| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Welcome to Philly, Dominik Hasek. As you can see, things are pretty hectic.
The Philadelphia Flyers, feeding off turmoil and distractions, gave Hasek a little taste of the pressure-cooker Thursday night. They bombarded him with 30 shots and beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on Simon Gagne's third-period goal.
|  | | Philadelphia's Keith Primeau got a big kick out of Simon Gagne's winning goal. Primeau assisted on the play. |
The Dominator, the arch enemy of any playoff opponent, was left shaking his head and muttering to himself after the dizzying scramble that led to Gagne's tiebreaking goal.
"Maybe I'm a little surprised," said Keith Primeau, who assisted on Gagne's winning goal. "You're not going to score three goals against Dominik every night."
Hasek might have looked a little shaken. Despite all they've been through, the Flyers didn't appear rattled at all.
Coach Roger Neilson, recovering from multiple myeloma, watched from a box in the balcony while interim coach Craig Ramsay ran the team from behind the bench. Former captain Eric Lindros, out with a concussion, was nowhere to be seen.
The Flyers carried on mighty fine without him.
"We have a good group, and we liked our team," Ramsay said. "It just happened to build throughout the season. Just making the stretch run, having a little fun with that was a big factor."
Fun? The Flyers lost their coach to cancer treatment and their best player to a concussion and perhaps his final clash with Flyers management. They seemed like a team on a mission Thursday night.
And their momentum is even more important in this series, because the teams play again Friday night.
"You cannot afford to lose the second one," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said.
Rookie Brian Boucher, chosen by Ramsay to be Philadelphia's playoff starter over John Vanbiesbrouck, faced only 20 shots but came up with some clutch saves. Keith Jones and Daymond Langkow gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead in the first period, a rare early lead against Hasek.
"I think we all knew with Hasek in there, that doesn't happen very often," Boucher said. "It's good to get that start."
Stu Barnes and Miroslav Satan got Hasek a reprieve with second-period goals to tie it at 2, but the Flyers kept charging at Hasek and peppering him with shots from all angles until he gave in again.
"If you get enough shots, you're going to get some by him," Langkow said. "He's a veteran goaltender with a lot of experience, so I don't think he's rattled."
The Flyers, who failed to score on their last 25 power-play chances in the regular season, were 2-for-6 Thursday night.
Philadelphia defenseman Chris Therien, who has the best slap shot on the team, left the game with a sprained shoulder. His status for Game 2 was uncertain. Buffalo forward Doug Gilmour, stricken with a serious stomach virus, played 17 shifts for about 13 minutes and wasn't much of a factor.
"I feel a little tired right now," Gilmour said. "It was tough at first, but I felt better as the game went on."
With the score tied at 2, John LeClair blasted a slap shot from the left circle that deflected off a Sabres player and to Gagne, who took a swipe at it. Primeau, who lost his helmet, took a whack that was stopped by Hasek. The puck bounced out to Gagne, who poked it past a sprawling Hasek for a 3-2 lead with 14:27 left.
"There was a small hole between the post and my legs," said Hasek, who allowed more than two goals only once in the final 10 games of the season. "He got the puck exactly into the small hole."
The Flyers seized the all-important early momentum, pinning the Sabres back and closing around Hasek with the pressure of a vise. With 5:04 left in the first period, at 7:38 p.m., the Flyers solved
The Dominator.
Eric Desjardins wound up for a shot from the point that was deflected, and Langkow picked it up and sent it back toward the net. Jones deflected Langkow's shot past Hasek to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.
Rick Tocchet took a holding penalty with 1:58 left, giving Buffalo a chance to tie it with a late power-play goal after getting outplayed most of the first period. But Langkow came out of nowhere at center ice, slipped behind the defense just inside the blue line and took a pass from Desjardins for a breakaway.
Langkow switched from backhand-to-forehand-to-backhand and lifted the puck into the top of the net with a quickness usually reserved for Hasek. Neilson, watching from the balcony level in a box next to general manager Bob Clarke's, clapped effusively while watching the replay on TV.
The short-handed goal with 7.5 seconds left gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead and could have been devastating for Buffalo.
"Obviously, we didn't want to get down 2-0," Barnes said. "Obviously, we did."
| |
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Buffalo Clubhouse
Philadelphia Clubhouse
Flyers: Life goes on without old leadership
RECAPS
Philadelphia 3
Buffalo 2
Detroit 2
Los Angeles 0
New Jersey 4
Florida 3
Pittsburgh 7
Washington 0
Dallas 3
Edmonton 0
Colorado 6
Phoenix 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Simon Gagne scores the game-winner.
avi: 640 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Stu Barnes fires a shot past Brian Boucher and scores.
avi: 557 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Daymond Langkow beats Dominik Hasek for the short-handed goal.
avi: 661 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Miroslav Satan scores on the tough angle.
avi: 747 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Flyers goalie Brian Boucher felt comfortable in his first playoff appearance.
wav: 151 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|
