Sunday, April 18, 2004
Flyers 3, Devils 1
PHILADELPHIA -- Danny Markov scored with 5 minutes, 23 seconds remaining, as Philadelphia eliminated New Jersey in five games. Alexei Zhamnov also scored for Philadelphia, which advances to the second round for the second straight year. Sami Kapanen added an empty-net goal in the final seconds. Scott Niedermayer scored the only goal for New Jersey, which won three championships the previous nine years. Robert Esche, starting his first playoff series, had 31 saves in another solid effort, outplaying Martin Brodeur -- who stopped 37 shots. Esche allowed nine goals in the series on 155 shots. Zhamnov gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead with 6:22 left in the first, scoring into an open net after a crisp pass from Tony Amonte. Zhamnov, acquired from Chicago two months ago, had three goals and four assists in the series. Niedermayer tied it at 1 with 6:24 remaining in the second. He backhanded a shot past Esche during a flurry by the Devils. Niedermayer's goal snapped a scoreless drought of 106 minutes, 26 seconds for New Jersey. Zhamnov sped past Niedermayer early in the third and slipped a shot past Brodeur, who turned around and stopped the puck before it went in. But Brodeur couldn't handle Markov's shot minutes later, allowing a rare soft goal. He finished with 37 saves. Esche made a nice save on a wrist shot by Patrik Elias late in the third, and made a few stops in the final minute. The Devils missed perennial All-Star defenseman Scott Stevens, who sat out the series with post-concussion syndrome. New Jersey scored a goal that was negated by a penalty during its first power play. Paul Martin slapped a shot past Esche seconds after Jeff Friesen hooked Keith Primeau in the corner.
Avalanche 5, Stars 1
DENVER -- Peter Forsberg had a goal and two assists, and David Aebischer stopped 21 shots to help Colorado beat Dallas and close out the series in five games. Milan Hejduk scored for the third straight game and rookie Marek Svatos had three assists for Colorado. Darby Hendrickson, Steve Konowalchuk and Joe Sakic also had goals. The Stars got an early goal from Chris Therien, but couldn't keep it going and lost in the first round for the first time since 1997. Dallas managed just 22 shots against Aebischer and most were from the perimeter. Dallas had good pressure early and Therien scored 5:39 in, taking a drop pass from Mike Modano and beating Aebischer between the pads from the right wing. It was Therien's second of the series, making him Dallas' leading goal-scorer in the playoffs after managing just one in the regular season. Another unlikely source answered for Colorado. Hendrickson, in the lineup because of Alex Tanguay's bruised leg from Game 4, scored with 1:03 remaining in the period on a rebound after a failed wraparound. He had two goals in the regular season.
-- Associated Press
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