Flyers Stay Alive

The Philadelphia Flyers got to Dominik Hasek early, and then they got to his head.

Mark Recchi scored the go-ahead goal and Roman Cechmanek made 25 saves as the Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Thursday night to remain alive in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

The Sabres lead the best-of-seven series 3-2. Game 6 is Saturday in Buffalo.

"We just bought ourselves a few more days," said Keith Primeau, who had two assists.

Simon Gagne and Chris Therien also scored for Philadelphia, which has never rallied from a 3-1 playoff deficit.

Dominik Hasek made 30 saves, but lost his temper midway through the third period and earned a misconduct penalty.

Hasek slammed his pad to the ice in disgust after Primeau and Sabres defenseman James Patrick collided into him, and drew a 10-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

"I didn`t even try to make a save, because I know he`s coming out at my knees," Hasek said. "I was protecting myself. That`s why I was so upset."

"That`s asinine," Primeau said.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff accused Primeau of using dirty tactics all the time.

"He spins around, pretends he doesn`t know where he`s going and bumps into the goalie, and tries to run right through him," Ruff said. "I`ve seen that move before."

The Flyers took a 2-1 lead when Recchi blasted a shot past Hasek`s glove with 3:58 left in the second, one second before a 4-on-3 ended.

Recchi took a pass from Primeau in the slot, faked a shot, skated slowly toward the net and fired a shot inside the near goalpost.

"I shot it as hard as I could at his glove," said Recchi, who had struggled early in the series. "They kept backing off, so I kept walking in and they let me."

The Flyers took their first two-goal lead of the series 3:17 into the third period on Therien`s second goal in 80 playoff games. After Daymond Langkow won a faceoff, Therien gathered the puck at the point and lifted it inside the far post.

It was the first time this season Hasek has allowed three or more goals in four straight games.

"It was nothing fancy," Therien said. "I was just shooting it at the net, trying to get it through."

Three seconds before the goal, Hasek tossed his glove and the puck in the air after making a save, setting up the faceoff and inciting the crowd. The chants of, "Hasek, Hasek" from the 19,681 fans at the First Union Center intensified in the third period.

Philadelphia scored first for the second time in the series on a power-play goal by Gagne in the first period. Gagne one-timed a centering pass from Primeau off Hasek`s pad, got the rebound and stuffed it by Hasek for his third goal of the playoffs.

"We know Hasek is pretty good on the first shot and we know he is going to give a rebound," Gagne said. "We have to be ready to get the rebound and that`s what we did."

Maxim Afinogenov tied it at 1 with his first goal of the series nine minutes into the second. Afinogenov took a lead pass from Alexei Zhitnik, sped past defenseman Michal Sykora and blasted in a shot from just inside the blue line.

Philadelphia appeared to have another goal 88 seconds later when Therien`s centering pass hit Dimitri Kalinin`s skate and bounced toward the net. But the referees ruled Hasek stopped the puck before it crossed the goal line. Replays were inconclusive.

The Flyers celebrated another non-goal early in the game when Recchi took a shot that got stuck in the side of the net.

Hasek made an incredible save on a back-hander by Jody Hull while laying flat on his back, facing the net, early in the second.

Game notes:
The first four games of the series were decided by one goal. ... Defenseman Andy Delmore, who scored the game-winner in Game 3, was a healthy scratch as the Flyers skated just five defensemen. ... John LeClair, a five-time 40-goal scorer, has just one goal in the series. ... The five previous playoff series between Buffalo and Philadelphia went five games.

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)