Flyers Face Possible 1st Round Elimination

Curtis Brown went through six sticks before he found one that wouldn`t break. With the last one, the Buffalo Sabres top checker put the Sabres on the verge of the second round of the playoffs.

After the Sabres squandered two leads, Brown scored 6:13 into overtime to lift Buffalo to a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

The Sabres grabbed a 3-1 lead in the best of seven first-round series, winning for the second time in overtime. All four games have been decided by one goal.

Game 5 is Thursday at Philadelphia as the Sabres attempt to eliminate the Flyers for only the second time in seven playoff meetings.

"I`m going to tape it up and use it the next game," Brown said while laughing about the stick.

Eluding Flyers defenseman Eric Desjardins, Brown circled around the Philadelphia net, worked into the slot and snapped a 15-footer that beat goalie Roman Cechmanek over the left shoulder.

Brown decided to change sticks -- going from a two-piece stick to a one-piece -- on the prompting of Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek, who worried that Brown would break a stick during a crucial faceoff in the defensive zone.

"I went and got a one-piece stick and there was the first shot with it," said Brown, who scored his first career overtime goal. "I don`t know if I`ll go with it next game or not, but old Dom, he pulled a good one there."

Leave it to the Sabres checking line -- which has done a solid job against the Flyers` top threats -- to finally get into the limelight.

"I think Curtis was the guy that just kept showing some moxie with the puck," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "(The Flyers) threw everything they had today. ... But (Brown`s) line did a good job."

Miroslav Satan, Donald Audette and Chris Gratton also scored for the Sabres, who became the first team to win a home game in the series.

Daymond Langkow, Simon Gagne and Dan McGillis scored for the Flyers, who have never overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win.

Philadelphia showed plenty of resiliency by battling back to tie it after falling behind 2-0 before the first period was three minutes old.

After Gratton put the Sabres ahead 3-2 late in the second period, the Flyers forced overtime on McGillis` short-handed goal midway through the third.

"Slice it any way you want, take away those first two or three minutes and we win the hockey game," Flyers Keith Primeau said. "Unfortunately it didn`t happen for us. ... Instead of giving yourself an opportunity to get a lead on the road, you`re climbing out of a hole."

The Sabres didn`t exactly make it easy on themselves, either, as two teams played for the third game in four days.

Allowing McGillis` goal was inexcusable.

With Philadelphia`s Chris Therien in the penalty box for cross-checking Vaclav Varada, the Flyers broke up the ice on a 2-on-1 break.

Hasek stopped Paul Ranheim`s one-timer from the left circle, but lost his stick and then had it kicked into the corner by teammate Alexei Zhitnik.

The Sabres failed to clear the puck out of the zone as McGillis kept the puck in at the blue line and sent a low shot that beat Hasek directly through the legs.

"Almost any time we make a turnover, it costs us a goal," said Hasek, who stopped 30 shots. "Ten minutes left, you are on the power play, these things shouldn`t happen. ... We cannot make mistakes like that."

The Flyers are concentrating on staying alive.

"We`re going to need to elevate our game," coach Bill Barber said. "We can`t look at it any other way, it`s do or die."

Notes:
The Flyers made one lineup change, inserting C Peter White for his penalty-killing ability in place of Derek Plante. ... Five players entering Tuesday`s action have scored goals on their only shot of the playoffs. Four of those goals have been game winners, including Andy Delmore`s goal in Game 3 for Philadelphia and Jay McKee`s score in Buffalo`s overtime win Saturday. ... The Sabres called up defensemen Brian Campbell and Doug Houda, RW Norm Milley and G Mika Noronen from Rochester, which was eliminated from the American Hockey League playoffs by the Flyers` affiliate Philadelphia Phantoms on Monday.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)