Both these teams came into this off gruelling 7 game series in the last round and it would be a case of who had the more jump in them after those who would come out winners.
The Bruins got off to a good start in this one with Krejci picking up a rebound off a Horton shot and backhanded it in low past Boucher. It was only 1.58 into the game.
The Flyers took around 6 or 7 minutes to get any sort of pressure on the Bruins net and even then Thomas made a comfortable save from the ice and the pressure was dispersed.
Pronger and Paille took the first penalties of the game at 9.36, the foremost for slashing and the latter for tripping. This led to a spell of 4 on 4 and an equaliser for Danny Briere. A puck thrown on the net by Coburn seemed like it was going to be comfortable for Thomas to cover but Briere got infrot of the Bruins netinder and took it off his stick. He then was able to settle it down and put it in on the forehand.
The pace of the game picked up after this, the teams starting to go end to end and hitting each other a bit harder. Thomas made a good save on Van Riemsdyk, sliding post to post to get his pad to the one time shot.
The Bruins got the 1st powerplay of the game with Rinaldo going to the bench for goaltender interference with 5.54 left on the period. The Flyers killed it off comfortably and the Bruins were still looking for their first powerplay goal of this years playoffs.
With 36 seconds left it was Horton who got the Bruins back into the lead after some bad defensive zone play by Philadelphia. Seidenberg with a nice play to take the puck to the back of the net and feed it infront for Horton to put it past Boucher.
At the end of the 1st the Bruins were outshooting their opponents 12-8.
The Bruins extended their lead in the 2nd to 3-1 with Boucher letting a shot by Recchi slip through him at 2.34. He had already made a save from him but the rebound went straight back to the players stick. No defenceman really pressured Recchi and he had all the time in the world to get both shots away.
The Bruins kept the pressure on the Flyers, Boucher having to make a pad save to stop it going 4-1 and the Flyers started to get frustrated and slash at Bruins players. A call was missed on Giroux but Versteeg was calld at 5.11. The Bruins powerplay was still struggling and the game remained at 3-1.
They were given another chance almost straight away as Briere was called for tripping at 7.42. The Flyers penalty kill was looking good, about the only part of their game that was so far. Their own powerplay would get it's chance next as Marchand took a slashing call at 9.58.
The Flyers created a good chance almost straight away but Thomas just about covered up after 2 or 3 jam attempts by Richards infront. He then pulled a decent save on Van Riemsdyk as the Flyers forward took the puck to the net.
The Bruins were having their own penalty troubles now with Boychuk picking up a high sticking call at 12.37.
Philadelphia hadn't scored a powerplay goal against the Bruins in their regular season games and they did nothing on this 2nd one to look like breaking that duck.
The Bruins added a 4th straight off a face off with 4.24 left as Mcquaid received the face off back from Krejci and wristed in from blueline. Krejci got a defelction on the puck and Boucher didn't even move as he was still standing bolt up in net as the puck went past his glove.
It was 5-1 with 2.44 left, a soft shot from Ference deflected infront by Bergeron onto the toe of Boucher and Marchand flipped it glove side past the keeper. This signalled the end for Boucher as he was pulled and replaced by Bobrovsky.
Straight away the Flyers got an offensive zone face off and Van Riemsdyk put a wrister past Thomas gloveside to get it back to a 3 goal lead.
With 1.48 though the Flyers took a penalty with Giroux getting called for slashing this time after the ref's misse one by him earlier. A pentulant play after his team had just scored, putting the pressure right back on them. It was Thomas though making 2 great shorthanded saves that saw the period nearly end with the Flyers getting it back to a 2 goal game.
The Flyers started the 3rd at pace and with less than 2 minutes gone there was some open ice to work with as Peverly took 2 for cross checking and Hartnell 2 for slashing. This meant the game went 4 on 4 for the 2nd time this game. Neither team could take advantage of this although Thomas nearly juggled one over his own goal line on a glove save.
Another spell of Flyers pressure 8.30 into the period lead to Giroux firing a shot high over the net after a couple of good stick handling moves. The Bruins Ference took a hooking call on the move and the Flyers got another powerplay. They created no shots on this though, not getting set up at all and spending most of 2 minutes skating around in their own zone or chasing the puck back into it.
An easy kill for Boston but they would have to kill another almost straight away as Krejci took a slashing call with 9.03 left. The Flyers managed some zone possesion and a shot early on the man advantage but Briere shot it straight into the midrift of Thomas
Marchand then got a tripping call as he tried to pull a move on Pronger, missed the puck and took the defenders legs from under him. This gave the Flyers just under a minute of 5 on 3 play but they couldn't take advantage.
They did on the 5 on 4 though, with Richards taking the puck out of a crowd of players in the corner and skating infront to shoot his wrister short side on Thomas. There was still 6.58 left in the period.
With 5.01 left Marchand made it 6-3. He came from behind the net unmarked and the puck just seemed to bounce off a Flyers defender and straight to him to sweep into the net.
That goal was a backbreaker for the Flyers and any hope of a comeback was quashed with it. Meszaros took a slashing penalty and sent the Bruins on a powerplay with 4.30 left. Lucic and Rinaldo also picked up 10 minute misconduct calls as they had a push and shove match.
Boston made it 7-3 with 2.21 left just as the powerplay time ticked off the clock. A great pass from behind the net by Krejci found Campbell to the side of the crease and he just outworked the defence to keep his stick on the ice and tap in past Bobrovsky.
Man of the match for me was Krejci from the Bruins. He seemed to be involved when the Bruins created good chances and he picked up 2+2.
However, it was an awful Flyers performance that let the Bruins in so many times. In a tough series against the Sabres they seemed to defend a lot better even if the netminders were all having nightmares. This time the netminders were hung out to dry with bad performances and no help from the defence. Boucher let pucks through him, Bobrovsky was just given no chance when his defence literally didn't get near the scorers or gave them the puck.
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