Tonight, the Flyers went into action with their goal being very simple. They could either go up 3-1 on the Devils and put the number two seed in the Eastern Conference on the ropes, or they could end up tied with New Jersey heading back to Newark for Game 5. Fortunately for Flyers fans, they chose the former, as Philadelphia battered the Devils tonight for a 4-1 win, putting them one win away from advancing to the second round of the NHL Playoffs.
On Sunday, Martin Brodeur was at his best, but tonight, he was not, allowing the Flyers to score four straight times after the Devils took a 1-0 lead in the first period. Two of Philadelphia's goals came on the power play, giving them six power play goals in the series, an impressive number after just four games. Jeff Carter scored both power play goals for the Flyers tonight, finally getting himself in the goal column in the postseason, while Danny Briere scored as well and kicked in two assists as well, giving him his best game of the playoffs so far as well.
I can't say enough about how Brian Boucher is playing in goal right now, either. Boucher stopped 30 of 31 shots from the Devils tonight, and looked like he turned the clock back about ten years to when he was a promising looking rookie and the Flyers seemed to have their goalie issues under wraps. Now, Boucher is a veteran, and he's got the Devils on the ropes for the second time in his playoff career. I'm not going to talk about how the last series with the Devils down 3-1 against the Flyers ended, but if you're interested, just look up my Bottom Ten moments of the last decade in Philadelphia sports. This year has another feel to it, however. The Flyers aren't waiting for anyone to come back from injury, and Boucher is playing on another level right now. Ever since the team almost backed their way out of the playoffs, Boucher has been lights out, holding the Devils to two goals or less in all three Flyer wins. That's the kind of play that this team is going to need if they want to advance to the second round and beyond in these playoffs.
Right now, I have nothing bad to say about the Flyers at all. The entire team is playing on a different level than they did during the regular season, and it's great to see them doing it against the New Jersey Devils as well. If they can get out of the first round, and take the Devils out at the same time, I'll almost consider this season a success. The only thing that could make this better, short of winning the Stanley Cup, would be to knock the Pittsburgh Penguins out of the playoffs as well.
Now that would be the best way for this year to wrap up. Knocking the Devils and Penguins out of the playoffs, with a chance to win the Stanley Cup? Doesn't get any better than that.
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