Flyers try to rebound in Game 2

By Dan Di Sciullo

After getting pummeled on home ice in the opener of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals, the Philadelphia Flyers will try to bounce back when they host the Boston Bruins in Game 2 tonight at Wells Fargo Center.

The Bruins jumped all over the second-seeded Flyers in Saturday's Game 1, pounding the home club by a 7-3 score. David Krejci led the way for third- seeded Boston with two goals and two assists.

Although the Flyers came back from a three-games-to-none deficit to eliminate Boston from last spring's conference semis, Philadelphia does not want to fall further behind in this year's series.

"I don't what it is," said Flyers Danny Briere. "The past couple of years it seems we need adversity to start playing better. This needs to be an eye opener because we'll be done in a hurry if we keep playing that way."

Although the Bruins suffered four straight losses in their historic meltdown in the 2010 conference semis, Krejci hasn't been a part of a Boston loss against Philadelphia in the last two postseasons. It was a big turning point in last year's series when Krejci suffered a broken wrist in Game 3 and sat out the final four tilts of the conference semis.

Brad Marchand added two goals and a helper for the Bruins on Saturday. Marchand is another player who did not skate for Boston in any of its losses to Philly in last year's playoffs. He played in 20 games during the 2009-10 regular season, but was a healthy scratch for the entire conference semis.

Marchand held on to his rookie status this year and notched 21 goals and 20 assists in 77 games for the Bruins.

Nathan Horton, Mark Recchi and Gregory Campbell also tallied in Game 1 to back 31 saves from Tim Thomas, who was the backup to Tuukka Rask in last year's playoffs before taking his starting job back with a stellar 2010-11 campaign.

"Each game you have to do it again. What you've done in the past doesn't matter. The next game starts over," Thomas said.

Boston went 0-for-5 on the power play on Saturday and has yet to score a goal on 26 opportunities with the man advantage in this year's playoffs.

Briere, James van Riemsdyk and Mike Richards scored for the Flyers, who failed to build on momentum from Tuesday's Game 7 home win over Buffalo.

Briere's tally was his NHL-leading seventh of the playoffs. He also has 95 points (42 goals, 53 assists) in 94 career playoff games.

Brian Boucher, who was heralded for winning all four games of his club's first-round series with Buffalo despite constant uncertainty in net, was shelled for five goals on 23 shots in Game 1.

"As a goaltender, I'm responsible for stopping the puck," Boucher said. "It's always a wake up call to come out. It seems to be one of the last things coaches can do, instead of yelling at the guys or taking a timeout. That's the way it goes."

Sergei Bobrovsky allowed two scores on 10 shots in relief, but Boucher will start Game 2.

The Flyers are hoping to get Jeff Carter back at some point in this series, but he will miss Game 2. Carter, who led Philly with 36 goals in the regular season, suffered a sprained right MCL in Game 4 of the Buffalo series and hasn't played since.

Philadelphia was a seventh seed last year when it pulled off the amazing comeback against the Bruins, and the Flyers went on to win the Eastern Conference title before losing in six games to Chicago in the Stanley Cup Finals. This year, the Flyers are a second seed and entered the postseason as Atlantic Division champions.

Boston has also improved its seeding from a year ago, as the Bruins were a sixth seed in 2010, but gained the third spot in the East after winning the Northeast Division.

This is the sixth all-time postseason encounter between the Flyers and Bruins. Philadelphia has won three of those series and last year's meeting was the first playoff battle between the clubs since 1978.

The Flyers had a 22-12-7 record as the host this year, while Boston was 24-12-5 as the guest.

Philadelphia is 2-3 on home ice in this year's postseason. The Bruins, who will host Game 3 on Wednesday and Game 4 on Friday, are 3-1 as the visiting club in this postseason.