BOSTON - Simon Gagne and the Philadelphia Flyers put together one more comeback to finish off the Boston Bruins' collapse.
Taking advantage of a too-many-men-on-the-ice call, Gagne scored on a power play with 7:08 left to give Philadelphia a 4-3 victory Friday night in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Flyers overcame a 3-0 series deficit and a 3-0 hole in the first period, rallying to advance to the conference finals against Montreal.
"It's just a great feeling," Scott Hartnell said. "All the adversity we had fought through, being down, 3-0, in the series, 3-0 in the game, to come back and win, it's absolutely incredible."
It was humiliating for the Bruins, who became the third team in NHL history to lose a series after winning the first three games.
People are also reading…
"We got a little carried away from our game plan and lost our composure" in Game 7, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said.
The decisive penalty occurred with 8:50 left and Gagne, a major force since returning from a toe injury for Game 4, scored with 18 seconds left in the power play.
In Game 7 of the 1979 Stanley Cup semifinals, the Bruins were called for having too many men on the ice, leading to Guy Lafleur's tying goal with 74 seconds left in the third period. Then Mario Tremblay won it at 9:33 of overtime, costing Boston a chance for the Stanley Cup and sending the Canadiens to the finals.
This time it was Gagne.
The Flyers capitalized on Friday's penalty when Mike Richards' shot from the right circle hit players in front of Tuukka Rask. The puck bounced and Gagne, stationed to Rask's left, flipped the puck over the goalie's right shoulder.
The only other teams to win a series after trailing 3-0 were the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who beat Detroit in the Stanley Cup finals, and the 1975 New York Islanders, who eliminated Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals.
