Times wires
Thursday, April 14, 2011
PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Miller stopped a shot from his knees and with six players in the crease. He saved one with Buffalo down two men. Any way Philadelphia tried to attack him, Miller never buckled.
He was perfect in net, and the Sabres took control of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal.
Miller stopped 35 shots for his second career postseason shutout and Patrick Kaleta scored to lift the Sabres to a 1-0 win in Game 1 on Thursday night.
"It's important to establish that we can skate with these guys," Miller said. "We like where we're at, but that team over there has a lot of fight, and we'll have to be ready for them."
Kaleta snapped the scoreless tie early in the third period when he powered a rebound past rookie Sergei Bobrovsky.
" 'Bob' was good. Ryan was even better," Flyers center Danny Briere said. "If we keep playing like we did (Thursday), we'll be in good shape."
The Flyers were without defenseman Chris Pronger, a former league MVP who has been sidelined since having hand surgery in March.
| Sabres | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Flyers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
First Period—None. Penalties—Weber, Buf (roughing), 4:01; Richards, Phi (roughing), 4:01; McCormick, Buf (interference), 6:34; Versteeg, Phi (interference), 15:13; Montador, Buf (holding), 18:39.
Second Period—None. Penalties—Montador, Buf (tripping), 8:20; Morrisonn, Buf (slashing), 9:42.
Third Period—1, Buffalo, Kaleta 1 (Gragnani, Gaustad), 5:56. Penalties—Myers, Buf (tripping), 11:03. Shots on Goal—Buffalo 10-9-6—25. Philadelphia 10-16-9—35. Power-play opportunities—Buffalo 0 of 1; Philadelphia 0 of 5. Goalies—Buffalo, Miller 1-0-0 (35 shots-35 saves). Philadelphia, Bobrovsky 0-1-0 (25-24).
Price blanks Bruins as Canadiens win opener
BOSTON — Carey Price returned as Montreal's starting playoff goalie with his third postseason shutout, Brian Gionta scored twice and the Canadiens opened the East quarterfinal with a 2-0 win over the Bruins.
"If we were able to write down on paper how we would have wanted to start the series, this would have been it," said Price, who had 31 saves.
Price started one of the Canadiens' 19 playoff games last year, when Montreal was seeded eighth but reached the East final, where it lost to the Flyers. Jaroslav Halak started the other games; he was traded to the Blues in June.
This season Price started 70 regular-season games and is a candidate for the Vezina (top goalie) Trophy.
The Bruins dominated play for most of the last two periods. "I think we did a lot of good things," captain Zdeno Chara said. "We just couldn't score a goal."
But it was a disappointing start after a crushing end to their postseason last year. Boston won the first three games over the Flyers in the East semifinals. But Philadelphia forced a seventh game, in which it rallied from a 3-0 deficit for a 4-3 victory.
| Canadiens | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Bruins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
First Period—1, Montreal, Gionta 1 (Gomez), 2:44. Penalties—Hamrlik, Mon (interference), 7:07; Kaberle, Bos (hooking), 12:52; Krejci, Bos (hooking), 18:49; White, Mon (roughing), 19:42.
Second Period—None. Penalties—Spacek, Mon (interference), 6:35; Marchand, Bos (interference), 19:10.
Third Period—2, Montreal, Gionta 2 (Gomez), 16:42. Penalties—Chara, Bos (roughing), 17:18. Shots on Goal—Montreal 8-6-6—20. Boston 8-18-5—31. Power-play opportunities—Montreal 0 of 4; Boston 0 of 3. Goalies—Montreal, Price 1-0-0 (31 shots-31 saves). Boston, Thomas 0-1-0 (20-18).
Blackhawks: Center Dave Bolland, who suffered a concussion March 9 when he took an elbow to the head from the Lightning's Pavel Kubina, said he also is getting therapy for whiplash resulting from the hit.
Ducks: Coach Randy Carlyle had only platitudes when asked who will start in goal tonight against the Predators in Game 2 of their series. "The guy who gives us the best chance to win," he said. "The guy who is the healthiest." Carlyle will pick between former Lightning Dan Ellis, who gave up four goals Wednesday in a 4-1 loss, and Ray Emery, who came off the bench after missing two games with a lower-body injury.
Kings: Forward Justin Williams, the team's second-leading scorer, returned from a dislocated right shoulder to play in Game 1 against the Sharks late Thursday.