The Islanders got a much needed win at Ottawa coming back from an early Filip Kuba power play goal down to score three unanswered in a nice 3-1 victory last night.

Recent history hadn’t been kind to the Isles against the Sens but times are different and this Senator club has struggled under new coach Craig Hartsburg making me wonder why Bryan Murray hired his own guy for this team in the first place. It’s clearly not working as he’s split up Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley and has seemingly ruined support players like Antoine Vermette by tinkering around too much.

About the only move he got right was realizing that Martin Gerber shouldn’t be the No.1 handing it over to Alex Auld, who’s done a solid job. Maybe our notorious Devil blogger Hasan knew about this team cause he didn’t pick them to make the playoffs. And based on what I’ve seen, they sure aren’t the same team and haven’t been since their hot start last year before Wade Redden’s slump which has continued to rare its ugly head here on Broadway.

So, if Hasan and other bummed out Devil fans are looking for reasons to stay optimistic, just look at how dysfunctional the Senators are and it’s not like they have all the injuries the team which resides in Newark does. However, when you check the standings, it’s the Devs with the better record along with a couple of more points sitting ninth in the East.

Now, ask yourselves a question. Do you think Carolina or the overachieving Maple Leafs are better than your team? I sure don’t. The only team behind them which would concern me are the Flyers, who rallied from three down to get a point last night in a 5-4 shootout defeat to the charging Pens. They have only five wins and 14 points thus far but they’re capable of a lot more even with injuries to Daniel Briere and their D.

The question is are the Sens better than the Devs? It’s hard to argue that based on how they’ve played. Last night was the latest glaring example scoring just once on Joey MacDonald, who granted was superb in making 29 saves giving his harder working team a jolt.

The one thing I admire about the Isles is their work ethic. They’re not going to win many games without giving their best effort. That’s how they beat the Rangers over a week ago when I was sick as Hell and that sure didn’t help much. It’s how they’re going to win in this league.

Scott Gordon preached how his power play didn’t get it done in a Veteran’s Day 3-1 home loss to the Flyers blowing two extended 5-on-3’s and also permitting a shorthanded goal to Mike Richards. He indicated that his club was very good at even strength but their inability to capitalize on the power play was the difference.

His club got the message scoring twice in five chances on the man-advantage with 2008 first round pick Josh Bailey notching his first NHL point with a nifty setup for a wide open Kyle Okposo into an open side off a Chris Campoli rebound. The play was wonderful as it showed the 19 year-old rookie who only was in his second game wisely tracking the puck moving from one side to the other skating into open space and then patiently drawing two Sens before relaying the perfect pass to his teammate for the tying marker at 12:42. Even better was the nice gesture by Okposo immediately getting the puck for Bailey. Very cool.

Keep an eye on this kid. He’s got great wheels and seems to possess good hands and playmaking ability. The best aspect is the Isles played him over 13 minutes. Almost a couple more than Okposo, who’s a year older. Those are the two guys they’re building around. That’s who Islander fans should get excited about moving forward no matter what happens the rest of the way.

MacDonald made some key stops to keep it tied and then goalscoring leader Trent Hunter continued his resurgence stepping up like a leader by taking advantage of a broken play scoring a PPG off a faceoff by getting to a loose puck and surprising Auld with a quick backhand for his seventh. Before the season began, I said he had to become a team leader and sure enough, he has and is looking like an incredible bargain at five years $10 million. Not bad, huh? And he’s 28.

The Islanders got an insurance tally from team captain Bill Guerin who only had to stand still in front and wait as Doug Weight humiliated the Sens D circling completely around them drawing Auld out before dishing to his former Team USA linemate for a tap-in 2:31 into the final stanza. Sean Bergenheim, who missed on a breakaway at the end of the second picked up the other assist.

From there, MacDonald took over stopping all 16 Ottawa shots sent his way including a couple of robberies from in close on Vermette and Chris Neil. He needed to be good as did the guys in front of him due to a Thomas Pock elbowing major and a Richard Park slash in the final minute handing the Sens a 6-on-3 when they pulled Auld for an extra attacker.

Ottawa couldn’t beat MacDonald to make things interesting as the clock ran out giving the grittier more determined team a deserved win.

Notes: The rematch in a rare home-and-home is Saturday at Nassau Coliseum when the Islanders (5-9-2, 12 pts) go for a sweep. … Campoli (23:03, assist), Bruno Gervais (21:56) and Mark Streit (25:19, plus-one) all logged big minutes on the blueline. … With an assist, Weight has points in three of his last four (1-3-4) to pace the Isles in scoring with 14 points (3-11-14). … Hunter’s seven goals are just five off last season’s total. In fact, he didn’t tally his seventh in 2007-08 until Jan.11 versus Calgary. … Ottawa antagonist Jarkko Ruutu was out serving the first of a two-game suspension for an elbow on Montreal’s Maxim Lapierre. He’ll also remain out for Saturday.

THREE STARS:

3rd Star-Doug Weight, NYI (assist, 4 SOG, plus-one in 18:19)

2nd Star-Trent Hunter, NYI (deciding PPG, 5 SOG in 15:28)

1st Star-Joey MacDonald, NYI (29 saves incl. 25-25 last 2 periods)

Pock Apologetic: Thomas Pock was very upset for his elbow on Ryan Shannon which resulted in a major and game misconduct apologizing for his actions against an opponent he’s known since college.

“I didn’t mean to hit him like that,” Pock told reporters.

“It is what it is. I’ve got to give him a call later. I talked to him before the game, you know, I’ve known Ryan for a long time now—we played in college against each other. It’s always bad and I feel bad about it. It was a bad play, that’s all I can say about it. I hope he’s all right.”

So do we.

They’ve already played a ton when you include the busy exhibition schedule traveling to Switzerland before a successful sweep of the Lightning in Prague. Then the Rangers returned home and got some much needed rest before pulling out their home opener last night over the Blackhawks despite not playing their best which drew the ire of Tom Renney, who knows his team needs to be better if they’re to continue their best start since 1989-90.

Tonight, the competition goes up a couple of notches in the City of Brotherly Love when they visit the archrival Flyers in front of “hockey Mom” Sarah Palin in their home opener. If you’ve seen mine and Hasan’s predictions, we both like this Flyer team a great deal and believe they’ll come out on top in the ultra competitive Atlantic as beast of the East. As for right now, that remains to be seen.

Figure a talented roster which includes Daniel Briere, new captain Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Joffrey Lupul, Scott Hartnell, Scottie Upshall, a healthy Simon Gagne, Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn and Martin Biron to be a very good early test for the Blueshirts when they drop the puck in a couple of hours. They’ll be plenty rested too and full of energy.

The question is how does Renney play this back-to-back in a critical stretch which includes three in four nights when they return home to host another division foe the Devils Monday. Considering that he’s got three extra forwards to work with, the affable coach can bring in fresher legs if he so chooses. It would be wise to give Dan Fritsche a go tonight along with Petr Prucha. Heck. Even Patrick Rismiller stepping in for solid penalty killer Blair Betts might make sense. Though Renney is extremely loyal to the fourth line center and club enforcer Colton Orr perhaps to a fault.

There’s no doubt that the Ranger coach is a diplomat who never wants to diss players who have helped the franchise get back on track making the postseason the past three seasons. However, if he wants to take that next big step, Renney can’t play favorites here. It’s about what’s best for the team. Winning must take precedent. Even without Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka and Brendan Shanahan, expectations remain high for a younger faster club that features Nikolai Zherdev along with vets Markus Naslund and Wade Redden.

Giving a blow every now and then to a Betts or another support player takes advantage of the surplus of forwards he has been provided with. You have to figure at some point, the issue of only six D will get addressed by Glen Sather. For now, Renney can shuffle guys in or out. So, if that means sitting a Nigel Dawes for Prucha or Fritsche due to the left wing’s slow start, he should consider it.

When you have this kind of roster, spots can’t just be handed even if I like Dawes and feel he’s important to how the team performs. Competition can be a plus cause it will make players compete harder and realize that if they don’t give their best, they could be out of the lineup.

The next week promises to be very challenging with two Atlantic battles over the next three days before the Sabres and Maple Leafs visit MSG Wednesday and Friday. Oh. And this hectic schedule of six games in nine days concludes with a back-to-back visit to the defending champion Red Wings next Saturday. Factor in the Stars visit the following Tuesday and it’s seven in 11 days against pretty good competition.

This is an early opportunity for the team on Broadway to set a tone for 2008-09. Like Scott Gomez said last weekend in the Czech Republic, they can’t use the schedule as an excuse. They’re young and deep enough to get through these sort of stretches. That’s why Slats changed the roster increasing team speed.

It all begins tonight.

Once Jaromir Jagr departed for Russia, the proverbial writing was on the wall. The Rangers’ next captain would be Chris Drury, who when he signed on with the club in the summer of 2007 everyone figured was waiting in line for that honor.

Earlier today with the club also getting down to 23 on their roster by reassigning defensemen Corey Potter and Brian Fahey, Ranger Team President and GM Glen Sather made the worst kept secret official by naming the 32 year-old Drury the 25th captain in franchise history.

“Chris Drury is a natural leader who possesses all of the qualities and characteristics we desire from our captain,” praised Sather. “He has always been known as a clutch performer and a winner. Chris leads by example with his tireless work ethic on and off the ice, and is extremely deserving of this honor.”

The Trumbull, Connecticut native enters his second season on Broadway with more responsibilities placed on his shoulders as a revamped Ranger roster looks to make it four straight playoff appearances and go beyond the second round where they’ve fallen short the past two Springs.

In his first season in New York, Drury got off to a slow start but had a great second half becoming the team’s most consistent player tying with Jagr for the club lead in goals (25) and ranking third overall with 58 points. Known as a clutch performer, he didn’t disappoint pacing the Original Six club in power play goals (12) and game-winners (7) while sharing the club lead in power play points (29) with Jagr and Scott Gomez.

“To be a captain anywhere in the NHL is a huge honor and a huge thrill,” a delighted Drury said Friday a couple of days removed from scoring twice to help lead his team to a come from behind win over Metallurg Magnitogorsk for the first ever Victoria Cup.

“To get to do it with the Rangers, the team that I grew up cheering for and going to the Garden as a kid, and now to be a captain it’s hard to put into words. It’s a huge honor. I’m just thrilled.”

Drury becomes only the second American-born player to captain the Rangers joining No.2, Brian Leetch. Now, the real challenge begins for a player with tremendous character who never seems fazed by anything.

He does have some experience in the familiar leadership role having helped co-captain the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres to a President’s Trophy before signing with the Blueshirts two summers ago.

“There are a lot of good guys that Tom [Renney] and Glen could have picked,” Drury noted. “I am going to lean heavily on them, and hopefully we’ll tackle it all together. It’s a pretty good mix. That’s how Danny and I did it and it seemed to work well.”

It’s June 14th, 2008. Alright. You can probably figure out where I’m going and to be quite honest, I don’t even know why other than I just don’t have much other thoughts regarding the Rangers offseason.

The season finally commenced officially the other night in Toronto and once again, no Ranger came close to taking home any hardware. It’s not like there were a bunch of candidates as only the team’s best player Henrik Lundqvist was actually up for something. Though you’d never know it considering how little love he got for the Vezina which was won by the opposite No.30 on the bitter rival out in Newark.

So, why do I feel like rehashing ancient history and mentioning that it’s 14 years later since that special night which most Ranger fans thought would never come at Madison Square Garden. Thankfully, this was before the worst professional sports owner Jim Dolan could get his hands all over the product and destroy every single aspect of what MSG used to stand for. Professionalism and two respectable contending franchises. Has anyone seen the Knicks lately? Never mind.

That hot June seems like a century ago because since then, the Blueshirts have managed to win just two playoff series. Remember when they “painted the town blue” according to MSG due to dismantling a garbage Atlanta team which had no chance? Exactly. More dopey Dolan propaganda. In order to paint a town blue, you have to do better than winning one round.

They sure had their shot against Buffalo last year. Then Chris Drury tied Game Five in the same 7.7 Valeri Zelepukin tied Game Seven of the ECF 14 years prior. Only with a much different and sadder end result.

When I look back on the end of that game and for all intensive purposes series on a phantom new NHL special which allowed Maxim Afinegenov to rescue the Sabres, why do I now believe that was the Blueshirts’ golden opportunity to win a fifth Stanley Cup and stop bitter rival fans from mocking an Original Six franchise which doesn’t have a good track record. Only the Chicago Blackhawks are worse. And these days, the Toronto Maple Leafs have no direction and don’t look to be winning any Cups making 1967 seem obsolete.

If one of our other contributors was reading this, he’d obviously take me to task as his beloved team has given him nothing but sweet sorrow. Maybe it’s something in the water at Niagara Falls. Though I know he’d at least take tremendous delight in Toronto’s continued misery.

When outstanding MSG broadcaster Sam Rosen uttered the words, “The waiting is over. No more curses. …,” at that time, if you rooted for the Rangers you believed anything was possible. Then Mike Keenan left for St. Louis and it really was all downhill after that even if the 1996-97 team featuring Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky somehow reached the Conference Finals before getting plastered by a bigger Flyer team led by Eric Lindros and Legion of Doom members John LeClair and Mikael Renberg.

We all know what’s transpired since. I’m not about to rehash the worst run of Ranger hockey. I’ll just cite some names instead. Valeri Kamensky. Theo Fleury. Stephane Quintal. Brian Skrudland. Mike Keane. Sylvain Lefebvre. Scott Fraser. Mike Dunham (Doneham). Petr Nedved. Heck. Even stars such as Lindros, Pavel Bure and former ‘94 hero Alex Kovalev failed miserably here.

Finally, the organization wised up and used the lockout year to retool. It helped that Jaromir Jagr was so motivated to prove the cynics wrong who all figured me including that the team would once again suck finishing near the bottom of the league. Sometimes, you get a reprieve. For this team, Lundqvist who once was a former seventh round selection was exactly that falling literally from the sky where he developed so well in Sweden playing for Frolunda that he soon became the heir apparent to Mike Richter. The first reliable No.1 goalie since No.35 went to the rafters in 2004. They couldn’t even win that night ruining a great Jagr game by letting the Wild skate circles around them.

Fast forward to the present and the team which got a measure of revenge against an overachieving Devil team bowed out in a close five games against the Pens. I could point out again how close that series was but once they blew Game One, the writing was on the wall even if a garbage call helped decide it. And by now, we all know Sidney Crosby was a stride offside on Marian Hossa’s series clincher. It is what it is. It happened so quick anyway. Truthfully, the Pens were a better team and that’s that.

So, what is there to celebrate these days? It’s so easy to reflect back and see Messier, a young Brian Leetch, Richter, Adam Graves, Kovalev and Sergei Zubov and wonder how the heck they didn’t win another Cup or two. That’s New York in a nutshell. The 1986 Mets were one of the most talented baseball teams but drugs, alcohol and other distractions ruined a potential dynasty which is why you see and hear a lot of bitter Met fans these days. Can you blame them?

So, is it going to get any better for the Rangers who ironically enough are a similar franchise which leaves their fans wanting more? I don’t see it getting any easier. Especially with the Pens now around getting ready to lock up Evgeni Malkin. Oh. And they’ll try real hard to bring back Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone and Brooks Orpik. Don’t just assume they’re coming to Broadway when our GM has his own issues needing to figure out what to do with Jagr and Sean Avery.

Remember last summer when they landed Drury and Scott Gomez subtracting Michael Nylander and how it was supposed to improve the club? How did that really work out in Year One? The team again struggled before making the playoffs and didn’t come as close to the third round as the Spring prior.

That’s what bothers me most. How is it going to get any better? Everyone assumes subtract Marek Malik and Michal Rozsival and the team is automatically better. Perhaps. But you don’t just replace guys who log important minutes. Even if Big Bird fell out of favor. We now know Rozsival played hurt and recently had hip surgery which might explain how much slower he looked in a bad postseason. He stunk against his former team.

The good news is Marc Staal played well and will anchor the blueline. Dan Girardi is the second best defender with enigma Fedor Tyutin either really good or really disappointing. When does the Russian who got a hefty raise play like he’s worth it? We’re talking about consistency here.

In a conference where the Pens will be around a while and have to be dealt with, you have the improved Flyers with a nice core in place along with the Canadiens who should be back. Plus the Senators are always a threat even if the overrated Wade Redden walks. There’s also the Capitals led by Hart winner Alexander Ovechkin who will only get better.

In other words, this conference just got even tougher to win. And you can’t discount the Sabres who still played well without Drury and Daniel Briere, narrowly missing the playoffs. They should be improved too.

The Devils always seem to invent a way to remain competitive.

So, when are the Rangers going to deliver another deep playoff run where a Cup actually is a realistic possibility instead of a classic tease?

I have no clue. Yeah. I’m definitely not picking a 1994 rematch again for next year. I learned my lesson.

Expect nothing. I’m officially down on this franchise until Lundqvist wins a couple of rounds and the team proves it can go deep into the Spring.

It’s time for the Rangers to take the next step. I’m waiting.

In case anyone forgot and it would be quite easy to considering how much time off there was between Rounds 2 and 3, there was hockey played last night in Motown where the Red Wings used three power play goals in a 4-1 Game One victory over the Stars in the WCF.

For the naysayers who don’t want to believe in the Wings just cause of who they played (didn’t realize that’s how it worked), they’re legit and proving to be more than a one trick pony as Dallas found out. Four different goalscorers not named Datsyuk or Zetterberg did the trick for top seeded Detroit with former Devil blueliner Brian Rafalski getting the party started on a five-on-three. Then Johan Franzen continued his torrid pace showing no rustiness by getting to the front of the net and deflected home his postseason leading 12th for a 2-0 lead after one.

Veteran Tomas Holmstrom also screened Marty Turco a bit illegally scoring in the paint where the Swede’s made his living. Before Dallas captain Brenden Morrow snapped Chris Osgood’s shutout bid with 1:07 left in the second, Valtteri Filppula got the Wings’ fourth putting the contest out of reach as they stopped the Stars’ early road success by taking Game One 4-1 at The Joe.

Entering last night, Dave Tippet’s club was a perfect four-for-four in the first two games of Rounds 1 and 2 in victimizing the defending champion Ducks and Sharks both from their Pacific division. Just maybe Detroit’s a step up in competition unlike what’s been sold because they feasted on the Preds and Avs. Couldn’t have been because they’re actually good? Nah. Why even give a team credit when it has proven to be very equipped to bring Lord Stanley back to Michigan?

The Wings have excellent skaters who can beat you a number of different ways. Whether it’s the skill and finesse of Datsyuk and Zetterberg or the grit and determination of Franzen, Holmstrom along with underrated secondary help Filppula, Jiri Hudler, Dan Cleary and Mikael Samuelsson, Mike Babcock’s Original Six club has the right mix to go all the way.

It should be tougher starting with Game Two where the balanced Stars should be sharper getting back to their defensive style. They’d be wise to stay out of the box where Detroit did most of their damage going three-for-seven. The Stars took the collar in four chances.

The Wings outshot them 31-21 making it a manageable night for Ozzie, who stopped 20 shots in improving to a perfect 7-0 since taking over for Dominik Hasek. Detroit also had the puck a lot winning 35-of-56 draws which played right into their puck possession attack.

Coming into this series, there was a lot to like about Dallas with Turco playing lights out and deadline pickup Brad Richards (2-9-11) performing up to expectations. With Morrow continuing to lead his hockey club and Sergei Zubov back healthy on the blueline, the Stars have a chance to comeback and reach their first Cup Final since 2000. They’ll need outstanding efforts from their best players along with point leader Mike Ribeiro (3-11-14), Stephane Robidas plus veteran champion forwards Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen.

The problem is that Detroit can more than match them up front with a very balanced attack duly noted above. The Red Wings also could have the edge on D with team captain Nick Lidstrom headlining it with Rafalski and emerging physical standout Niklas Kronwall, who with two assists raised his team-leading helper total to 10.

If Osgood continues his reemergence in net, it’s hard to see the Stars prevailing. They would’ve been wise to finish off San Jose earlier instead of requiring an ungodly seven more periods.

I don’t feel they’re overmatched but kind of see Detroit winning in six to advance to their first Final since winning it all back in 2002 when yours truly had a stint in Bristol, Connecticut.

Now to the other series which begins later tonight with a 7:30 start time at Mellon Arena. The Battle of Pennsylvania should be a fun filled series with lots of edge to it. These two teams don’t like each other. There were a couple of games during the regular season which saw lots of penalty minutes and fisticuffs. So, expect it to be very physical as well as entertaining due to the kind of aggressive fast skating teams both the Flyers and Pens have.

The Flyers got some bad news as top defender Kimmo Timonen is expected to miss the series due to a blood clot in his ankle. They were really depending on the very overlooked Finn D to see a lot of Malkin and Crosby. How John Stevens replaces him is beyond me. Maybe he’ll pair Braydon Coburn with the physical Derian Hatcher.

Team captain Jason Smith will have to be a beast in this series. I figure he’ll see a lot of Crosby while Hatcher and Coburn have their work cut out for them against Malkin. Stevens also could opt to move up Lasse Kukonen to pair with Coburn while sending out Hatcher with Smith to work over Sid the Kid. Randy Jones is decent.

Obviously, with no Timonen, the edge goes to the Pens, who boast superb offensive skating power play tandem Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney while also being able to send out the rough Brooks Orpik and Hal Gill. Plus Rob Scuderi, who always seems to fly under the radar. He’s real smart and plays his position well leading the Pens with a plus-seven rating during a postseason run which has seen them win eight of their first nine. Kris Letang also is a very good skating D who is solid overall.

When you assess that Pitt blueline, there really aren’t any glaring weaknesses. They can skate, jump into the rush and pinch in, take out the man making you pay a price while moving the puck effectively. While Malkin, Crosby, Marian Hossa along with a big talented forward crop which includes Ryan Malone, Petr Sykora and Jordan Staal all can hurt you offensively, it’s that D which has really been making a difference.

In order to have a chance, the Flyers must use their attacking cycle to make that defense work in its end. The Rangers just weren’t a fast enough skating team to exploit it. Philly has more capability featuring veteran offensive leader Daniel Briere, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Montreal killer R.J. Umberger (8 of 9 goals in Rd. 2).

The supporting cast of Mike Knuble, Vaclav Prospal, Joffrey Lupul, Scott Hartnell and the speedy Scottie Upshall have enough speed, size and grit to nullify the Pens’ attack. They must get in on the forecheck and disrupt Pittsburgh. Get in the face of Crosby and hit pest Jarkko Ruutu every chance they get. Also, playing Malkin physical will fluster the talented Russian. Hossa also doesn’t like being hit.

There’s little doubt that Martin Biron has been the best goalie in the first two rounds standing on his head to steal Game Seven over Ovechkin’s Caps and totally outplaying rookie Carey Price last round. He’ll need to be even more brilliant. Marc-Andre Fleury has played well for the Pens but is prone to bad rebounds. Shoot low on him and attack the net.

Even without Timonen, I see the Flyers making this one interesting. Their forwards are plenty good enough. They must win the battles down low and keep the Pens in their end. If it turns into a track meet, they won’t be able to win.

I still say this goes seven but figure a late marginal new NHL phantom hook will help the Pens advance making everyone except the hypocritical city of Pitt shake their heads in disgust.

A Pens-Wings final would work wonders for NBC. Crosby, Hossa and Malkin versus Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Lidstrom.

One final thought on the subject of the long layoff. Why the semifinal round couldn’t start on say Tuesday and Wednesday is inexplicable. Even the NBA doesn’t have this kind of ridiculous delay between rounds. They start their next round quickly not waiting for a long series to finish which is how it should work. Instead, our league is intentionally dragging things out catering to NBC, who cares more about silly horse races even when one tragically is murdered in their precious Derby than about our game.

What a disgrace.

By show of hands, who had the Flyers going to the Conference Final four wins away from their first Stanley Cup Final in 11 years? I doubt there were many takers. Though our newest Flyer supporter would beg to differ since he did accurately predict Philly to eliminate the Canadiens. That it took one less game speaks to just how well they played.

If Martin Biron is playing great, then R.J. Umberger is on a roll. He absolutely owned the Habs scoring eight goals in the series to hike his goal total to nine. It was almost as dominant as Johan Franzen’s nine in a sweep of Colorado. Sad fact. The Avs totaled nine goals.

Back to R.J. How in the world didn’t the Canucks or Ranger get this guy signed? You’re telling me they couldn’t have used a solid all around two-way center who is an outstanding skater with a deadly shot? Did we mention he’s a relentless forechecker? Umberger has emerged from a fourth liner to a second line player who’s now getting big minutes and flourishing. Kudos to overestimated Philly coach John Stevens for the wise move. Early in the series, you could see that the kid’s speed was giving the Canadiens fits.

If you’re going to go deep into the postseason, your best players must be your best players. Night in and night out, Daniel Briere has earned his hefty paycheck by scoring big goals. His power play winner the other night as it turned out was Montreal’s last gasp. Sure, they led 3-1 and had it going their way until a less confident looking Carey Price let in a couple of more soft ones to suddenly put his team in a 4-3 hole entering the third. Speaking of which, might Guy Carbonneau’s questionable decision to bench his 20 year-old rookie have hurt the No.1 goalie even more? Or was there something else bugging him? What was wrong with his glove hand? It sure wasn’t the glove cause they tried a new one and it was the same brutal result. Another story for another day. 

Props also go out to the Montreal fans for how they cheered their guys at the end of the game. That final minute was really cool. You probably wouldn’t see that in a lot of other arenas. They weren’t supposed to be in this position and were picked by many including by myself to finish near the bottom of the East. Maybe that was the problem because the expectations suddenly went from making the playoffs to winning the Northeast and people including again yours truly thinking they could actually go to the Cup.

Or perhaps Canada really is hexed after all.

The Flyers have played rambunctious hockey and deserve to be where they are. They have been a fun team to watch. That’s not very easy to say for a rival fan but it’s the truth. They have attacked and been rewarded. It helps that they got tireless forwards like Umberger, Briere, Mike Richards and the fast emerging Jeff Carter.

What the Philadelphia organization learned in the worst season in franchise history was that if they retooled by pawning off Peter Forsberg, they could compete. Was it a bit poetic that Scottie Upshall would wind up with the series clincher? He was part of what came back. Just wait till Ryan Parent develops and we’ll really be laughing at that trade. Well, the rest of the Atlantic won’t.

Neither are they about former Preds Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell fitting in as key cogs on a team which looks poised and deep enough to actually do this. Yes. I’m saying they can win the whole thing. That might be bad news for them.

How do you think Kevin Lowe feels about giving away Joffrey Lupul and Jason Smith for the overrated Joni Pitkanen right about now? That Braydon Coburn pickup for Alexei Zhitnik was also a theft. The Vaclav Prospal trade also ain’t looking bad either.

Has there been one bad deal new GM Paul Holmgren made? My god. Simon Gagne’s career is likely over and it suddenly doesn’t matter because that’s how deep they really are. Mike Knuble can still play also. Funny how my Dad nailed that one indicating that he thought the ex-Ranger could become a 25-30 goalscorer.

The Flyers are even getting mileage out of old school defenseman Derian Hatcher.

You have to give them a lot of credit. They almost didn’t make the playoffs but got hot at the right time. Sometimes, that’s all it takes.

Congrats to them on their run thus far. They’ve earned it.

Don’t call it a comeback!  At least rapper L.L. Cool J wouldn’t.

Who says you can’t comeback from the dead? History tells us that this is THE YEAR for another remarkable 0-3 comeback to win a series. 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. 1975 New York Islanders. 2008???

That’s the growing question because there are two Conference Semifinal series which could be going that route. I honestly thought the Stars had it at 2-0 up with a period left from setting up an old style WCF against Detroit. When Dallas captain Brenden Morrow scored from a bad angle on Evgeni Nabokov with 55.3 left in the second, I ASSumed  that would take the wind out of the Sharks, who never seem to win on home ice against those Stars.

So to my shock when I flipped back, there was Jeremy Roenick being interviewed following a third which saw his team rally to tie it on goals by former MIA duo Milan Michalek and Brian Campbell. Joe Pavelski completed the stunning turnaround when he cashed in on a blatant Dallas turnover and beat Marty Turco top shelf 65 seconds into sudden death.

Just shocking. This was another one of those quick OTs which was already over by the time I flipped back on Versus. Btw…this network really sucks. They didn’t even bother showing replays and their postgame show was what? Five minutes. I understand production talent stay but come on. Could they at least try to have a 10 or 15 minute segment before dumping out?

It’s almost as bad as the New York papers. That Game Four hero Jaromir Jagr actually got a back page on yesterday’s Daily News was one of the most cool things ever. Way to step up! Boo to the New York Post who’d rather fantasize about meaningless April baseball. What would you expect from a tabloid who employs killjoy tandem Kevin Kernan and Phil Mushnick. That the latter is from my neck of the woods is an embarrassment.

Anyway, kudos to the Sharks for picking themselves up off the mat laying it all out there even if they did get quite a bit of luck and help from two video replays which went their way. Both happened to be no goals against Morrow, who should’ve had a hat trick and a five-game series victory for his team.

He really got jobbed on the first one. Even Neil Smith was beside himself at how they could actually conclude that was a “kicking motion.”

Unbelievable. Still, the Stars should’ve finished it. This could comeback to haunt them. Now, they better wrap the series up in Game Six at friendly American Airlines Center back in Big D. Would you chance going back to a crazy Shark Tank (HP Pavilion- just another lousy corporate bs name) for a suddenly deciding Game Seven situation?

If that happens, they’re toast. Just the way I guaranteed a Ranger victory the other day, I’m doing the same here. If it goes seven, the Stars will not win. Book it!

You know. With all the comeback talk and playoff history, etc. (2004 Boston Red Sox) the Sharks’ second straight win can only be used as even more positive reinforcement for the Rangers, who still trail the Penguins 3-1 with the vital Game Five back at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh tomorrow afternoon at 2 ET on NBC.

The only difference is the Sharks know that they’ll have the fans if it gets to Game Seven. So, how am I viewing this as a Ranger fan? This is what I tell my team, who fought so valiantly to stay alive in winning Game Four 3-0 thanks to marquee performances from Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist.

“We took the first step winning on home ice. One win in Pittsburgh tomorrow and we’re going back home the next day where the Garden will be rocking. No way are we losing that!”

This team has played well on the road. They certainly were right with the Pens in the first two games. They know full well they can win there.

The strategy is the same. Play 60 minutes leaving it all out there while channeling the emotions. Discipline will be key. That means like the other night, staying out of the box and taking the play to the Pens. When they attack, they’ve been good. That’s the best defense against an explosive offense. You got to play to win. The Rangers did that on Thursday. Do it once more and we got the Game Six I also promised.

I realllly BELIEVE! Judging from some of the player quotes along with Tom Renney, so do they. They know they can do this. That gives me hope. The inspired dominance of Jagr and a revitalized Lundqvist also give me plenty of ammunition.

Now there’s also another team who needs to start believing later tonight instead of deceiving their fans and a sudden new Flyer fan. I never thought I’d see the day Brian Sanborn would actually be waving orange and black pom poms!

Well, he always did take a liking to the green and white of the Eagles.

The Flyers do have former Sabres Daniel Briere and <gulp> emerging Conn Smythe candidate Martin Biron. Wow. Words I never thought I’d utter about a Flyer netminder.

Truthfully, Brian (grosek18- there’s a long comical story behind that name) nailed most of the points already at why the Habs find themselves in a 3-1 hole with a must win Game Five at Bell Centre tonight.

Biron has stolen three games. The Flyers really shouldn’t be playing right now because Lord Biron if I may call him that stoned the Caps in Game Seven. There never would’ve been a Joffrey Lupul sudden death power play winner on a cruddy call. That’s life. Biron saved his team’s bacon. R.J. Umberger’s also been playing like a beast.

Truthfully, I don’t remember Biron ever being this good. I have to think if the Canadiens continue to dominate play and shots, they’re eventually going to get to him.

Why on earth Guy Carbonneau didn’t start rookie Carey Price in Game Four is beyond me. He got you that No.1 seed and home ice. You don’t bench him for a guy who’s hardly played. It was one of the worst coaching decisions ever. Especially in that situation.

Bri, Carbonneau deserves to get trashed for it. It was irrational. We’re talking about their next franchise goalie. It was a mind boggling decision to say the very least. If they still had Cristobal Huet, fine. Jaroslav Halak? Was he kidding? And no. You don’t fire a Jack Adams candidate unless your name is the Buffalo Sabres and it’s Ted Nolan. God. Only Buffalo.

So, what do the Canadiens need to do to stop this Flyer hot streak? Get to Biron. The sooner, the better. They’re going to have overwhelming support with arguably the loudest fans in the game. A couple of early goals and that place will be bedlem.

The best players also have to be the best players. That means Price, who is back in net tonight must be good. A few good saves early could set the tone and let his teammates know he’s going to be there.

Alex Kovalev, Tomas Plekanec, Andrei and Sergei Kostistyn and Chris Higgins better come to play. They haven’t had great series. I’ve seen an awful lot of heart from their team captain Saku Koivu, who can’t be 100 percent. It’s time for those other big name forwards and also defenseman Andrei Markov to step up. Power play specialist Mark Streit has also been quiet. He needs to pick it up.

When I look at the list of guys I put out here, it tells me that Montreal is very equipped to comeback from this deficit. They have one of the fastest skating teams in the game with tons of skill to go with it. 

One offensive explosion can change the entire mindset of that dressing room.

What’s the formula? Win on home ice tonight. Get one in Philly and then back home for a winner or golf Game Seven in that building. What also shouldn’t get lost is that the Habs were one of the best road teams this season tying with Detroit for the second most wins (25) on the road.

Want to know who was first? The Sharks with 27. Pretty ironic considering what they’ll be aiming for tomorrow night.

Say it with me loud with feeling:

Don’t Stop Believing!!!!! ;-)

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If you love great hockey, then most of this first round has been riveting. We had one Game Seven tonight between Original Six Northeast rivals Boston and Montreal. Thanks to another Flyer-esque collapse, there will be a couple of more deciding series later tonight!

Had the Bruins completed the comeback from 3-1 down against Les Habitants for the first time in franchise history, it would’ve been a no brainer to lead with that. However, that didn’t transpire as a more focused top seeded Montreal squad had what it took getting splendid netminding from rookie Carey Price and inspired play by the Kostistyn brothers and Alex Kovalev to eliminate Boston 5-0 before an electric Bell Centre towel waving crowd.

More on this later.

For much of the first round, the Flyers had bottled up Alex Ovechkin limiting the league’s leading scorer to just one goal. The 22 year-old Russian responded by ratcheting up his physical game helping the Caps stay alive the other day with a 3-2 Game Five home win. Having been shutout four consecutive games, Ovechkin finally came through when his desperate team needed it most tallying twice in the third period putting an exclamation point on four unanswered goals by his team in a 4-2 Game Six win before a stunned Sea of Orange at Wachovia Center.

The Flyers built a 2-0 lead thanks to power play goals from Mike Richards and series leading scorer Daniel Briere. Down a couple, the third seeded Caps never panicked. They started to carry the play in the second and got rewarded. First, rookie Nicklas Backstrom finished off a nifty passing play from Alexander Semin to slice the deficit in half with 10:26 left. Less than nine minutes later, Semin tied it at 18:03 when he easily put home a John Erskine rebound.

With the Flyer crowd becoming a little more edgy, (wouldn’t you be given their recent history?) their worst fears were realized when Ovechkin beat Martin Biron on a clean breakaway 2:46 into the third. The deciding tally was made possible by some excellent defensive work by <gulp> Viktor Kozlov. The lanky Russian enigma broke up a good Flyer opportunity and then made a perfect stretch pass to spring Ovechkin. He broke in from the Flyer blueline and went to his bread and butter deking Biron going forehand top shelf to give his team their first lead.

“All year I didn’t have a chance to score on a breakaway,” the 65-goal regular season scorer told the AP.

“I probably had one goal on a breakaway, I did what I always do and thank God it worked.”

“It’s Hollywood here and the script said he wins the game,” pointed out pumped Caps owner Ted Leonsis.

Philly tried to get back in it but ex-Hab netminder Cristobal Huet was solid turning aside all eight of their shots to finish as the game’s Second Star with 33 saves. An undisciplined Flyer bench minor for too many men proved costly when Sergei Fedorov and Brooks Laich combined to setup a laser of a one-timer from Ovechkin which made it 4-2 with 9:19 to go.

From there, the Caps would hold on to force Game Seven which is Tuesday night back in the nation’s capital. Washington will attempt to become the 21st team to rally back from a 3-1 deficit. Oddly enough, the only time in franchise they history they turned the trick was 20 years ago against those Flyers back when each was in the Patrick Division with Dale Hunter netting an OT goal.

That can’t be too comforting for Flyer fans.

“We just got away from our game,” Richards lamented . “Now, tomorrow night’s desperation time.”

“There is still another chance,” a philosophical Briere noted. “We have to forget what happened and leave it all on the ice over there. We know we can win there, we did it earlier in the series. That is all we have to think about.”

The Flyers will try to have short memories later tonight in the first of two Game Sevens which concludes the First Round. The Sharks will play host to the Flames in the second game which decides who moves on and who books tee times.

As for the Bruins, they tried hard but just couldn’t find that first goal on Price which might’ve made all the difference. Despite a decided edge in play (11-8 SOG edge), they trailed after 20 minutes 1-0 on Mike Komisarek’s goal 3:31 in from Kovalev and Saku Koivu which deflected off a Boston player past Tim Thomas.

Price thwarted attacking Bruins including a crucial stop from in close on Phil Kessel which kept his team ahead. He got more support from Mark Streit in the second when the two-way threat made Boston captain Zdeno Chara look like a traffic cone before opening up Thomas five-hole for a two-goal Habs’s lead more than halfway thru.

It only got worse for Chara who took a penalty which led to Andrei Kostistyn’s tally from in close as the big defenseman stepped out of the box. Taking a tough pass from brother Sergei, he was able to get his shot off between two defenders beating Thomas for 3-0 at 15:13.

Game. Set. Match. Sure, Claude Julien’s Bruins had exploded for eight goals (four each) in the third of the past two wins to extend this series and give themselves a 21st shot at finally coming back triumphant from a 3-1 hole.

But any rational person knew that wasn’t happening before rabid Habs fans who I’m told by my good Montreal buddy rioted in the streets. Apparently, one series win did a little too much to their brains.

Goals by both Kostistyns late in a game they dominated put the stamp on Montreal’s 5-0 deciding game victory. The top seeds live for another round getting quality performances from all their best players including Chris Higgins, who despite no points was a beast along the walls on a reconstructed line with Koivu and Kovalev. They had chemistry because they played together last season. The Kostistyns worked with Tomas Plekanec, who notched a primary helper on Sergei Kostistyn’s third with eight seconds left.

The Kostistyns combined for three goals, two assists and a plus-four rating. Kovalev, who also was quiet last game with a minus-three responded with two helpers and a plus-two rating in improving to 6-0 lifetime in Game Sevens.

Price recorded his second shutout of the series stopping all 25 Boston offerings. Now it’s onto Round Two.

With the Caps and Flyers going seven and Montreal winning, the Rangers will play either the Canadiens or Penguins in the Eastern Conference Semis which won’t get underway till Thursday or Friday.

If Washington wins, then all three top East seeds advance which would setup another Original Six battle between the Canadiens and Rangers. The Caps would start on the road at second seeded Pittsburgh.

However, if the sixth seeded Flyers prevail tonight, then they’d visit Montreal leaving an all Atlantic battle between the fifth seeded Blueshirts and No.2 seeded Pens.

Get all that? We’ll see how it plays out later tonight.

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Normally, one wouldn’t think an eight seed has a shot at coming back. Especially from the 3-1 hole ex-Montreal coach Claude Julien’s Bruins entered last night in before outscoring the home Habs 4-0 in the deciding period to post a 5-1 Game Five road win.

Given how well Boston played while facing elimination along with how shaky 20 year-old rookie netminder Carey Price was, it’s hard not to like the Bruins’ chances of forcing a seventh and deciding game over the weekend. Have you ever seen a goalie come apart quite like that? Oh. It’s happened before. Just usually by more experienced ones than the kid who earlier in the third had supporters chanting, “Car—ey, Car—ey, Car—ey” before his unreal gaffe led to Montreal’s demise.

As Price made a fine glove stop to foil a Boston chance in a 1-1 game, for some reason he decided to play the puck with two attacking Bruins close by. By the time he realized his folly, it was too late as an opportunistic Glen Metropolit got just enough of the disc to put it by the scrambling goalie for a 2-1 Boston lead before a stunned Bell Centre.

Metropolit’s big goal opened the floodgates. There would be no signature, “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants on this night. More like ole ole for how unglued the Canadiens became. An undisciplined Sergei Kostistyn penalty in the offensive zone led directly to Boston captain Zdeno Chara’s first of the series coming 2:18 later which gave the B’s a 3-1 lead.

The Habs would also squander a couple of power play chances to get back in it. Once again, the Bruins had the right recipe in killing off all four Montreal power plays. In fact, the league’s highest ranked PP during the regular season gave up a crushing shorthanded goal to Marco Sturm, who beat Price from 40 feet out with a perfect wrister off the far post.

A Vladimir Sobotka tally from an awful angle in which he just threw a softie on net showed just how fractured Price was. Why did Guy Carbonneau even leave him in? There was just 2:12 on the clock. May as well have let the kid get the rest of the night off and regroup.

Instead, plenty of questions will arise during the off day by the crazy Montreal and Canadian media. How will Price respond Saturday night in Beantown?

Don’t be surprised if there’s a Game Seven. These B’s have fared well and are playing with confidence. Tim Thomas also finished a stellar night in net making 31 saves earning the game’s Second Star.  

In the other Eastern Conference series, Mike Knuble’s double overtime winner put the Capitals on the brink. Despite some highlight reel stops including a strong denial of Knuble’s wide open one-timer from in front, Cristobal Huet couldn’t save his rebound which made the Flyers 4-3 comeback winners in Game Four before a screaming sea of orange.

Washington played better than in Game Three but ultimately were done in by a mistimed bench minor for too many men on the ice which red hot Flyer Daniel Briere cashed to tie the game with 9:59 left in regulation.

Both teams had golden opportunities to take the lead but didn’t have what it took to beat either goalie as both Huet (diving glove stops) and Martin Biron (big glove save from in tight) were up to the task.

Neither team budged in the first OT forcing it to a second leading to Knuble’s heroics. Setup by linemates Jeff Carter (two goals, helper) and Scottie Upshall (2 A), the ex-Ranger got two whacks at it before burying his second past a helpless Huet with Alex Ovechkin standing around.

Not quite what the league’s leading scorer had in mind for his first playoff series unless the suddenly ice cold Russian’s planning a miraculous comeback. Sure. AO assisted on two of the Caps’ goals but one shot in 28:00 isn’t cutting it. He better start hitting the net by Saturday or his team is likely going home for good.

There were three games out West. I only caught the majority of Flames-Sharks. San Jose got two Jonathan Cheechoo goals 3:30 apart early in the third to hold off Calgary 4-3 in Game Five moving them within a win of the second round.

Calgary did rally for two goals including David Moss’ first on a stuff in which sliced the deficit down to one with 77 seconds left from Jarome Iginla with Miikka Kiprusoff pulled. However, they were unable to get another quality chance on Evgeni Nabokov, who finished with 33 saves.

Very questionable was Mike Keenan’s decision to only play Kristian Huselius sparingly including just a few shifts in the third while giving veteran Owen Nolan nearly eight more total minutes of ice-time. I like Nolan but come on. There’s not much margin for error in the playoffs.

Huselius needs more ice-time and Alex Tanguay must score if the Flames are to extend the series a seventh game.

Wojtek Wolski and Paul Stastny’s goals in a 79 second span lifted the Avalanche to a 3-2 Game Five road victory over the Wild, who now must win in Denver to force Game Seven.

The difference was Jose Theodore, who turned back the clock making 38 saves to stone the host Wild in a game which saw them limit Colorado to just 17 shots. The Avs are a skilled team and went two-for-three on the man-advantage. With Minny sniper Marian Gaborik again shutout, his teammates couldn’t overcome it. Brian Rolston’s goal and helper weren’t enough.

Unless Gaborik finds his offense, this series is likely over.

Also moving within a win of Round Two were the Stars, who got a superb effort from Marty Turco (27 saves, 1st Star) to shutdown the Ducks 3-1 in Game Four. Joel Lundqvist, Stu Barnes and Steve Ott tallied for Dallas before Mathieu Schneider broke Turco’s shutout bid with eight seconds to go.

The defending champions have their backs to the wall. They did get leading finisher Corey Perry back. They’ll need more offense to stave off a disappointing first round elimination on home ice.

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Evgeni Nabokov’s challenge after Game Three stood for quite a while. Finally, his teammates stepped to the forefront and transformed from boys to men (no not the cheesy do op R & B group which once was alright back in the day) coming back to take the all important Game Four over Calgary 3-2, squaring their best-of-seven first round series.

Jonathan Cheechoo’s tying goal with 4:54 left and Joe Thornton’s deciding marker with under 10 seconds to go was exactly what the doctor ordered, saving the No.2 seeded Sharks from falling behind 3-1 in the series a game away from elimination. Instead, they were rescued by their best players gaining home ice back.

In a game they somehow trailed by a goal late in the third despite a decided edge in play and shots, San Jose finally turned it up enough to get to Calgary No.1 goalie Miikka Kiprusoff. A couple of nights removed from being pulled after permitting three quick goals before his team made a stirring comeback with Curtis Joseph in net, the two-time Vezina winner was back to his stingy self denying Sharks at every turn.

Kipper’s stellar netminding looked like it would be enough to hold off a furious San Jose attack which saw them outshoot the Flames 32-10 including a combined 26-8 the final 40 minutes. However, the Sharks’ persistence finally paid off when Cheechoo saw a small opening and fired a quick wrister past Kiprusoff’s glove to tie the contest at 15:06. The hard work down low by linemates Joe Pavelski and rookie Devin Setoguchi allowed the San Jose finisher to get to a loose puck and tally his first of the postseason.

I could tell that the guys in the white and teal weren’t done. Instead of being satisfied, they kept coming after Calgary in wave after wave. The aggressive strategy resulted in Thornton’s winner before a stunned and dead silent Saddle Dome. Thanks to an outstanding shift in which they kept the Flames pinned in their end, energetic winger Ryane Clowe worked the puck to an open Doug Murray at the point, who shot without hesitation. The screening Thornton got just enough of it to tip it home for his first of the series.

A hooking minor on Calgary’s Kristian Huselius with five ticks left wrapped it up for the Sharks, who now will head back home to host the pivotal Game Five tomorrow night.

Just a gigantic win for a team which was once again being seriously doubted including by myself for taking them to the Cup Final. This was a nice character builder as they were able to overcome Jarome Iginla (goal, assist) and Dion Phaneuf (goal) along with deadline pickup Brian Campbell’s continued substandard play in his end. God. Did the Sabres know or what? With every shift he doesn’t compete hard defensively, that’s more money going by the wayside.

At least his more determined teammates were able to pick him up. The Sharks aren’t out of the woods by any stretch. But again, it’s hard to see Calgary prevailing when they continue to be severely outplayed by a wide margin. You have to figure they’re going to run out of gas.

We’ll see.

It was a busy Tuesday night with four other series going on. In one they had to have, the defending champion Ducks finally showed some life by getting the first four on Marty Turco before hanging on for a 4-2 Game Three victory to get back in their series. Chris Pronger scored twice including on a five-on-three for his first career two-goal playoff game. The defenseman also helped assist on Todd Marchant’s first which opened the scoring, restoring Anaheim’s confidence as they outscored Dallas 3-0 in sharp contrast to the first two back home.

Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and assist and Jean-Sebastien Giguere rebounded from a poor showing in Game Two with 31 saves including 12 big ones in a final stanza which saw Dallas make a late charge thanks to a pair of Brenden Morrow power play goals. Giguere wouldn’t allow them to draw closer even though they had a couple of more chances on the man-advantage.

Game Four is tomorrow night with the home team 0-for-3 in the series.

Also out West, the Avalanche used a three-goal first period barrage of their own to storm past the Wild 5-1 in Game Four to even their series at two apiece. The first three games of this very competitive series all wound up 3-2 with each needing sudden death. Since Joe Sakic’s Game One winner, the Wild had taken the last two off the sticks of Keith Carney and Pierre-Marc Bouchard.

Last night though as Islander goalie Rick DiPietro predicted during a Versus segment, back-to-back games in the thin air was advantage Colorado who was more used to it. They completely outplayed the Wild scoring the first five on Niklas Backstrom who was relieved by Josh Harding in the third.

Deadline pickup Ruslan Salei had a goal and assist as did third line pivot Tyler Arnason. Jordan Leopold added a pair of helpers in a game which saw the Avs get 14 power plays converting twice. Not surprisingly, it got ugly with the frustrated Wild going to the box plenty as they lost their cool.

Figure Game Five tomorrow back at St. Paul to be a real barn burner.

In one of two Eastern Conference playoff games, the Flyers had a little too much for the Capitals, getting a late penalty shot goal from Mike Richards in a 6-3 home win before a crowd of orange who enjoyed seeing their team go up 2-1 in the series. Richards also made a great pass to setup Daniel Briere’s second of the night at 19:50 of the second on the power play. Briere tallied twice and has four goals in the series.

Though the Caps got a Brooks Laich goal with 4:34 left in regulation to cut the deficit to 4-3, they couldn’t get closer due to a poor read by one of their D which led to Richards beating Cristobal Huet on the penalty shot going five-hole with 2:59 to go. It looked like a pretty good call as he had a step on the defender.

Mike Knuble added an empty netter in a game the Flyers controlled with a 32-19 SOG edge. For the Caps, Alex Ovechkin tallied just a helper and Alexander Semin (assist, -2 rating) plus rookie pivot Nicklas Backstrom (no points, 1 SOG) struggled. They’ll need a stronger effort to level the series Thursday.

As for the other game, the Canadiens did what they needed to gaining a split in Boston with a 1-0 blanking of the Bruins. Only veteran defenseman Patrice Brisebois’ power play goal with 42 seconds left in the second made the scoresheet in what was a tightly contested game between the Original Six rivals.

His quick one-timer off a broken play beat Tim Thomas to give the top seeded Habs the edge they needed. The third saw the Habs buckle down allowing just six Boston shots as rookie Carey Price stopped all 27 for his first career NHL postseason shutout. The 20 year-old’s best save came with the game still scoreless when Game Three hero Marc Savard nicely setup Glen Murray in front but Price quickly slid across to make a tough stop look relatively easy.

The Habs can wrap up the 31st series between the close rivals tomorrow night in Montreal.

Later tonight, it’s Game Four between the Devils and Rangers at the Garden. See ya later!