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Bruins go up 3-0 on Flyers again

May 5, 2011 - 5:24 AM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - A year later, the Boston Bruins find themselves in the same position against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Zdeno Chara had two goals and an assist, David Krejci added a goal and two assists and Nathan Horton had a goal and an assist to give Boston a 5-1 win and a 3-0 lead in this Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Bruins were in nearly the same situation in last year's conference semifinal series after winning the first two games at home and taking Game 3 in Philadelphia.

However, the Bruins went on to lose the next three games and blew a 3-0 lead in Game 7 to become just the third team in NHL history to drop a seven-game series after going up three games to none.

The Bruins will look to exorcise last year's demons Friday in Game 4 in Boston, and can do so with another strong performance from goaltender Tim Thomas, who stopped 37 shots Wednesday.

"I think we all feel pretty good about our game right now and confident," said Boston forward Daniel Paille, who had a goal in the game. "So the main thing for us is not to get too high and stay focused."

Andrej Meszaros scored the lone goal for the Flyers, who pulled their starting goaltender for the fifth time in 10 playoff games.

Brian Boucher started between the pipes and was blitzed for two goals in the first 63 seconds. He wound up allowing four goals on 20 shots before being pulled just over 15 minutes into the second. Sergei Bobrovsky finished the game in net and stopped 7-of-8 shots.

The Bruins came out with the blitz and scored twice in 63 seconds to take a lead they never relinquished.

The first goal came at the 30 second mark as quick work in the Philly end resulted in a backhand pass behind the left side of the net to the front where Chara blasted it home for his first goal of the playoffs.

Moments later, a behind the back pass from Milan Lucic in the low right boards to the front saw Krejci one-time the puck home for a 2-0 lead.

"Yeah, it's not the start that we envisioned and you know you want to get off to a good start and it didn't happen today," said Boucher.

Thomas stopped 12 shots in the first period.

"That was about as good a start as you could ask for, especially on home ice," said Thomas. "It doesn't always work out that way. Definitely helped. It certainly helped from my perspective in goal. That's for sure."

Boston made it a 3-0 contest at the 13:39 mark of the second as a transition play saw Greg Campbell send a pass from the right to the left and Paille snap a shot into the right corner of the net.

Just under two minutes later, Horton skated through the middle and over to the inside right circle before slipping a shot between the pads of Boucher, who was pulled from the net and replaced by Bobrovsky.

Philly got on the board with 3:34 to play in the second on Meszaros' second goal of the playoffs, a wrister from down low at the left side.

Thomas, though, stopped 12 shots in the final period as Philly was unable to cut any further into its deficit.

To add insult to injury, Boston scored on a 5-on-3 power play with 1:22 to play when Chara's one-time blast from the top of the left circle sailed into the net.

It was the first time in the playoffs that Boston had scored on the man advantage. The team came into Game 3 0-for-28 on the power play in its previous nine contests this postseason.

Game Notes

Chara was plus-four in the contest...It was the quickest two goals to start a game in Boston playoff history. Also, it was the fastest two goals allowed by the Flyers to start a playoff game...Boston hasn't reached the conference finals since 1992...Philadelphia defenseman Chris Pronger sat out for a second straight game while forward Jeff Carter returned after missing the final three games of the first round the first two games of this series with a knee injury.