Bruins Dominate Flyers, Will Go For The Sweep On Friday

Zdeno Chara scored 2 goals, Nathan Horton recorded a Gordie Howe Hat Trick, and the Bruins skated to a 5-1 victory last night at the TD Garden.

The Bruins are now in the driver's seat, up 3-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals and on the verge of advancing to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1992.

The B's wasted absolutely no time whatsoever, getting on the board just 30 seconds in, when Zdeno Chara blasted a slapper that beat Brian Boucher top shelf. Brad Marchand set up the goal with a nice feed from behind the net that reached Chara in the high slot. The shot was too much for Boucher, who could not make the glove save.

Just 33 seconds later, "Dangerous" David Krejci put the Bruins up 2-0, reminding B's fans just why they were missing in the last four games of their 2010 collapse. 63 seconds in and the Bruins were cruising.

It would have been easy for them to get on their heels and let the skilled Flyers offense dictate the pace of the game, but the Bruins brought a strong, physical effort that saw little big men Brad Marchand and Daniel Paille deliver thunderous hits to Philly skaters.

With a two-goal lead, Boston maintained pressure and limited the Flyers scoring chances. After giving up 29 shots in the third period and overtime in game 2, it was imperative to protect the net and snuff out any scoring chance.

After half a period's worth of back and forth action, the B's chased Boucher from the net on the strength of two more goals. Paille scored at 13:39 of the 2nd period, followed by a weak goal by Nathan Horton that squirted through Boucher's legs. The goal forced Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette to pull the sloppy Boucher in favor of Sergei Bobrovski. Again.

Zdeno Chara added another goal in the third period, on a 5-on-3 powerplay goal to put the B's up 5-1 and all but guaranteed a Boston victory. The goal was their first PP goal of the series, snapping an ugly 0 for 30 streak that dated back to the Montreal series.

Now it is up to the Bruins to finish what they started. The Flyers look like a beaten team and the Bruins look like a better team than the 2010 version. One more win would set up an Eastern Conference Finals matchup with the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning, who advanced after sweeping the Washington Capitals last night. One more win and the Bruins will have come full circle from last year, doing to the Flyers what they should have done last spring.

Game 4 is tomorrow night at the Garden.

Let's finish them!