First-Time Florida Shows Boston Exit

NHL

Two players stood between Florida’s Bill Lindsay and the Panthers’ first-ever playoff series victory. They were Boston’s Ray Bourque and goaltender Bill Ranford.

In a dramatic third-period game-winner, Lindsay beat both the four-time NHL defenseman of the year and the goaltender who took Edmonton to the 1990 Stanley Cup championship. The goal gave the Panthers a 4-3 victory over Boston on Saturday in Miami and a 4-1 decision in the best-of-seven playoff series.

Bourque tripped Lindsay as he skated by on the right wing, but the Panthers wing batted the puck between Ranford’s legs at 15:03 before falling to the ice.

“He gave me a good whack, but somehow I stayed on my feet,” said Lindsay, in his third NHL season. “You are just trying to put it on net, any way, any how.”

Lindsay’s goal helped Florida become the sixth team to win its first Stanley Cup playoff series.

Panthers 4, Bruins 3

Boston 1 1 1 - 3

Florida 2 1 1 - 4

First period-1, Florida, Skrudland 1 (Dvorak, Hough), 3:03. 2, Florida, Laus 1, 8:11. 3, Boston, Donato 1 (Bourque, Stumpel), 16:31 (pp).

Second period-4, Boston, Stumpel 1 (McEachern), 9:33. 5, Florida, Lowry 3 (Woolley, Barnes), 16:42 (pp).

Third period-6, Boston, Moger 2 (Donato, Bourque), 12:29 (pp). 7, Florida, Lindsay 2 (Fitzgerald), 15:03.

Shots on goal-Boston 8-10-11-29. Florida 10-16-10-36.Power-play opp.-Boston 2 of 4; Florida 1 of 3.Goalies-Boston, Ranford 1-3 (36 shots-32 saves). Florida, Vanbiesbrouck 4-1 (29-26).A-14,703 (14,503).

Blues 2, Maple Leafs 1

St. Louis

Steve Leach scored with 5:57 left as St. Louis advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

Leach, who had 11 goals in the regular season, picked up a loose puck after a Toronto clearing effort deflected off a Maple Leafs player. He caught another break on the game-winner as his slap shot from the slot went in off the skate of defenseman Dave Ellett for his second goal of the playoffs.

The Blues, who won the series 4-2, lost in the first round to Vancouver in Mike Keenan’s first season as general manager and coach. They finished the regular season 1-7-4, but have picked up their play considerably in the playoffs.

Toronto 0 1 0 - 1

St. Louis 0 0 2 - 2

First period-None.

Second period-1, Toronto, Clark 2 (Sundin, Gilmour), 7:55 (pp).

Third period-2, St. Louis, MacInnis 2 (Courtnall, Leach), 1:40. 3, St. Louis, Leach 2, 14:03.

Shots on goal-Toronto 9-6-9-24. St. Louis 8-14-13-35.Power-play opp.-Toronto 1 of 4; St. Louis 0 of 5.Goalies-Toronto, Potvin 2-4 (35 shots-33 saves). St. Louis, Casey 3-2 (24-23).A-20,777 (19,260).

Flyers 6, Lightning 1

St. Petersburg, Fla.

Philadelphia finally got rid of pesky Tampa Bay, as Bob Corkum had a back-breaking goal and two assists in a win to put the Flyers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Flyers won the series 4-2 after taking the last three games against the Lightning, who gave the Flyers a surprisingly stiff test in their first playoff appearance.

Ron Hextall turned in another solid performance for the Flyers, stopping 24 shots. The only goal he allowed came in the opening period when he stopped Alexander Selivanov’s point-blank shot, and John Cullen flipped in the rebound inside the left post.

Philadelphia 3 2 1 - 6

Tampa Bay 1 0 0 - 1

First period-1, Philadelphia, Dykhuis 1 (Quinn, Brind’Amour), 5:45 (pp). 2, Philadelphia, Antoski 1 (Corkum, Klatt), 6:40. 3, Tampa Bay, Cullen 3 (Selivanov, Zamuner), 9:27. 4, Philadelphia, Klatt 3 (Corkum), 14:53.

Second period-5, Philadelphia, Corkum 1 (Brind’Amour, Antoski), 12:12. 6, Philadelphia, Lindros 3 (Dykhuis, LeClair), 12:59.

Third period-7, Philadelphia, Samuelsson 1 (Renberg, Otto), 5:49.

Shots on goal-Philadelphia 11-10-4-25. Tampa Bay 10-6-12-28.Power-play opp.-Philadelphia 1 of 3; Tampa Bay 0 of 4.Goalies-Philadelphia, Hextall 4-2 (28 shots-27 saves). Tampa Bay, Puppa 1-3 (21-16), Reese (12:59 second, 4-3).A-27,189 (28,000).

Avalanche 3, Canucks 2

Vancouver, British Columbia

Joe Sakic scored the winning goal for the second straight game as Colorado beat Vancouver and advanced to the second round.

The opportunistic Sakic converted a passout from Sandis Ozolinsh at 17:18 of the third period as the Avalanche wrapped up the Western Conference series in six games.

The teams each had two goals in the wild second period that was punctuated by a rare playoff fight, this one between Colorado’s Uwe Krupp and Vancouver defenseman Dana Murzyn following a goal.

Colorado 0 2 1 - 3

Vancouver 0 2 0 - 2

First period-None.

Second period-1, Vancouver, Naslund 1 (Mogilny, Tikkanen), 3:43 (pp). 2, Colorado, Leschyshyn 1 (Kamensky, Forsberg), 4:29. 3, Vancouver, Tikkanen 3 (Mogilny, Linden), 10:45 (pp). 4, Colorado, Lemieux 2 (Sakic, Ozolinsh), 12:06 (pp).

Third period-5, Colorado, Sakic 7 (Ozolinsh, Young), 17:18.

Shots on goal-Colorado 3-12-7-22. Vancouver 7-11-4-22.Power-play opp.-Colorado 1 of 5; Vancouver 2 of 7.Goalies-Colorado, Roy 4-2 (22 shots-20 saves). Vancouver, Hirsch 2-3 (22-19).A-18,422 (18,422).