By ,
Published September 13, 2015
PHILADELPHIA -- Flyers forward Danny Briere admits he never could locate the puck in the hectic final seconds of regulation time in his team's eventual overtime setback Monday to the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal-round series.
For Briere, who was able to extend his point-scoring streak to five games (5 goals, 7 points) after notching a first-period assist, it was the type of play that seemed to be haunting the home team all game against a seemingly impenetrable Tim Thomas. The Flyers would fire a season-high 54 shots on Thomas, but only two would ultimately find their mark.
With just 4.2 seconds remaining in the third, the Flyers owned an offensive-zone draw and somehow managed their best offensive opportunity on their 22nd shot of the period. Mike Richards won the draw to James van Riemsdyk, whose wrist shot deflected off Thomas and right under Briere's skates with the Vezina Trophy nominee out of position. Briere took one big swipe at the puck and missed before time expired.
Briere, who has 7 goals and 9 points in nine playoff games this spring, logged 27:29 of ice time on 31 shifts, generated six shots and won 57 percent of his faceoffs for the Flyers. But the effort just wasn't enough as the Bruins earned their second straight road victory en route to taking a 2-0 series lead with a chance to end this best-of-7 at TD Garden in Boston for Games 3 (Wednesday) and 4 (Friday).
The Flyers are 3-13 all-time in a playoff series when trailing 2-0. Of course, one of the three wins was last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinal against the Bruins.
A disappointed but optimistic Briere spoke to the media following the game:
Q: Is it tough to go up 2-0 in the first and not come away with a win in this game?
Briere: It's tough, but that's the breaks. We deserved better. We definitely had most of the chances tonight but that doesn't win you games. You have to score, myself included. We have to find a way to bury chances. They didn't have many, but they made them count.
Q: What happened there with 4.2 seconds left?
Briere: It was off the faceoff. I never saw the puck and was just trying to find my way to the open space, and next thing I knew I saw the puck at my feet. It just hopped over my stick and I never was able to put a stick on it. It bounced behind me.
Q: Is it disheartening to put 54 shots on Tim Thomas and come away with a loss?
Briere: Sometimes that's what goalies do in the playoffs. We've seen it before. Ryan Miller stole a few games for them in the first round against us and now Tim Thomas is hot. He was seeing everything tonight but I really believe that if we keep playing the same way, keep skating with the same intensity, we'll get some better results in the end.
Follow Mike Morreale on Twitter at: @mike_morreale
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/brieres-near-miss-tells-story-of-flyers-night