FLYERS NEWS

Leading their first round series with the Caps 2 games to 1, coming into tonight, the Flyers had a golden opportunity to put a commanding stamp on the series. Marty Biron provided another solid effort in goal, saving 38 of the 41 shots he faced including a couple dazzling game saving stops deep into the night as the game wound up in double overtime. For their part the Flyer's did not play their best, but they made the plays when it mattered most, while Washington came up short time and time again, and sometimes in a playoff game that is all that is needed to pull out a win. Just 42 seconds into the first period of play, Jeff Carter put the Flyers up 1-0. A couple minutes later Niklas Backstrom scored on the power play to knot it up at 1. Then late in the period Alexander Semin scored yet another power play goal for a 2-1 Caps lead. Finally Carter netted his second goal a few minutes later to knot it up at 2. Early in the second period of play, Steve Eminger scored for 3-2 Washington lead. In the 3rd period of play, with just under 10 minutes to play, Danny Briere saved the day with a power play goal to knot it up at 3. From there neither team could score again before the end of regulation so the game went into overtime. There, both teams had great chances to score and end the game, but both came up short and the game went into a second overtime. Finally, just under 7 minutes into the second overtime Mike Knuble slapped it into the net, off a rebound and the Flyers had themselves a thrilling 4-3 win. So the Flyers lead the series 3 games to 1 and can move on to the second round with a win in game 5 on Saturday.