Flyers don't flop in Game 2
They even series with Canadiens
R.J. Umberger helped give Philadelphia another playoff lead, and Martin Biron came through as the Flyers held on for a crucial road win.
Umberger scored twice, Biron made 34 saves, and Philadelphia beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-2, last night to even the second-round series at a game apiece.
Jeff Carter and Daniel Briere also scored to help the Flyers rebound after they blew 2-0 and 3-2 leads Thursday night in a 4-3 overtime loss.
"Marty was a huge part of that," Carter said. "He was unreal tonight, again, and made the big saves when we needed them. It's a good win for us. As a team on the road, going for home-ice advantage is your main focus."
Saku Koivu and Andrei Markov scored their first goals of the playoffs for Montreal. Carey Price made 19 saves.
Umberger opened the scoring 5:53 in with his third goal of the playoffs.
After Markov scored 1:26 into the third to draw Montreal to 3-2, Umberger sealed the win with his second goal of the game with 2:21 remaining, shooting into a wide open right side after he batted the puck out of Price's glove.
"I was just crashing the net and it went in," Umberger said. "I'll take it."
For his part, Price wasn't happy about Umberger's tactic.
"It was a little bit of interference but it was a little bit of a hockey play, too," Price said. "I was going for the puck and he gives my glove a whack and I don't get the puck and he gets it."
Briere, booed throughout the first two games at the Bell Centre, got his seventh goal of the playoffs 13:33 into the second to restore the Flyers' two-goal lead after Koivu scored on a power play late in the first.
Briere cut across the goalmouth and put a backhand under Price's pad, off the left post, and over the goal line. Briere has been a constant target of Canadiens fans through Philadelphia's four games in Montreal this season - including two regular-season games - after he passed up the Canadiens' offer to sign as a free agent with the Flyers.
"We let them back in the game a little bit but I liked the way we didn't just sit back this time when they tried to come back in the game," Briere said. "We attacked and found a way to get that two-goal lead again."
Price was beaten on shots over his left shoulder twice in the first half of the opening period as Umberger and Carter scored 2:46 apart to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead 8:39 in.
Umberger took a drop pass from Jim Dowd in the right corner and used Koivu as a screen when he put a wrist shot over Price's shoulder into the top right corner of the net for his third goal.
Carter made it 2-0 with his fourth goal, a power-play effort at 8:39 as he beat Price with a shot from the right side.
"The first one I didn't get a good peek at it and the second one, Carter made a good shot," Price said. "I think he only had a puck-sized part of the net there and he hit it."
Koivu scored a power-play goal at 16:18 to cut the lead to 2-1 shortly after the Canadiens enjoyed a lengthy two-man advantage.
The Montreal captain reached around from behind the net to tuck the puck inside the right post, setting off a wild celebration by the crowd of 21,273.
Canadiens defenseman Ryan O'Byrne was in the lineup for the third time in Montreal's ninth playoff game. Patrice Brisebois did not dress because of a leg injury.
Red Wings 5, Avalanche 1 - Mule-led Detroit is kicking Colorado when it's down.
Johan Franzen scored three times to lift host Detroit to a victory over the banged-up Avs, giving the NHL's top-seeded team a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal.
The 6-foot-3-inch, 220-pound center - known as "Mule" - redirected a hard pass in front of the net early in the game, scored on a wraparound in the second period, and whacked a rebound out of the air in the third.
It was his first career hat trick in the NHL, and first since the Swede was a teenager.
Darren McCarty was the last Red Wing to score three times in the playoffs, pulling off the feat against the Avs in the 2002 conference final en route to winning the Stanley Cup.
"Sorry about that, Mac," Franzen joked. "What can I say? I got lucky."
The humble player had two goals and an assist in Detroit's series-opening win.
"He's got a hot stick right now," Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said. "Everything he touches seems to be going in."
Game 3 is Tuesday night in Colorado.
Chris Osgood made 19 saves for the Red Wings.
Colorado's Jose Theodore gave up four goals on 20 shots and was pulled for a second straight game. Peter Budaj stopped all 12 shots he faced in the second period and finished with 19 saves.
The sixth-seeded Avs are counting on two off days and home ice helping them when the series resumes.
The Avs were without center Peter Forsberg (groin), defenseman Scott Hannan (lower-body injury), and winger Wojtek Wolski (upper-body injury) in Game 2.
