Associated Press
MONTREAL ó After letting a two-game series lead slip away in the first round of the playoffs, the Philadelphia Flyers did their utmost to avoid the same fate and close out their second-round series against the Montreal Canadiens.
Scottie Upshall scored with 3:04 remaining in the third period and Philadelphia advanced to the Eastern Conference final with a 6-4 win over Montreal on Saturday night.
Upshall deflected Jeff Carter’s shot past Carey Price to give the Flyers their second and final lead of the game as Philadelphia won the conference semifinal in five games.
“It was a great feeling,” Upshall said. “A tie game with three minutes left, it’s anybody’s game, it’s one shot, it’s one bounce. (Carter) made a great shot on net. I was in the lane to see the puck and I thought I could get a stick on it and redirect it, and to get a big goal like that is pretty uplifting for your spirits.”
Philadelphia will face the winner of the Pittsburgh Penguins-New York Rangers series. The Penguins lead 3-1.
R.J. Umberger had two goals and an assist to finish the five-game series with eight goals and one assist.
“Well, maybe someday I’ll tell my grandkids or something like that, that would be fun,” Umberger said. “I’m just going to take a moment, enjoy it but stay focused. There’s plenty of time after it’s over to celebrate it and enjoy it, but right now we have one thing on our minds.”
Martin Biron stopped 31 shots for the Flyers, whose last appearance in the East final was in 2004 when they lost to Tampa Bay.
The Flyers’ win also assured the first all-U.S. Stanley Cup final since 2003 and extended Canada’s title drought to 15 years. Montreal was the last Canadian team to win it all in 1993.
Mike Richards and Scott Hartnell scored as Philadelphia got three second-period goals to take a 4-3 lead. Mike Knuble scored into an empty net with 50 seconds left.
Andrei Kostitsyn scored at 2:13 of the third to draw Montreal even at 4.
Guillaume Latendresse drove a slap shot off the right post during a Canadiens power play before Upshall’s winner.
“They took advantage of their chances,” Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said. “This was probably the worst game that we played defensively. The other four games I thought we gave them not even 20 shots so we must have done something well in our zone, but every time they shot the puck at the net it hit something or it went into a hole that wasn’t too big. They got the breaks.”