Tim Thomas was unstoppable and David Krejci scored six minutes into overtime, giving the Bruins a 3-2 win and a 2-0 series lead last night in Philadelphia.
Krejci has had a monster series so far and continued his stellar play, rifling a shot by Brian Boucher that was initially waved off, but later ruled to be a good goal. The shot even fooled the goal judge, who didn't even light the lamp. Krejci's shot hit the vertical bar in the back of the net and ricocheted directly out of the goal, giving the illusion that the shot was stopped.
After a quick review, the goal was allowed and the Bruins escaped Philly with a dramatic 3-2 victory.
Krejci wasn't the only hero, as Tim Thomas played out of his mind, especially in the third period and overtime. Thomas made 32 of his 52 saves in the third and OT, following up his solid game 1 performance
Early in the first period however, it looked like Thomas was due for a rough night. James Van Reimsdyk scored less than one minute into the first, chipping the puck past Thomas and giving the Flyers the all-important first goal.
Van Reimsdyk was not done yet, scoring his second goal of the night at 9:31 off a rebound from Kimmo Timmonen's shot. The power play goal put the Flyers up 2-0 with momentum squarely on their side.
The Bruins would not go quietly, as they answered 1:25 later to quiet the rowdy crowd. The masked man Chris Kelly continued his impressive postseason, crashing towards the net to put home Tomas Kaberle's rebound to trim the deficit to one.
After Kelly's goal, the B's kept the pressure on, and then tied the game less than two minutes later. Rookie Brad Marchand took a beautiful feed from Patrice Bergeron and unleashed a wicked wrister from the slot that got by Boucher and tied the game at 14:15 of the first period.
Bruins Coach Claude Julien praised Bergeron after the game for raising his level of play in the postseason, saying, "He comes to play every night, and he plays hard. He plays hard at both ends." Bergeron has easily been the Bruins' most consistent player so far this spring, and moments like last night solidifies his importance on this roster.
With 4 goals in the first period, game two looked like it was going to be a shootout.
The goaltenders quickly dispelled that notion.
Tim Thomas was spectacular and both Boucher and Sergei Bobrovski held the fort down for the Flyers in the 2nd and 3rd periods. Bobrovski came on in relief of Boucher in the 2nd period, who left with an apparent injury before returning in the 3rd.
In the final stanza, Philly was the more aggressive team, outshooting the Bruins 22-7 in their frantic attempt to take the lead. Thomas was perfect making save after amazing save, including three massive stops in the final few minutes of regulation when Philly was on the power play.
Philly missed out on a golden opportunity as time expired in the third, when Daniel Briere stood on the doorstep with an open net and fanned on the shot as time expired, sending the game into overtime.
After more Tim Thomas greatness, Krejci scored his third goal in two games to send the series back to Boston.
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