The taste of an embarrassing collapse at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers is still fresh in the mouths of Boston Bruins fans. Leading 3-0 in a best of seven semifinals series, the Bruins collapsed and lost four straight games against the Flyers, marking the third time in NHL history that a team has come back from down 3-0.
Boston begins its quest towards redemption as it faces Philadelphia in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. EDT (TV/Radio: NBC/WBZ-FM).
The Bruins enter the series coming off a thrilling seven-game series with the hated Montreal Canadiens. Nathan Horton scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 7 to send the Bruins to the second round.
As for Philadelphia, it is also coming off of a seven-game series with the Buffalo Sabres. The Flyers coasted past the Sabres, 5-2, in the decisive game of the series on Tuesday night.
Tim Thomas wasn't spectacular for the Bruins in the series against the Canadiens, but he wasn't bad either. Thomas made 212 saves while allowing 17 goals in the series.
The goaltending has been less consistent for the Flyers, who used three goalies in their first round playoff series. In fact, Philadelphia became the first team in 23 years to win a playoff series while starting at least three different goalies.
Brian Boucher played in six games and started four for Philadelphia in net, making 141 saves while allowing 10 goals. Sergei Bobrovsky started two games, making 28 saves on 32 shots, and Michael Leighton stopped 25 of 29 shots in one start and two games.
Following Game 1, the Flyers will host the Bruins in Game 2 on Monday night. Philadelphia is 22-12-7 at home this season and was 2-2 at home in the first round of the playoffs. Boston was 24-12-5 on the road and 2-1 on the road in Montreal in the playoffs.