 +1 0
Klatt 0 0 even 4 Brown 1 0 +2 1
Kordic 0 0 even 0 Grosek 1 0 +1 3
Leclair 1 0 even 6 Kruse 0 0 even 2
Lindros 0 0 even 4 Peca 0 0 even 2
Mcgillis 0 0 -1 3 Primeau 0 0 even 0
Otto 0 0 even 0 Ray 0 0 even 0
Podein 0 0 even 1 Sanderson 0 0 even 2
R Brindamour 0 0 even 3 Shannon 0 0 even 0
Richardson 0 0 even 0 Smehlik 0 1 +1 1
Samuelsson 0 0 even 0 Varada 0 0 even 0
Sillinger 0 0 -2 2 Ward 0 0 even 2
Svoboda 0 1 -1 1 Wilson 0 0 even 0
Therien 0 0 -1 1 Woolley 0 1 +1 4
Zubrus 0 0 even 3 Zhitnik 0 0 +1 4
Joseph Healthy Plante Healthy
Druce Healthy Mckee Healthy
Coffey Healthy Satan Healthy
Lacroix Eye Injury
Babych Foot Injury