Saturday, April 29, 2006
Rod Brind'Amour's goal lifted Carolina over Montreal in Game 4.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILADELPHIA -- R.J. Umberger bounced up from a hard hit that sidelined him earlier in the series and deflated the Buffalo Sabres with a clutch shot.
Umberger scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, helping the Philadelphia Flyers even their first-round playoff series against Buffalo with a 5-4 victory on Friday night.
Peter Forsberg had two goals and a sensational assist, and Petr Nedved and Eric Desjardins also scored for the Flyers, who won their second straight game after a humiliating six-goal loss Monday.
Game 5 Sunday
Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is Sunday in Buffalo. The Sabres won both games at home, including an 8-2 victory in Game 2 after a double-overtime win in the opener.
Daniel Briere scored twice and Thomas Vanek and Mike Grier had goals for the Sabres.
Robert Esche made 26 saves, including several during odd-man rushes for Buffalo.
Umberger was knocked woozy by Brian Campbell's heavy check in Game 1 and missed the next game. But the rookie made the difference with his first playoff goal.
Umberger carried the puck from his blue line into Buffalo's zone and took a slap shot from the right circle that squirted under goaltender Ryan Miller's right arm.
It was one of the few bad goals Miller has allowed in the series.
Forsberg scored into a wide-open net as Miller started to skate off the ice in the final minute. Grier scored a short-handed goal with 29 seconds remaining.
Tying it
The Sabres tied it at 3 when Briere scored on a rebound during a 4-on-3 advantage in the third period. Nedved's power-play goal early in the third gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead.
Trailing 2-0, Philadelphia turned to Forsberg, who also scored twice in Game 3. One of the best playoff performers in NHL history, Forsberg made outstanding plays on offense and defense to get the Flyers even.
In the second period, Forsberg carried the puck out of Philadelphia's zone, made a nifty move to elude a defender and passed to Joni Pitkanen, who centered it back to Forsberg in the slot. Forsberg one-timed it over Miller's shoulder to tie it at 2.
Briere put the Sabres ahead 2-0 on a fluke goal midway through the first. Seconds after exiting the penalty box, Briere took an outlet pass from Henrik Tallinder and broke in alone on Esche, who made a pad save. But Desjardins, who was trailing Briere, fell into Esche, pushing himself, Esche and the puck into the net.
Earlier, Esche stoned Grier on a short-handed breakaway to prevent a two-goal deficit.
Hurricanes 3, Canadiens 2
MONTREAL -- Rod Brind'Amour scored 5:54 into the third period to give Carolina a victory in Game 4 that tied the Eastern Conference playoff series with Montreal.
The second-seeded Hurricanes, who won despite blowing an early lead, dropped the first two games of the best-of-seven series at home but swept two straight in Montreal. Game 5 will be Sunday night at Carolina.
Justin Williams -- whose unpenalized high-stick in Game 3 forced Canadiens captain Saku Koivu to be hospitalized with an eye injury -- had a goal and assist for Carolina in the first period. Carolina scored twice within 1:11 midway through the penalty-free period to jump out to a 2-0 lead.
Cam Ward made 23 saves in his second straight start for the Hurricanes after replacing Martin Gerber.
Montreal rookie Alexander Perezhogin and defenseman Sheldon Souray had the Canadiens goals.
Aaron Ward also scored for the Hurricanes.
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