By Dan Di Sciullo
After splitting a pair of games in Philadelphia, the Flyers and Sabres will meet tonight at Buffalo's HSBC Arena for a pivotal Game 3 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
Buffalo took a 1-0 decision in Thursday's opener before the second-seeded Flyers rebounded with a 5-4 victory in Saturday's Game 2 battle at Wells Fargo Center.
Former Sabres star Danny Briere netted the winner late in the second period and Brian Boucher stopped 20-of-21 shots in a relief role for Philadelphia on Saturday to even the series at one game apiece.
"We were fired up to start the game, there's no doubt about it," Briere said. "We just have to be careful. It's a fine line, crossing over to being too emotional, taking too many penalties."
Claude Giroux, Dan Carcillo and Ville Leino also tallied for the Flyers, who won Game 2 despite finishing 1-for-10 on the power play. Philadelphia has scored just once on 15 opportunities with the man advantage in this series.
The Flyers received offensive contributions from many sources on Saturday, as 11 different players record at least a point in the win.
Boucher notched the win after starter Sergei Bobrovsky allowed three goals on seven shots in the first 12 1/2 minutes. There has been no official word on whether Boucher will get the start tonight or if head coach Peter Laviolette will return to the rookie Bobrovsky.
Boucher played in 12 playoff games for Philly in its run to the Stanley Cup Finals last spring and posted a 6-6 record in those outings.
Thomas Vanek scored twice for Buffalo on Saturday while Cody McCormick also added a goal for the Sabres, who held a 3-2 lead briefly in the first period.
"We threw what we had at them and it just wasn't good enough tonight," Vanek said.
Meanwhile, two days after recording his second career postseason shutout, Ryan Miller was shelled in the loss for all five goals on 34 shots.
Philadelphia played once again without top defenseman Chris Pronger on Saturday, as the former Hart Trophy winner is still recovering from surgery to repair his fractured right hand. Pronger, who skated in just 50 games for Philly this season, is considered to be day-to-day, and is expected to be a game-time decision.
Flyers forward Andreas Nodl is also questionable tonight after suffering an upper body in Game 2.
The Sabres had defenseman Andrej Sekera back on the ice in Game 2 after he missed the final two tests of the regular season and the series opener with an upper body injury. Fellow blueliner Shaone Morrisonn, who suffered an upper body injury in Game 1, could miss a second straight game tonight.
Philadelphia is 16-15 all-time when a series is tied at 1-1. The Sabres are 3-7 in their playoff history when splitting the first two games of a series on the road.
The Flyers have taken five of their eight playoff series against Buffalo all- time, but the winner of Game 1 has won every postseason encounter between these clubs.
Buffalo, which will also host Game 4 on Wednesday, was 21-16-4 as the home club this season. Philadelphia set a franchise record with 25 road wins this year and ended the season with a 25-11-5 mark as the guest.
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