Flyers Win Game 3 in Buffalo

http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2010030123

Even as the Philadelphia Flyers were in Buffalo to face the Sabres in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, chants of "Boosh" could be heard all the way back to Philly. Flyers coach, Peter Laviolette decided to put the veteran, Brian Boucher in net for Game 3. He relieved rookie, Sergei Bobrovsky after he let in 3 goals on 7 shots in the first period of Game 2. The decision proved to be a great one, as Boucher stopped 35 of 37 to help the Flyers defeat the Sabres, 4 to 2.

The Flyers entered a hostile Buffalo crowd on Monday night with the series tied at one game a piece. Jeff Carter got a lucky bounce off of a Buffalo defender to open the scoring in the first period. It was his first tally of the post-season. This goal was an important one for two reasons. One, it came on the power-play, an area of concern for the Flyers as they entered the play-offs. And two, it is always good for the road team to get the first goal of the game to take the home crowd out of it. Later in the period, Drew Stafford of the Sabres, shot one past Brian Boucher to knot the game at one. The game was tied at one at the end of the first period.

Danny Briere opened the scoring in the second period by firing a rocket past Buffalo goalie, Ryan Miller. It was a huge goal for Briere because he spent four seasons with the Sabres, before signing a contract with Philadelphia. Later in the frame, Kris Versteeg of Philadelphia sent a pass to Flyers captain Mike Richards, who faked a shot and fed a pass to Nikolay Zherdev to tip it home for a 3 1 Flyers lead. With two minutes left in the second, Buffalo's Nathan Gerbe netted a goal to cut the Flyer lead to 3 to 2.

Brian Boucher took over the game in the third period. He stopped all 11 shots from the Sabres and as time winded down, Kimmo Timonen iced the game with an empty net goal.

Game 4 is Wednesday night in Buffalo at 7:30.