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Flyers erase 3-0 deficit, stun Pens in OT

Apr 12, 2012 - 5:45 AM Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Jakub Voracek tallied 2:23 into overtime, capping a rally from a three-goal deficit and giving the Philadelphia Flyers a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal from CONSOL Energy Center.

Matt Carle's attempted centering feed from the left wing made it on goal. However, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang accidentally cleared the puck to the right side, where Voracek was alone to sweep it into an open net.

For the 22-year-old Czech, it was his first career playoff score. It helped push Philly's record to 6-1 all-time in the Penguins' new arena.

"Even though it's almost impossible to come from that far behind, we knew we could do it," Voracek said. "We stuck to the game plan, came back. We had to wait it out, spend the energy for the whole 60 minutes. We came back against them three times already and it shows how hard we work for every goal."

Danny Briere scored twice and Brayden Schenn tied the game late in the third for the Flyers, who had never before won a postseason game when trailing 3-0 after one period of play.

Ilya Bryzgalov shook off some early rust and earned the win with 25 saves.

"It took a lot of work to win this game. We can't dwell on it," Briere said. "You celebrate for a few minutes but we have to get ready for Game 2. We have a chance to take both here and then be up 2-0 coming into our building. We might as well go for it."

Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy and Pascal Dupuis lit the lamp in the opening 20 minutes for the Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed four goals on 26 shots for the loss.

Game 2 in this best-of-seven series is scheduled for Friday night in the Steel City.

The hosts got on the board at the 3:43 mark of the first, when a Dupuis shot was blocked by Philly defenseman Nicklas Grossmann, but Crosby flipped it into the top-right corner on the backhand.

It was 2-0 at 7:49 when Kennedy finished off a 2-on-1 break with a successful forehander from the left side off a rolling dish by Jordan Staal.

Ex-Pittsburgh star Jaromir Jagr had a breakaway just prior to the midway point of the first but missed the net wide right -- a killer missed opportunity.

Pittsburgh seemed to assume an iron-clad 3-0 advantage with 36.9 seconds remaining. Bryzgalov badly misplayed a Steve Sullivan centering feed from behind the net, allowing the puck to trickle behind him and over the goal line thanks to a swat from Dupuis.

After killing off a penalty early in the second and seeing Fleury stone Scott Hartnell in front, Briere tallied at 6:22 of the second off a lead pass by Schenn. The visitors were down two after 40 minutes.

On a Penguins power play early in the third, Bryzgalov made a glove stop on a Sullivan chance from the slot to keep it a two-goal contest, and a minute later Staal rang a shot off the post.

Fleury responded in kind as he flashed leather to rob Carle's wrister from between the circles with just under nine minutes gone, but Briere scored on the short side from the left-wing boards less than a minute later to make it 3-2.

It was all even with 7:37 to play on Philly's lone power play of regulation, as Hartnell sent a slap pass from the right point and Schenn redirected it home from the high slot.

"I'm not so sure the pace can't be sustained. It's a conscious decision with puck management to be able to play at that speed," noted Penguins head coach Dan Byslma when asked if he was concerned about his team failing to bear down with sizeable early leads. "We weren't as good as the game got later. It's not a matter of sitting back."

Game Notes

Wednesday marked just the second time in six playoff matchups with the Penguins that the Flyers have won Game 1, following an opening-matchup decision in the 1997 ECSF...Briere increased his postseason output to 98 points in 98 games...Jagr's assist on Schenn's goal gave him 182 points in 170 lifetime playoff games...Schenn, who added two assists, set a career high for points in his initial postseason appearance...Dupuis extended his point streak to 18 games...Voracek posted one assist in 2009 as Columbus suffered a four- game sweep at the hands of Detroit in a Western quarterfinal...The Flyers welcomed Briere and Grossmann back from two-game absences...Philadelphia holds a 3-2 advantage in all-time playoff meetings, but Pittsburgh has won the last two (2008-09)...Flyers defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon left the game late in the second period with an upper-body injury and was listed as day-to-day.