PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Tuukka Rask made 34 saves and the Boston Bruins cruised to a 4-1 victory on Wednesday to push the Philadelphia Flyers to the brink of elimination in the NHL's Eastern Conference semi-finals.
"It was just one of those games when you see a lot of shots, you feel comfortable, you're not making any extra moves and you're standing there and everything seems to hit you," Rask told reporters. "It was just one of those nights."
Arron Asham scored on Philadelphia's first shot early in the opening period to give the Flyers their first lead of the series.
"I really liked the way we responded," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "They got some early momentum there, got the crowd behind them.
"For us to come right back and score was and quiet everything down was huge, and shortly afterward take the lead. I thought our guys battled through a tough first period."
After a scoreless second period, Mark Recchi stretched the Bruins' lead to 3-1 early in the third period while Patrice Bergeron scored into an empty net to round out the scoring and give the Bruins a 3-0 series lead.
Philadelphia out shot Boston 35-20 in the game but could not beat Rask after the early goal.
"We couldn't beat their goaltender, and they played good defense," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said.
"We can make some changes, but there's not a lot I would change in the game other than trying to find a way to beat their goaltender."
Game Four is in Philadelphia on Friday, though the Flyers have injury concerns over center David Krejci and defenseman Adam McQuaid, who both left the game in the first period.
(Writing by Mike Mouat in Windsor, Ontario; Editing by Frank Pingue/Greg Stutchbury)
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