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Ragnarsson inspires Flyers to victory

Philadelphia Flyers goalie Robert Esche, left, turns as the shot by the Toronto Maple Leafs Gary Roberts (partially obscured) crosses the crease into the net for a goal as the Flyers Marcus Ragnarsson and Mattias Timander try to defend. PHOTO: EPA

Marcus Ragnarsson scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-1 victory over Toronto in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Thursday night.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is tomorrow in Philadelphia.

Tony Amonte and Simon Gagne also scored for Philadelphia. Alexander Mogilny scored for Toronto.

"They really changed their game," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said. "They play really good playoff hockey. You have to gain ice by inches, not feet. This is going to be a hard series."

Robert Esche had 22 saves and outplayed Ed Belfour, who stopped 23 shots in a sub-par performance.

"They didn't dominate us at all," Leafs forward Tie Domi said. "They don't have any rough and tumble guys. They aren't the Broad Street Bullies. It is totally different hockey."

Defensemen Kim Johnsson (hand) and Eric Desjardins (forearm) sat out for Philadelphia. Leafs captain Mats Sundin (leg) missed his fourth straight game and forward Owen Nolan (knee) remained sidelined.

Flames 2, Red Wings 1

In Detroit, Marcus Nilson's first career playoff goal at 2:39 of overtime lifted Calgary over Detroit in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal series.

Miikka Kiprusoff made 28 saves to help the Flames win their fourth straight game on the road in the playoffs. Curtis Joseph made 16 saves for the Red Wings, who had been 3-0 at home this postseason.

It was the Flames' third straight overtime game. Calgary beat Vancouver in overtime in Game 7 of the first-round series after losing Game 6 in triple overtime. Detroit played its first overtime of the postseason after getting past Nashville in six games.

Game 2 of this matchup is today in Detroit.

The only goals in regulation came in the second period. Detroit's Robert Lang scored at 6:15, and Robyn Regehr tied it at 1 with 2:03 left in the period.

Sharks 5, Avalanche 2

In San Jose, California, Patrick Marleau had his second three-goal game of the postseason as San Jose scored three first-period goals to defeat the Colorado Avalanche in the opener of their second-round playoff series.

Marleau took over the goal-scoring lead during San Jose's relentless offensive performance for nearly two periods.

He scored San Jose's opening goal and added two more in 94 seconds midway through the second, chasing shaky Colorado goalie David Aebischer.

Vincent Damphousse and Scott Hannan also scored during the first period, which the Sharks dominated with a 79-44 goal advantage during the regular season.

Rookie Niko Dimitrakos had three assists, and Evgeni Nabokov made 26 saves.

Game 2 is today in San Jose.

Steve Konowalchuk and Peter Forsberg scored power-play goals for the Avalanche.
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