The Broad Street Blog

In some games, the bounces seem to go your way, and in others they don’t. That’s one way you could describe the first game in the second round match up between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Montreal Canadiens.

Early in the first period, Montreal would have some excellent chances, however, the bounces didn’t go their way. One shot went through Martin Biron’s five hole, but the hit post and bounced away from the net. Shortly after that, another shot would get behind Biron, but hit the post as well. The bounces were going the Flyers way early in the game.

On a rush into the Montreal zone, RJ Umberger would try to pass to the front of the net to find Patrick Thoresen, but Patrice Brisebois made a perfect deflection and it would never get to Thoresen. The bad thing for Brisebois, the puck deflected right into his own net. Umberger was credited with the goal.

The fourth line for the Flyers got it done. They completely pressured the Canadiens and kept the puck in the Montreal zone. They completely out-muscled and out-hustled the Canadiens. The result was a goal by Jim Dowd. Prior to the goal, the crowd was loud and into the game. It was silenced by the goal.

The Flyers controlled the pace of play throughout the first half of the game. However, the top seeded Canadiens would not go away quietly.

Andrei Kostitsyn was awarded a penalty shot after he was tripped up on a breakaway. Martin Biron stood tall and stoned him on that shot. However, Kostitsyn would not be denied. Not much later, he would fire the puck behind Biron to get the first Canadiens goal of the night, and his 4th of the playoffs.

During a Flyers power play, the aggressive penalty killing by the Canadiens would lead to a shorthanded goal. The goal, however, scored by Alex Kovalev was hit with a high stick, but it was allowed it anyway. It was clearly a high stick, as you could see the blade of his stick hit the crossbar as it came down after deflecting the puck into the net. The officials reviewing the play decided the replay was not conclusive enough to overturn the original call that it was a goal. This tied the game at two.

The Flyers started the third period with power play time that carried over from the second period. The Flyers would regain the lead on a goal from Joffrey Lupul, his second of the playoffs.

The intensity of the game picked up as the game went on. There were big hits delivered by both teams. The Canadiens continued pressure, but the Flyers were up to the task of stopping them. When the defense would break down, Martin Biron was there to make the save.

What would ultimately decide the game was a penalty on Mike Richards for kneeing Alex Kovalev with a minute left in the game. This thing about this call was that Richards cleanly hit Kovalev with his shoulder, there was no contact with his knee. As Richards sat in the penalty box, the Montreal fans showed just how classy they are. He became the target of the Montreal crowd’s drinks.

The Canadiens would pull their goaltender to give themselves a 2 man advantage. On the ensuing face off, Saku Koivu would break Jeff Carter’s stick, and Kovalev would pick up the loose puck and put it behind Biron to tie the game.

In the overtime session, the Flyers would get the first chance, but the Canadiens would come up ice and Tom Kostopoulos would score to win it for the Canadiens. This was a tough loss to swallow for the Flyers. They were up by two, only to the Canadiens chip away at that, as well as get a few bounces their way late in the game.

Highlights

Game Summary
Box Score

Tags:   Biron · canadiens · Flyers · Kostitsyn · Kovalev · Lupul · Montreal · RichardsNo Comments