Carcillogame3OTnj

Martin Brodeur almost stole a game for the Devils. He made 31 saves, including several difficult ones in a third period where the Devils were outshot 12-3, to keep the game tied and send it to overtime. Dan Carcillo finally solved Brodeur on a broken play in the crease to give the Flyers a 3-2 overtime victory.

Mike Richards swatted a puck from the side of the net that appeared to hit Brodeur's pad and slip across the crease.That's when an unmarked Carcillo buried the rubber and put the Flyers ahead 2 games to 1 in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Carcillo was so excited he didn't know what to do with himself; he skated around the ice looking for someone to hug until he found Gagne and the rest of the bench.

The Flyers had a hard time getting into a rhythm early in the game. Although they came out full of energy and ready to play, the Devils had three powerplays in the first seven minutes of the game, preventing the Flyers from executing their game-plan early. Brian Rolston fired a slapshot behind a screened Boucher on the PP at the 7:15 mark of the first to give NJ the early 1-0. Claude Giroux, set up on a beautiful slap pass from Kimmo Timonen, tipped the puck behind Brodeur on the powerplay a minute and a half later to quickly even the score. Mike Richards put the Flyers ahead 2-1 just over a minute into the second, but the lead was short-lived. Brian Rolston scored his second powerplay goal of the game in similar fashion late in the second to knot the score. The score remained knotted at 2 until Carcillo finally netted the OT winner, sending an already loud Wachovia Center crowd into celebration mode.

Other post-game notes:

-Brian Boucher continued to ride his recent hot streak, stopping 17 of 19 shots for the win. Although he wasn't called on often, Boucher maintained his focus and made the necessary stops. The two shots that did beat him were pretty much unstoppable anyway since he was screened.

-The Wachovia Center did not disappoint. Fans were loud the entire game, whipping out the "Maaaaaaarrr-ty", "Booooooosh", and "Hey refs, you suck!" chants often.

-Martin Brodeur showed how he can single-handedly steal games. Unfortunately for him, the Devils were trapped in their own end for most of the game, giving him little chance to come out on top.

-I thought that the Flyers penalty kill was pretty good tonight, despite allowing 2 powerplay goals against in 8 chances. The Flyers also capitalized on the powerplay once, ending at 1 for 5. On a side note, the referees need to let the players play. There was no need to come out and call 16 minutes worth of penalties in the first period alone. The fans want to see five on five action, and I'm sure the teams want to play at even strength too. Unless a penalty is absolutely necessary to call, let 'em play!

-In order to pull off the upset (No matter what anyone says about the regular season, if a #7 seed beats a #2 seed, it's an upset!) the Flyers NEED to continue to play this way. The Devils can't stop the Flyguys when they play up-tempo hockey and fore-check the hell out of their opponents,.

The series resumes with Game 4 Tuesday at 7:30 at the Wach. Go Flyers!