EASTERN SEMI-FINALS
GAME SUMMARIES
GAME 1:
#1 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS vs #7 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Pittsburgh leads 1-0
Next Game: Saturday April 29th, 2000 3pm at Philadelphia
The Pittsburgh Penguins kept hearing how they couldn't win in Philadelphia. Apparently, the Flyers listened more than they did.
Jaromir Jagr did what he does best, scoring on a shot that seemingly no other NHL player can make, and the Penguins won in Philadelphia for the first time in nearly six years, 2-0 Thursday night in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Pittsburgh has never beaten Philadelphia in a playoff series and once went nearly 15 years without winning there. Game 2 is Saturday in Philadelphia.
"We told ourselves, 'Let's not give ourselves negative thoughts by thinking we can't win here,' " goaltender Ron Tugnutt said. "If we won here, we wouldn't have to hear anymore we can't win here."
The Penguins had gone so long without winning in Philadelphia -- 16 games, including three in the 1997 playoffs -- that Mario Lemieux still was three years away from retiring the last time they did it on Feb. 13, 1994.
"Of course, it means a lot that we won in Philadelphia," Jagr said. "Still, it's only 1-0. They can easily win four in a row, and they're going to come out hard in Game 2."
Jagr gave the Penguins a lead they never lost with another bad-angle goal in the first period -- of course, to Jagr, no shot is a bad one -- and the rejuvenated Tugnutt made 28 saves in yet another solid night in goal.
Martin Straka also scored for the seventh-seeded Penguins, who managed only 14 shots while being outshot for the 15th consecutive game. However, just as they did in their first-round upset of second-seeded Washington, the Penguins made their few shots count.
"Sometimes, the playoffs are a whole new game," Penguins defenseman Bob Boughner said. "Anybody can beat anybody, and we were a desperate team tonight."
The Penguins had been 15-74-7 all-time in Philadelphia, where they once went 42 games -- 0-39-3 -- without winning. They were 0-4-1 against the Flyers this season, allowing 20 goals in the five games.
"But this is a whole new group of guys," Tugnutt said, referring to the half-dozen players who joined the Penguins at the trading deadline. "A lot of us weren't here for that (losing streak in Philadelphia)."
Tugnutt, cast off by Ottawa six weeks ago because he supposedly couldn't win in the playoffs, previously was 1-7-2 against Philadelphia. The Flyers once so befuddled Tugnutt, he suggested former Senators backup Damian Rhodes start in his place against them.
"I'm probably more at ease than I've ever been in my career," said Tugnutt, who had the NHL's best goals-against average last season. "These guys have given me a lot of confidence."
The Penguins gave Tugnutt plenty of help, preventing the bigger, stronger Flyers from clogging the front of the net as they did in their first-round series against Buffalo, flopping to block shots or ripping the puck out before the Flyers could put in rebounds.
The Penguins had more blocked shots (18) than they had shots, and even Jagr blocked one, though he couldn't remember it afterward.
Just as they did against Buffalo, the top-seeded Flyers again struggled at even strength -- they had only four even-strength goals in that five-game series -- but, this time, they also couldn't score on the power play. They were 0-for-2 with the man advantage after going a remarkable 9-for-26 against Buffalo.
"We didn't want to take penalties against the Flyers," Penguins coach Herb Brooks said. "They're too good on the power play."
Jagr's goal at 14:33 of the first period was his fourth in six playoff games this season and his third from a bad angle from around the right circle.
Jan Hrdina, back after missing the final two games of the Washington series with a strained back muscle, won a faceoff that went directly to Jagr. Jagr apparently surprised Flyers rookie goalie Brian Boucher by shooting quickly rather than setting up a play, and Jagr's wrist shot deflected off defenseman Chris Therien's skate into the net near the far post.
Jagr also deflected a goal off Capitals defenseman Calle Johansson to win Game 5 of that series 2-1 Friday, and Jagr said that goal "was much luckier" than Thursday's goal.
Jagr's latest goal hushed a keyed-up, towel-waving crowd of 19,846 that no doubt expected the Flyers' usual home-ice victory over Pittsburgh, and a 1-0 series lead.
Tugnutt made the lead stand up 2� minutes later, making two sprawling saves -- one on Andy Delmore, the other on Peter White -- in a matter of seconds.
Straka later made it 2-0 at 4:46 of the second, a goal that forced the Flyers to play a more uptempo, fast-paced style that favored Pittsburgh's fast fleet of European skaters.
Robert Lang dug the puck out along the rear boards, spun to his right and found Straka open along the edge of the right circle for his second goal of these playoffs and 10th career playoff goal.
"We played into their hands. We weren't really sharp," Rick Tocchet said. "We were a little lackadaisical on some plays in the corner. There were some loose pucks we didn't get."
Keith Primeau agreed, saying, "There's no excuses for this."
The Flyers had the better chances after that, but the Penguins made certain there were no Flyers flurries, and won even though Philadelphia failed to allow more than two goals for the 11th time in 12 games.
"But it's only one game," the Flyers' John LeClair said. "We weren't going to win four straight. That's a pretty good team over there."
#3 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS vs #4 NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Toronto leads 1-0
Next Game: Saturday April 29th, 2000 7pm at Toronto
Darcy Tucker is the first to admit his goals aren't always pretty.
As long as they count is what matters to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Thanks to a gritty second effort, Tucker scored 1:18 into the third period, lifting the Leafs to a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils to open their Eastern Conference second-round playoff series Thursday night.
"I go to the net hard," Tucker said. "I play the game as hard as I can each and every shift."
The same can be said for Tucker's linemates as the Maple Leafs third-line -- including by Wendel Clark and Dmitri Khristich -- stole the show.
"Our line is a hard-work line. We know our role," Tucker said. "Clarkie's a shooter, I'm a crasher and Khristich is a great playmaker. We've got a little bit of everything on our line."
Defenseman Dmitri Yushkevich also scored, and Curtis Joseph stopped 32 shots as the Leafs won their third straight playoff game.
Petr Sykora scored for the Devils, who lost for the first time in the playoffs after a four-game sweep of the Florida Panthers in the first round.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday in Toronto.
The Devils seemed to do everything right but win. They outshot the Maple Leafs 33-21 and also stifled Toronto's explosive top line, centered by Mats Sundin.
Unfortunately for the Devils, they came up empty.
"I thought our guys did a pretty good job," Devils coach Larry Robinson said. "I thought we had enough chances to win the game tonight, but we just didn't put our chances to good use."
After trading second-period goals, the Leafs got the go-ahead spark from Clark and Tucker.
Clark carried the puck over New Jersey's blue line, stopped and flipped a high pass to Tucker cutting up the middle. Tucker batted down the puck, split two New Jersey defensemen and got a shot off.
Devils goalie Martin Brodeur made the initial stop but couldn't control the rebound. Tucker got the puck and snapped it behind the sprawled goalie.
The third line didn't stop there.
Midway through the third period, Clark barreled into the New Jersey zone and rifled a shot off the goal post. That got the sellout crowd on its feet after the next whistle, everyone loudly cheering Clark, who was pictured on the video scoreboard.
The line had two more scoring chances after that, including one in which Tucker was foiled by Brodeur on a breakaway with three minutes left.
Clark, in his third stint with the Maple Leafs, remains one of Toronto's most beloved athletes.
How many others would get a standing ovation because they hit the post?
"I was swearing at myself for not scoring," Clark said, laughing. "It's great when the crowd can get behind your team. It's a lot of fun playing home games when the crowd's into it like that."
Tucker and Clark earned the Devils' respect.
"They are pretty skilled players," Brodeur said. "We have to do against them what we did against the first line."
Added Sykora: "On every team, there's guys that work really hard, and Tucker's one of them."
The Leafs also got plenty of help from Joseph, who was both remarkable and lucky, as the Devils hit two goal posts.
Joseph kept Toronto in the game by stopping 23 shots through two periods, and sealed it by smothering Claude Lemieux's shot from point-blank range with 1:29 remaining.
Yushkevich opened the scoring 1:07 into the second when his point shot glanced off New Jersey's Sergei Nemchinov and bounced in through Brodeur's pads.
The Devils tied it less than five minutes later when Sykora blasted a rising shot into the top left corner.
It may be the first playoff meeting between the two teams, but the Maple Leafs staff did its best to try to fire up the crowd.
As Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World" played, the Leafs' mascot Carlton The Bear was featured in a video touring major U.S. cities. The clip, broadcast on the center-ice scoreboard, ended abruptly with the mascot standing in a parking lot in front of a garbage dump, with the caption indicating it to be Newark, N.J.
All five of the Maple Leafs' playoff victories have come when the opposing team had more shots on goal.