John LeClair scored to end his playoff drought and goalie Robert Esche outplayed Nikolai Khabibulin Monday night in the Flyers' 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning to even the NHL Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece.
Mark Recchi, Sami Kapanen and Vladimir Malakhov also scored to build a 4-0 lead, drive Khabibulin from the game and ensure Philadelphia would stop Tampa Bay's eight-game winning streak in the playoffs.
PHOTO: AFP
The Flyers also halted an eight-game slide against the Lightning that included four losses during the regular season and a 3-1 setback in Game 1 Saturday.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven matchup is Thursday night in Philadelphia, where the Flyers are 6-0 in the postseason.
Esche, helped by the Flyers' ability to clog the middle of the ice and limit scoring opportunities for Tampa Bay's potent offense, stopped 29 shots to improve to 9-4 in the playoffs.
Ruslan Fedotenko scored midway through the third period with Tampa Bay down 6-0. NHL scoring champion Martin St. Louis added a power-play goal with 2:42 to go.
Even though the Flyers weren't facing elimination, they considered Monday night a must-win situation -- in part because while they're unbeaten at home in the playoffs, this is the first series they began on the road.
The sense of urgency was evident from the start.
LeClair scored on the first shot of the game, picking up the puck after Marcus Ragnarsson kicked it along the boards and skating in to beat Khabibulin from the left circle for his first playoff goal in 16 games, dating to last season.
Recchi made it 2-0, redirecting Ragnarsson's shot on the power play past Khabibulin with 11:10 left in the opening period. Three minutes later, Kapanen's short-handed goal pushed the Lightning into a deeper hole.
Khabibulin began the night with a 1.00 goals-against average and four shutouts in the playoffs, one more than he had during the entire regular season. The Flyers scored on four of 12 shots against the Russian goaltender, who was replaced by John Grahame with 13:58 remaining in the second period.
Michal Handzus scored against the Tampa Bay backup late in the second and Mattias Timander added an unassisted goal less than four minutes into the third period.
The loss was Tampa Bay's first since Game 2 of its first-round series against the New York Islanders.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and