Visitor:
Home: Philadelphia Flyers
Date: April 29, 2000
Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 2
Scoring:
Team 1 2 3 Final
PIT 1 2 1 4
PHI 0 0 1 1
Visitor playmakers:
Robert Lang, Jaromir Jagr
Home playmakers:
Simon Gagne
Network: ABC
Announcers:
Pregame:
Intermissions:
Postgame: Yes
Commercials:
Grade:
Notes: For the
Pittsburgh Penguins, it was quality, not quantity.
Outshot again by a lopsided margin, the Penguins got two
goals apiece from Robert Lang and Jaromir Jagr and grabbed a commanding two
games to none lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 4-1 victory over
the Philadelphia Flyers.
Ron Tugnutt made 44 saves and Martin Straka had three
assists for the seventh-seeded Penguins, who are halfway to their second
straight playoff upset.
A win in this series would be even more improbable than
Pittsburgh's first-round triumph over the second-seeded Washington Capitals.
The Penguins had lost 16 consecutive games at Philadelphia before a 2-0 win in
Game One on Thursday.
Pittsburgh was outshot in the opener, 28-14, and the Flyers
had a 45-25 advantage in this contest. But Tugnutt again stopped nearly
everything thrown at him and the Penguins made the most of their chances.
"I feel great," Tugnutt said. "I just go out
and have nothing to worry about. I throw the equipment on and go out and play.
My mind is strictly on what we're doing here and I have nothing else to think
about."
"It's getting frustrating," admitted Flyers left
wing John LeClair. "We put up a lot of shots but
not a lot of rebounds. They seem to find their guy in front of the net and
maybe there's a bit of holding in there. But we have to make sure we fight
through it. We have the guys that can do it. We have to find those
rebounds."
Lang put Pittsburgh ahead for good with a power-play goal
16:57 into the first period and Jagr struck on the power play at 14:45 of the
second. Lang made it 3-0 less than two minutes later as the Pens gave the
sellout crowd at the First Union Center almost nothing to cheer about.
"The way Philadelphia started the game, it was
scary," Jagr said. "I felt like I was in a different league. We
didn't get a shot in the first 10 minutes. Tuggy
played great again, and then we started to score."
The top-seeded Flyers finally scored their first goal of the
series 4:34 into the third period as rookie Simon Gagne got his third
postseason tally.
But Jagr's sixth of the playoffs
capped the scoring with 9:01 remaining.
Pittsburgh has not allowed a power-play goal in 10 chances
against a Philadelphia team that second in the NHL during the season and
9-for-28 in the first round of the playoffs. The Penguins can wrap up the
series at home, hosting Game Three on Tuesday and Game Four two nights later.
"For the next game, we have to score the first goal.
That's the key," Gagne said. "And we have to do more on the power
play. The power play could make the difference in this series, and we have no
goals on it. We have to work on that."
After taking a host of undisciplined penalties in Game One,
the Flyers were called for four minors in the first period. Daymond
Langkow went off for roughing at 16:45 and Pittsburgh
grabbed the lead 12 seconds later. Rob Brown had the puck along the goal line
on the right side and made a perfect cross-crease pass to a cutting Lang, who
redirected the puck past rookie goaltender Brian Boucher.
Philadelphia took only two penalties in the second period,
but the second again proved costly. With defenseman Chris Therien
in the penalty box for holding, Jagr got his second goal of the series. He took
a pass from defenseman Jiri Slegr in the right
faceoff circle and put a wrist shot between Boucher's pads.
"We have to stay away from penalties," Flyers left
wing Craig Berube said. "We had it going early
there and the penalties start coming and it takes all the momentum away."
Lang scored again less than two minutes later, carrying down
the left side on a 2-on-1 before beating Boucher to the short side.
"It was a really good night for our line," Lang
said. "Everybody has to contribute. Every line has a certain role. You
have to try and do it every game and if you can, it's great."
Tugnutt was perfect through the first five periods of the
series but finally was beaten by Gagne. After Tugnutt stopped shots by rookie
Andy Delmore and Langkow,
Gagne lifted a rebound over the prone goalie.
Jagr restored Pittsburgh's three-goal cushion with a
one-timer from the edge of the right circle.
The final 5:09 featured a numerous skirmishes as the Flyers
tried to send a message before the series shifted to the Mellon Bank Arena.
Rick Tocchet, Luke Richardson and Craig Berube of Philadelphia all drew game misconducts.
"Us being up 4-1 is what
started it," said Pittsburgh right wing Matthew Barnaby, who was in the
middle of the action. "You expect that when you play here. They're
passionate, they want to win and they wanted to try to change the momentum of
the series. We were ready for it. We knew it was coming with the lineup they
sent out."
"They said they were going to keep an eye on a particular player and call a penalty if he started something. He started something and nothing was called," Flyers coach Craig Ramsay said. "Rick Tocchet showed a lot of composure, the way we asked our players to. He refused to be baited. It should have been a penalty and it was not called. We fulfilled our part as long as we could."
Running time: 2:08 (2 DVDs)