By: Jeff Playdon | Follow me on Twitter @PlaydonJeff
After dominating Philadelphia in Game one, the Bruins looked to carry momentum into Game two and put a stranglehold on Philadelphia. There were numerous positives to take away from Game one for Boston, like David Krejci and Brad Marchand getting hot at the right time, Tim Thomas dominating between the pipes, and Boston’s penalty kill units. However, Boston still had some kinks to work out, mostly their powerplay struggles.
Boston was 0-26 on powerplays in the playoffs up to this point. Philadelphia was most likely going to be a different team than Game one, so Boston’s powerplays would have to step up. Healthy scratches for Boston were Tyler Seguin and Shane Hnidy. Philadelphia was without Danny Syvret. Despite getting pulled in Game one, Philadelphia would stick with Brian Boucher to get the start in net. Tim Thomas would lead the charge in net for Boston.
High Octane First Period
Game two was underway, and Philly was already playing like a different team than they showed Boston in Game one. Just 29 seconds into Game two, Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk broke out on a 2-on-1 breakaway, Giroux sliced a pass to Riemsdyk, and Riemsdyk netted the goal. It was an early 1-0 Philly lead, and Wells Fargo Center was electric. Philly’s early momentum wouldn’t stop there as they proceeded to fire shots on Thomas and make him work. It was still a 1-0 Flyer lead. Just before the halfway mark of the first period, Philadelphia made it 2-0. While on the powerplay, James van Riemsdyk was able to score his second goal of the game. Philadelphia was rolling.
Just when it looked like the Flyers were not going to give the Bruins any room to get going, Chris Kelly connected on his fourth goal of the playoffs to halve the Flyer lead at 12:50. Rich Peverley left a drop pass for Tomas Kaberle in the middle of the Flyer zone, and Kaberle flung a wrister at Boucher. Both Michael Ryder and Kelly crashed the net for the rebound, and Kelly pounded it in. 1:25 later, the Bruins would score again to tie the game. Bergeron fished the puck out of the right corner of the Flyer zone and, after a quick look, sent a pass to Marchand at the top of the high slot.
Marchand snapped his fourth goal of the playoffs past Boucher, and it was 2-2. The last six minutes of the period went by, and it was 2-2 going into the first intermission. After having a shaky first half of a period, the Bruins were able to turn things around and score two goals in the second half of the period. Boston had one powerplay opportunity in the period, but they couldn’t convert, bringing their dismal total to 0-27 on powerplays in the playoffs.
Scoreless Second Period
Second-period action was underway, and Boston carried the momentum over from the first. At the start of the period, the Bruins were able to stay in the Flyers zone for 1:30 getting quality shots on Boucher. At the 11:01 mark, Brian Boucher was getting pulled for Sergei Bobrovsky. Boucher appeared to have injured his hand after a Johnny Boychuk slap shot. Between both teams getting their fair share of shots on net, not many actions are happening in this period, unlike the first.
With 2:14 remaining in the period, the save of the game occurred. Van Riemsdyk broke down the right side, but Chris Kelly was able to stay with him. Van Riemsdyk managed to get a one-handed pass across the crease, but Thomas slid across to get a right pad on Nikolay Zherdev’s one-timer at the left post. David Krejci responded with a chance of his own when he clanged the left post off a flaming wrist shot. With 1:33 remaining in the period, Scott Hartnell was called for slashing, and the Bruins looked to convert on the powerplay finally. The Bruins couldn’t convert in the first 1:33 of the powerplay, but they would start the third with 27 seconds left on the powerplay.
Flyers Put the Pressure on Tim Thomas
The last 20 minutes of regulation were underway, and Brian Boucher returned to the net for the Flyers. The remaining 27 seconds on the Bruins powerplay came and went, and the Bruins were now 0-28 on powerplays. Philadelphia would get an early chance to take a 3-2 lead when Marchand was whistled for cross-checking. It was Philly’s third powerplay opportunity of the game. Boston killed off the penalty, and the period went on. The action was picking up in the third as both teams were hitting harder. Throughout the first 13 minutes of the third period, the Flyers were hammering shots on Tim Thomas with 16 shots. A couple of those shots were from Flyer breakaways, but Tim Thomas continued his dominating performance.
With 5:40 remaining in regulation, Boucher denied the Bruin’s best chance of the last 10 minutes, making a glove save on Nathan Horton’s one-timer, a 5-foot shot off a feed from Milan Lucic. Still a 2-2 tie. With 2:39 left in a tie game, Chara was called for roughing on Danny Briere, and the Flyers had their fourth power play of the game. A couple of shots on the powerplay for Philly didn’t get by Thomas, and there 39 seconds left in the game. In the last second of the period, Thomas saved the Bruins with a right pad save. James van Riemsdyk’s spinning shot went to the right of Thomas, and Briere couldn’t get to the rebound. Game two was going to Overtime.
David Krejci Wins Game Two in Overtime
Just like the third period, the Flyers were all over the Bruins in Overtime. Philadelphia was able to get seven shots on the net in the first 6:30, Thomas wasn’t letting anything by him. Seconds later, Zdeno Chara was sent to the locker with an apparent injury. The injury couldn’t have been too serious as he returned to the bench a minute later. The Flyers had 53 shots on net in the game just past the halfway mark, compared to Boston, where they only had 39 shots.
Despite what the shot totals showed, David Krejci would put Boston on his back and win it in Overtime. Krejci’s wrist shot tipped Boucher’s glove and hit the back of the net and out, so it appeared the puck never actually went in, and the red light never came on. When the play stopped, the officials went to review, and Krejci’s shot did, in fact, go in. The Flyers fans were not happy with the call, but the referee had made the right call.
The Bruins had won Game two and were taking a 2-0 lead back to Boston. The three stars of the game were Tim Thomas (52 saves on 54 shots), James van Riemsdyk (two goals), and David Krejci (game-winning goal). The series would resume at T.D Garden on May 4th.
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