FLYERS NEWS

Coming into tonight the Flyer's had their first chance to closeout a first round victory over the Caps. Sadly, despite a late push they fell short against the desperate Caps. They simply didn't play with the same urgency as the Caps and it cost them. Midway through the first period of play, Niklas Backstrom scored for a 1-0 Caps lead. Early in the 2nd period of play, Sergei Federov made it 2-0 Caps. Then late in the period Vinny Prospal finally put the Flyers on the board, cutting the lead to 2-1. Late in the 3rd period of play, Alexander Semin seemed to put it away for good, scoring on the power play for a 3-1 Caps lead. However, the Flyers weren't ready give in just yet and a minute later Derian Hatcher scored to cut the lead to 3-2. From there the Flyers had there chances, and in the waning moments Danny Briere had a golden opportunity, with a one timer from point black range, but it hit off the stick of a Washington player and went wide and the Flyers finally succumbed. So the Caps get the win and force a game 6 back at the Wachovia center. If the Flyers want to move on to the next round they'll have to close it out here.