Flyers pull even in series
R.J. Umberger scored twice, Martin Biron made 34 saves and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 on Saturday night in Montreal, 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 a 4-3 overtime loss.
Saku Koivu scored his first goal of the playoffs for Montreal. Carey Price made 19 saves.
Game 3 is Monday night in Philadelphia.
Umberger opened the scoring 5:53 in with his third goal of the playoffs. He sealed the win with his second goal of the game with 2:21 remaining in the third, shooting into a wide-open right side after he batted the puck out of Price’s glove.
Briere, who has been 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 and 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 a Canadiens contract offer to sign as a free agent with the Flyers.
Price was beaten on shots over his left shoulder twice in the first half of the opening period as Umberger and Carter scored goals 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 put a wrist shot over Price’s shoulder into the top right corner of the net for his third goal.
Red Wings 5, Avalanche 1: At Detroit, Johan Franzen scored three times to lift the Red Wings to a victory over banged-up Colorado, giving the NHL’s top-seeded team a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinal.
Franzen – a 6-foot-3, 220-pound center known as “Mule” – redirected a shot 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 for his first career hat trick.
He had two goals in Detroit’s series-opening win.
Colorado’s Ian Laperriere scored early in the third period, avoiding a shutout.
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.