The Philadelphia Flyers not only overcame a 3-0 deficit in their series against the Boston Bruins, a feat in it’s own right, but the Flyers also overcame a 3 goal lead by the Bruins to win game seven and claim the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. This win also puts the Flyers into an elite group, of which only two other teams belong, becoming only the third team in history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit.
The Flyers have been silencing critics and surprising fans left and right. Besides Montreal, the Flyers are the lowest seed in the Eastern conference to reach this level of playoffs. Both teams were expected to lose in the first round and now they face each other in the Eastern conference final.
The Flyers are the first team to make such a comeback since the 1975 New York Islanders. And the only other team to do so before that was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. The Flyers now belong to a legitimate elite powerhouse group of teams and will forever be remembered for this feat of excellence.
In the surprising game seven, the Bruins pulled to a fast early lead scoring all three of it’s goals in the first period. However, once the Flyers truly entered the game and began scoring goals they held the Bruins to only 11 shots on goal in the last two periods. The game and series winning goal came in the third period when Flyers’ Simon Gagne scored a 25 foot power-play goal with only seven minutes remaining. The Flyers power-play was a result of a to many men on the ice penalty committed by the Bruins. A lousy mistake that caused them the game and the series.
This is not the first time the Bruins have been disappointed in NHL playoff history. This is the third year in a row the Bruins have ended their season by losing a game seven. Carolina defeated them last year and Montreal the year prior. The Bruins have a steep hill to climb if they want to earn the trust of their fans back.
Only time will tell of the Flyers future in the playoffs. Given their performance as far, expect fireworks. Prediction, Flyers win the series of Montreal 4-3.
