Boston’s Blake Wheeler, Miroslav Satan and Mark Recchi scored in a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday that lifted the Bruins to a commanding 3-0 lead in the NHL’s Eastern Conference semi-final series.
Patrice Bergeron scored an empty-net goal for the Bruins with 1:52 left.
Boston goalie Tuukka Rask allowed a quick goal at the start, but finished with 34 saves. The Bruins can complete the sweep in Game 4 in Philadelphia today.
Arron Ashram scored after 2:32 to put Philadelphia up 1-0, but Wheeler and Satan scored 94 seconds apart in the first period to wipe out the Flyers’ lead, and Boston never looked back.
The Bruins took over, even as injuries forced center David Krejci and Adam McQuaid out of the game. Krejci was leveled on a crushing hit from Philadelphia captain Mike Richards that actually led to Boston’s go-ahead goal.
The loose puck was corralled by Milan Lucic, who got it to Satan for his fifth goal of the postseason and a 2-1 Boston lead.
The Bruins were outshot by a 2-to-1 margin most of the game. The Flyers had plenty of open looks, but they couldn’t convert any rebounds against Rask. The Bruins goalie stopped all 15 shots in the second period, including two Philadelphia chances on the power play.
Unlike the Flyers, Boston was able to convert at least one power-play chance. Recchi, a former Flyers star, scored his 54th career playoff goal to make it 3-1.
Philadelphia has never won a series when trailing 3-0 (0-6). Only two NHL teams have recovered from such a deficit and advanced. The Bruins are 16-0 when they lead a best-of-seven series 3-0.
BLACKHAWKS 5, CANUCKS 2
In Vancouver, big forward Dustin Byfuglien scored a hat trick to lift Chicago over Vancouver and to a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semi-final series.
Kris Versteeg and Marian Hossa also scored, and Antti Niemi made 16 of his 31 saves in the first period as the Blackhawks picked up where they left off in Game 2 when they scored three goals in a third-period comeback win.
For Vancouver, Jannik Hansen and Alex Burrows scored and Roberto Luongo made 30 saves. The Canucks will try to even the series when they host Game 4 today.
Vancouver was 0 for 4 on the power play and allowed two goals to Chicago in six times short-handed. Byfuglien played a big role after being moved up from defense to play on the top line with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who had three assists.
Versteeg, who scored the winning goal with 90 seconds left in Game 2, opened the scoring 5:19 in by banging in a loose puck that trickled behind Luongo.
Pointless in his first eight playoff games, Byfuglien made it 2-0 as he lifted in a power-play rebound late in the first period. Toews won a faceoff cleanly, and Luongo bobbled Duncan Keith’s unscreened shot from the point.
Hansen pulled the Canucks within a goal midway through the second, but Burrows took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty 2 minutes later. Byfuglien then lifted in another rebound after Toews drove to the net along the goal line, making it 3-1.
Vancouver’s Burrows made up for the undisciplined penalty by snapping a wrist shot from the slot with 54 seconds left in the period to cut it to 3-2.
Luongo kept the Canucks in it with a sensational stick save off Brian Campbell, but any hope of Vancouver adding to an NHL-leading 13 third-period comebacks ended when Hossa beat Shane O’Brien to a rebound for an easy goal at 7:45.
Byfuglien was credited with the final goal with 6:02 left. Luongo was in position to make the save before Byfuglien pushed him into the net, but the goal was upheld.
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