Flyersdevilsgame1

Behind another solid effort by Brian Boucher, the Flyers stunned a "sold-out" crowd in New Jersey Wednesday night to take a 1-0 series lead. Boucher, who made 23 saves, outplayed arguably the best goalie in NHL history Martin Brodeur. It was his first playoff win since May of 2000 against the Devils.

Boucher bailed the Flyers out of a less-than-spectacular first period, where they were caught standing around like pylons most of the time. Although he only made 9 saves in the first, the Flyers play much better when lighting the lamp first. And it's always difficult to come back against Brodeur and a historically stingy NJ defense. Fortunately for the Flyers, it wasn't a problem tonight.

The Flyers found their legs in the second. Chris Pronger, an absolute playoff stud, put the Flyers on the board midway through the period on the powerplay off a rebound in the crease. El capitan Mike Richards blasted a shot by Brodeur with 3:33 left in the second, set up on a beautiful pass by Ian Laperriere. The Devils made it a 2-1 game with 2:43 left in regulation after a shot by Travis Zajac glanced off Laperriere's skate and behind Boucher. That's as close as the Devils would make it. The Flyers and Boucher celebrated their 1-0 series lead with chants of "Boooooosh" in the background…on the road.

The Flyers now have the all-important home-ice advantage through the remainder of the series. Though it would be nice to take two from the Devils on the road, they guaranteed themselves a road split and coming home for games 3 & 4 with the series no worse than tied. We'll find out more Friday night at 7:30!