Bruins cruise to 5-1 win over Flyers in Game 3

The Bruins did not waste much time tonight by jumping out of the gate faster than a pace-setter on Derby Day. The Bruins held a 2-0 lead just 1:01 into the game and never looked back as they skated to a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at TD Garden to take a 3-0 series lead.

Zdeno Chara spotted the Bruins a 1-0 lead just 30 seconds into the game on a one-timer from the top of the left circle. Brad Marchand had the puck in the trapezoid and fed a backhand pass out to the big blue liner.

It would be just 31 ticks later when David Krejci made it 2-0 after Milan Lucic found Krejci going to the net. Krejci's 5th goal of the postseason forced Philadelphia Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette to burn his timeout just 1:01 into the game to have a chat with his goaltender Brian Boucher.

Daniel Paille increased the Bruins lead to 3-0 with 6:21 left in the second period. Gregory Campbell's centering pass from the right wing found Paille in the slot before he roofed the puck over the shoulder of Brian Boucher.

Nathan Horton made it 4-0 and chased Flyers starting goalie Brian Boucher from the game with 4:46 left in the middle period. Nathan Horton broke into the zone one-on-one with Kimmo Timonen, skated to the right circle and held on to the puck until Brian Boucher made the first move and dropped down to the ice before putting the puck through Boucher's 5-hole for his 5th goal of the playoffs. The goal capped off a Gordie Howe Hat Trick for Horton after picking up an assist on David Krejci's goal and shedding the mittens with Sean O'Donnell earlier in the second period.

Andrej Meszaros finally got on the board with 3:34 left in the second period. Meszaros' shot beat Tim Thomas on the stick side with some traffic in front of Thomas.

Sean O'Donnell put a puck past Tim Thomas with just over 7 minutes left in the third period, but the goal was quickly waived off after after Scott Hartnell crashed into the net and knocked it off the moorings before the puck crossed the goal line.

With the Bruins up 4-1 with just under 2 minutes to play, the Flyers pulled their goalie in favor of another extra attacker. Shortly after Philadelphia went to the extra attacker, Patrice Bergeron was hauled down by Braydon Coburn, who was whistled for a cross-check setting up a power play. On the ensuing power play, the B's finally scored a power play goal after going 0 for 30 in the playoffs on the power play. The B's worked the puck down low to David Krejci on the goal line, who sent the puck back out to the left point for Zdeno Chara. Chara ripped a slapper that got past Sergei Bobrovsky with Patrice Bergeron providing a screen at the top of the crease.

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Notes:

- The winner of this series will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning after they completed a sweep of the Washington Capitals with a 5-3 win tonight.

- I probably don't need to tell you this, but the Bruins were in this very same situation last year. Hopefully, they have learn from their mistakes...or at the very least learned to count to 5.

- Tim Thomas turned in another great playoff performance tonight by stopping 37 shots.

- Zdeno Chara finished the night with 3 points (2-1-3) and a +4. I think it is safe to say that he is healthy again.

- Adam McQuaid (day-to-day with neck injury) missed tonight's game after hitting the boards awkwardly in Game 2. Shane Hnidy suited up in his place and barely saw the ice getting just 2:38 of ice over 4 shifts.

- I like the fire out of Nathan Horton to not back down from anyone, but if you are going to go to the box you need to take someone better than Sean O'Donnell with you. Nathan Horton off the ice for 5 versus Sean O'Donnell off for 5 is not a trade you want to make.

- Jeff Carter made his return from a knee injury for the Flyers. He saw 16:41 of ice time and registered 5 shots on goal.

- Chris Pronger missed the second game in a row with an undisclosed injury.

- Game 4 is Friday night at TD Garden. Tickets are available via TiqIQ.

- Bruins Minor League News Today: Yury Alexandrov, Zach Hamill, Michael Hutchinson and Kirk MacDonald have been sent home for the summer. Their services as Black Aces are no longer needed. The Bruins also signed Ryan Button to an entry-level deal.

Stat of the Night:

The Bruins won 43 of the 55 face-offs tonight (78%)...You thought I was going to say 1 for 31, didn't you?

Tweet of the Night:

That PP goal was like losing your virginity to a ugly prostitute. It counts but not really

@FredToucher

Quotes:

Dennis Seidenberg on the Bruins' physical play tonight:

"I think our forecheck was really good. Our forwards were really getting on their D. And even when they were coming out of their zone, our guys were stepping up and having good gaps, and just keeping them from coming with speed into the middle. I think we felt good positionally."

Patrice Bergeron on being up 3-0 in the series:

"Obviously the toughest win to get is the fourth win, so we’ve got to make sure we’re ready on Friday. We’re happy with tonight’s game, but we can’t get too high in the playoffs. We’re going to celebrate tonight, but we’re going to get right back to work tomorrow and make sure we work Friday, because Philly is not going to quit. They’re a great team, and they’re going to be there to bounce back on Friday. So we better make sure we’re ready for that."

Brian Boucher on giving up 2 goals in the first 1:01:

"It’s not the start that we envisioned and you know you want to get off to a good start and it didn’t happen today."

Brad Marchand when asked if anyone is talking about last year:

"No we, we’re trying to keep that out of our mind. It’s a brand new year. We have a new team here. Half the team is, brought new guys. It’s a new season, so we’re not worried about that at all, we’re writing our own new chapter."

Brad Marchand on his physical play tonight:

"It was one of those games where I was angry the whole time, and my emotions kind of get the best of me, just trying to run around and kill guys. So just one of those games. It’s not like that every night but tonight was one of those nights."

Brad Marchand on the Bruins' dominance in the face-off circle tonight:

"Face-offs are such a key part of the game. I think they’re underestimated. If you win a majority of your draws and you’re starting with the puck and you’re usually the team on the offense most of the time. So in doing that, you usually save a lot of energy, and it’s a lot tougher to play defense then to play offense. So it speaks volumes about our team and how good our centermen are right now."

Sean O'Donnell on where the Flyers go from here:

"Throw a whole bunch clichés at you and one game at a time, one day at a time, one period at a time.  But that’s really all we can think about.  We can’t think about winning four in row.  We can’t think of any of that stuff, we just have to come and play the way we know we can and keep getting traffic and win a period, and hopefully win a game, and get to game five and that’s all we can do right now."

Daniel Paille when asked if this year feels different than last year:

I think so. I mean it’s different. I think we all feel pretty good about our game right now and confident. So the main thing for us is not to get too high and stay focused.

Peter Laviolette on his team's poor start to Game 3:

"The start was unacceptable. It wasn’t good. You know, the first three minutes, four minutes in a visiting team’s building, they have to be good minutes and they have to be well executed and, you know, they caught a lead early, caught a break, caught a couple goals."

Peter Laviolette on talking to Brian Boucher during the timeout early in the first period:

"Our team let him down on those two and we needed to be better in front of him and I just need to make sure that he stayed clear and kept his focus. But, again, I think just the start. I wasn’t talking to [Boucher] because I need to talk to [Boucher], I just wanted to make sure his head was on straight and our team needed to play much better in front of him."

Tim Thomas on being up 3-0 against Philly:

"Going into the series I was hoping for it.  It is what it is.  It’s a different year.  It’s totally different."