Flyers Finally Solve Khabibulin, 6-2

TAMPA, Fla. â€”  The Philadelphia Flyers broke through the Bulin Wall and charged back into the NHL’s Eastern Conference finals.

Proving Nikolai Khabibulin isn’t impenetrable, the Flyers scored four times on their first 12 shots and went on to rout the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-2, on Monday night to even the best-of-seven series at one game apiece.

“It’s a step in the right direction,� Flyer Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “They’re such a good team that you have to maintain a really high level. If you do that, you have a chance to beat them.�

John LeClair scored to end his playoff drought, and goalie Robert Esche outplayed Khabibulin in a game the Philadelphia players said they had to win.

Mark Recchi, Sami Kapanen and Vladimir Malakhov also scored to build a 4-0 lead, drive Khabibulin from the game and ensure the Flyers would stop Tampa Bay’s eight-game winning streak in the playoffs.

“It was pretty ugly,� Tampa Bay defenseman Dan Boyle said. “We can throw that tape away because we don’t want to see that one again.�

The Flyers also halted an eight-game slide against the Lightning. Game 3 is Thursday at Philadelphia, where the Flyers are 6-0 in the postseason.

“We now have a chance to control our destiny,� Hitchcock said.

“If we can win our home games, we’ve got a chance.�

Esche, helped by the Flyers’ ability to clog the middle of the ice and limit scoring opportunities for Tampa Bay’s potent offense, stopped 29 shots to improve to 9-4 in the playoffs.

Ruslan Fedotenko scored midway through the third period with Tampa Bay down 6-0. NHL scoring champion Martin St. Louis added a power-play goal with 2:42 to go.

“We won eight in a row and tonight we lost,� St. Louis said. “We’re not beat up mentally.... It’s just one game.�

Though the Flyers weren’t facing elimination, they considered Monday a must-win situation, in part because, although they’re unbeaten at home in the playoffs, this is the first series they began on the road.

The sense of urgency was evident from the start.

LeClair scored on the first shot of the game, picking up the puck after Marcus Ragnarsson kicked it along the boards and skating in to beat Khabibulin from the left circle for his first playoff goal in 16 games, dating to last season.

Recchi made it 2-0, redirecting Ragnarsson’s shot on the power play past Khabibulin with 11:10 left in the opening period.

Three minutes later, Kapanen’s short-handed goal pushed the Lightning into a deeper hole.

Khabibulin began the night with a 1.00 goals-against average and four shutouts in the playoffs, one more than he had during the regular season. The Flyers scored on four of 12 shots against the Russian goaltender, who was replaced by John Grahame with 13:58 remaining in the second period.

“Habby’s not going to stop them all,� Boyle said. “We got stunned early, and we never recuperated.�

The loss was Tampa Bay’s first since Game 2 of its first-round series against the New York Islanders.

The Flyers were confident they could even the series after dominating the first half of Game 1, when they outshot Tampa Bay, 20-17, but faltered because of defensive miscues and an inability to score more than one goal against Khabibulin.