PHILADELPHIA — The Flyers’ far-fetched comeback is nearly complete.
Michael Leighton stopped 30 shots in his first start in nearly two months to help streaking Philadelphia beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 Wednesday night and force a seventh game in Boston on Friday night.
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“It’s not always the easiest route, but we seem to find a way,” Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger said.
Philadelphia’s season appeared over after it lost the first three games of the series. Not now. The Flyers are on the brink of history — and a spot in the Eastern Conference finals against Montreal.
The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders are the only NHL teams to overcome 3-0 deficits to win a best-of-seven playoff series. The Flyers are the first team to trail 3-0 and force a Game 7 since the ’75 Islanders.
Mike Richards and Danny Briere scored for the Flyers. Milan Lucic scored with a minute left for Boston.
“If you would have asked me before the series if it would go seven, I would have said yes,” Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman said. “No one thought we would win three straight to start the series.”
It was an even bigger reach to expect the Flyers to win the next three. Richards, the Flyers’ captain, was stone faced discussing the significance of a Game 7 victory.
“It would mean we move on,” he said. “We’re not worried about any of the other stuff.”
Leighton was everything the Flyers wanted in his first start since he sprained his ankle March 16. Leighton’s injury paved the way for Brian Boucher to take over, and all he did was lead the Flyers into the postseason as the No. 7 seed and an upset over New Jersey in the first round.
Boucher sprained a ligament in his left knee in Game 5 and the job again belonged to Leighton, who combined with Boucher for a 4-0 victory Monday night.
“My goal was to get back on the bench and support Boucher,” Leighton said. “To be here and playing, it’s just a great feeling.”
Richards knocked in a rebound 6:58 into the game for his fifth goal of the playoffs, pushing the Wachovia Center crowd into a frenzy. The Flyers talked between Games 5 and 6 that all the momentum shifted their way — and all the pressure was on Boston.
“I’m sure the pressure is mounting even more,” Briere said.
Boston goalie Tuukka Rask surely felt the burden down 1-0.
The Flyers were the aggressors early, putting quick pressure on Rask and keeping the crowd of 19,929 into the game.
The “Let’s Go Flyers!” chant echoed throughout the arena and the team seemed to feed off the energy. Briere, who has been sensational in the postseason, made it 2-0 on a power-play goal that deflected high off Rask’s shoulder.
Rask was solid in goal with 25 saves. He made a nice glove save on Ville Leino’s penalty shot with 7:21 left in the third.
“We have one game to see who gets to play Montreal,” Wideman said.
The Bruins just can’t get any offense going, no matter who’s in goal for the Flyers. Before Lucic made it 2-1, Boston hadn’t scored since Mark Recchi forced overtime in Game 4 with a goal with 31.5 seconds left in regulation.
“They really took it to us the first 10 minutes,” Bruins Coach Claude Julien said. “The pucks weren’t going in for us tonight.”
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