Flyers finish off Isles, 7-4

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – It wasn’t pretty, but the Flyers finished off the season with a 7-4 win over the bottom ranked NYIslanders.  It locked up the Atlantic Division championship, but it also brought up several key questions.
“We got it done,” said defenseman Andrej Meszaros, who had a four-point night.  “We got the two points.  That’s all that matters now.  Get a good rest, and get ready for the playoffs.”
The Flyers jumped all over the Isles, and after only :47, they had a 2-0 lead on only 3 shots.  They looked like a team taking their final game of the regular season seriously.  But less than 10-minutes into the first period, the Isles tied it up on two quick goals.
The Flyers took back the lead on a spectacular Danny Briere breakaway, in which he flipped the puck on his back hand over the shoulder of Isles netminder, Rick Dipeitro.  The lead lasted just over 2-minutes, until forward John Tavares scored from the slot.  The goal chased the Russian rookie, Sergei Bobrovsky from the net.  He was replaced by veteran Brian Boucher.
The two teams entered the first intermission tied at 3.
The Isles took their first lead :53 in to the second period, when P.A. Parenteau fired in a dribbler that slipped past Flyers’ goaltender, Boucher.  It came on the power-play and it was their second man-advantage goal of the night.
They held the lead until Andrej Meszaros fired in the equalizer from the slot, and with less than 2-minutes left in the stanza, Hartnell scored to change the lead for the last time.  His goal was nothing short of a hard-working play.  He stripped an Islander defenseman of the puck right in front of their net and fired in his second of the night.
The third saw some pressure from the visitors, but the Flyers never let up and finished the night off with Meszaros’ second of the game and another, an open net goal from Darroll Power, for good measure.
The story on the night, however, wasn’t the win, but the fact that they locked up the Atlantic Division and a second place finish in the Eastern Conference.  It assured them a first round playoff series between themselves and the Buffalo Sabres, which will begin Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Sabres have been a tough team all season, with a quick potent offense, and a netminder, Ryan Miller, who can steal them a game or two.
“Ya, they have a lot of offense,” said forward Scott Hartnell, about the match-up.  “A lot of skilled guys—always fast.  You got to stay out of the box.”
As for his playoff goaltender, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette spoke bluntly.
“I stated my intentions a week ago, and from this point on you won’t get anything out of me,” said the coach.
Last week, he stated Bobrovsky would be the starter come playoff time, and Boucher would be his backup.  It was a question that has been on everyone’s minds, but further consideration came last week, when the Flyers called up last season’s playoff goaltender, Michael Leighton.
Laviolette’s words of confidence in his young netminder seem to indicate that Leighton was brought in as an insurance policy.  However, if Bobrovsky falters, Leighton will surely be called upon.
Either way, the Flyers will need to bring a new level of jump to their game than they’ve had in the last month or two.  They dropped from leading the Eastern Conference to fighting for the Atlantic Division lead on the very last day of the season.
When asked about the Flyers’ jump, Laviolette said, “I can tell you that, I truly believe, that we wake up tomorrow, there’ll be a little ‘zip’ in our step, because we’re back in the playoffs.
“You’re going to wake up tomorrow, and it will be a different atmosphere.  It’s playoff time.”
Contact Chuck.Tay@prohockeynews.com
Photographer Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com