Bruins Live Blog: B’s Go Up 3-0 in Series With Big Win at Wachovia Center

Final, Bruins 4-1: "Resilient" is often a word that comes to mind when thinking about the Bruins during the latter part of this season, and that was certainly on display at the Wachovia Center on Wednesday night.

Despite losing David Krejci and Adam McQuaid early in the game — and despite falling behind 1-0 less than three minutes into the contest — the Bruins rebounded and never looked back, scoring four unanswered goals en route to a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Wednesday's win was perhaps Boston's most convincing of this series, and Tuukka Rask was a colossal component of Boston's success, stopping 34 of 35 shots. His counterpart, Brian Boucher, stopped 16 of 19 shots.

Game 4 is on Friday at the Wachovia Center, and the B's couldn't be in a more perfect position after winning in one of the toughest arenas in hockey.

Third period, 1:52, Bruins 4-1: Patrice Bergeron puts the nail in the coffin, picking up a loose puck at center ice and easily burying it in the empty net.

That should do it, and the boo birds are out in full force at the Wachovia Center.

Third period, 3:46, Bruins 3-1: Power play killed off by Bruins, and the Flyers are in full-on desperation mode now.

Third period, 5:44, Bruins 3-1: One final chance for the Flyers, as Steve Begin is whistled for his second penalty of the night — this time for delay of game (also the second of the night for Boston).

Third period, 6:26, Bruins 3-1: The Philly fans have started booing, but here's an interesting statistic — the Bruins haven't gotten a shot off in the last four minutes.

Overall, the Flyers hold a hefty 31-19 shot advantage.

Third period, 7:23, Bruins 3-1: James Van Riesdyk's wraparound bid is close, but Tuukka Rask is quick to react, falling on top of it. The best scoring chance Philly has had in a while.

Third period, 9:58, Bruins 3-1: Tuukka Rask definitely deserves a huge chunk of the credit for the fact that the B's are up by two right now. The Flyers have been throwing the kitchen sink at him all night, and aside from that small lapse early in the first, he's been completely solid, stopping 29 of 30 shots.

Third period, 11:40, Bruins 3-1: Although no official word has been handed down about the nature or the extent of David Krejci's injury early in the first period, replays show that Mike Richards hit Krejci's shoulder, but Krejci may have gotten Richards' shoulder to the head.

Third period, 13:07, Bruins 3-1: With about 45 seconds left in the power play, Andrew Ference drops Aaron Asham with a bit of a high check right behind the net, but no penalty. 

Some solid defense by Marc Savard at the end of the penalty thwarts any final shot the Flyers may have; a last-second cross-ice pass gets caught up in traffic and the threat ends.

Third period, 15:09, Bruins 3-1: After several moments of confusion, Johnny Boychuk is the recipient of a delay-of-game penalty.

Big power-play chance here for the Flyers, and conversely, great chance for the B's to get a stranglehold on the momentum with a kill.

Third period, 16:53, Bruins 3-1: Steve Begin and Dan Carcillo get into it a little bit shortly after the goal, but no penalties stem from it. Carcillo's trying to agitate some life into his team, but unlike last time, Begin isn't biting.

Third period, 17:30, Bruins 3-1: Mark Recchi strikes again.

Zdeno Chara starts the play with a one timer fired in from the blue line. The puck bounces off Blake Wheeler and Chris Pronger right in front of the goal, and Recchi, perfectly positioned, nets that deflection.

The Wachovia Center is as quiet as its been all night after the power-play goal.

Third period, 19:33, Bruins 2-1: Johnny Boychuk (apparently not too bothered from that puck deflection last period) drills into Brian Boucher on a scoring chance, knocking the goal off the line.

On the opposite end, Aaron Asham heads into the box for a nasty trip on Matt Hunwick, and the B's have their second power-play opportunity.

Another B's defenseman bites the dust.

End of second period, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins end the second with a big penalty kill and will head into the final intermission in good shape.

The lamp hasn't been lit since just over 14 minutes remained in the first period, and while both teams have had their chances, they continue to match one another offensively, and both goaltenders have made their share of big saves to keep the score stagnant.

Tuukka Rask has stopped 26 of 27 shots, while Brian Boucher has made 15 saves on 17 shots.

The B's will be short-handed the rest of the way here, as David Krecji and Adam McQuaid won't return tonight.

Second period, 2:08, Bruins 2-1: And there's the fight we were waiting for. After Tuukka Rask makes a brilliant glove save, the fists start flying after the whistle, and unsurprisingly, Dan Carcillo flies in to join the fun.

Andrew Ference is the only one in the penalty box. 

Huge PK opportunity for the Bruins; if they can get out of this unscathed, they head into the third with the same one-goal lead.

Second period, 2:45, Bruins 2-1: Mike Richards gets a short-handed opportunity that is once again deflected by Johnny Boychuk, but this time, the defenseman hobbles back to the bench, apparently in some pain. 

The B's get one final opportunity when Zdeno Chara fired in a one-timer from the blue line, but it's not really all that close.

Second period, 4:44, Bruins 2-1: James Van Riemsdyk catches a rebound right outside the crease and tries to dump it past Tuukka Rask. It would've been an automatic goal, but it deflected off the post.

Daniel Paille comes away with the rebound but he misses on the breakaway bid. After that, the B's get their first power-play chance, as Kimmo Timonen gets two for holding.

Second period, 8:20, Bruins 2-1: In addition to David Krejci, the Bruins have also lost Adam McQuaid tonight. During the commercial break, Claude Julien told Versus that it means he's keeping shifts really short because "some guys are going to be getting a lot of ice time tonight."

Second period, 10:16, Bruins 2-1: The Flyers have already fired 20 shots at Tuukka Rask, and he's held strong for 19 of them.

The Flyers' intensity has been kicked up a notch in the past three or four minutes — they're really starting to play with a sense of urgency now, and rightfully so.

Second period, 11:21, Bruins 2-1: The Flyers pile the offensive pressure on Tuukka Rask during the penalty, punctuated by a coast-to-coast bid by Claude Giroux that just goes a little bit wide.

The Bruins escape the penalty unscathed.

Second period, 13:42, Bruins 2-1: The first penalty goes against Boston, as Steve Begin heads into the box for tripping. 

Begin was the recipient of the first penalty last time out, too, although this one doesn't appear to be instigated by Dan Carcillo.

Second period, 15:59, Bruins 2-1: Johnny Boychuk makes the defensive play of the game so far. As Claude Giroux winds up for a drive at the net, Boychuk lays himself out right in the puck's path and takes the deflection off his shin.

Second period, 16:59, Bruins 2-1: Hard to believe there haven't been any penalties yet tonight, considering how physical the game was from the outset on Monday. But maybe Monday's Carcillo incidents were exactly what the B's needed to remember not to get lured into silly penalties. Everything happens for a reason …

Second period, 19:39, Bruins 2-1: Four of Miro Satan's goals in the 2010 playoffs have given the Bruins the lead, including tonight's. It can't be a stretch to say Satan has given the B's a bit more than they were hoping for when they picked him up after the Winter Classic on Jan. 1.

End of first period, Bruins 2-1: After an inauspicious beginning, the Bruins somehow rebounded to head into the first intermission with a one-goal advantage.

For the past two days, the B's preached about having to come out strong, and all their thunder was stolen by an Aaron Asham goal at 2:32.

Less than two minutes later, though, Blake Wheeler evened the score, and a minute and a half after that, Miro Satan netted his fifth playoff goal this year and put Boston on top 2-0.

It temporarily quieted the raucous Philly crowd, but that didn't last — and it won't through the second, either.

First period, 1:05, Bruins 2-1: Mike Richards picks Mark Rechhi's pocket near center ice and drives in on Tuukka Rask but his shot goes wide. Looked dangerous for a second.

First period, 2:09, Bruins 2-1: Vladimir Sobotka fires a shot from the point and it goes wide;  it's shortly followed by a Shawn Thornton bomb just inside the blue line that also goes wide. 

After that rush on the Bruins net following the Miro Satan goal, the B's have been matching Philly's pressure, if not exceeding it.

First period, 5:46, Bruins 2-1: David Krejci took a nasty open-ice hit earlier in the period and struggled to get off the ice. He hasn't been seen since — bad news for the Bruins.

We'll keep you updated on his status.

First period, 8:33, Bruins 2-1: Following the Satan goal, the Flyers get their fair share of scoring chances, pressuring Tuukka Rask to no end.

Rask makes the stop of the game so far on a James Van Riemsdyk shot from right in front of the crease, deflecting it with the glove and then falling on it.

First period, 14:15, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins take the lead thanks to a Miroslav Satan goal.

First period, 15:49, 1-1: Blake Wheeler evens the score with an assist from Matt Hunwick and a secondary assist from Blair Betts. That kind of response is good to see from the Bruins.

First period, 17:28, Flyers 1-0: Arron Asham puts the Flyers on the board with an assist from Claude Giroux and a secondary assist from Blair Betts.

6:55 p.m.: The Bruins and Flyers just finished their pregame skate, and we're almost ready for Game 3 here at the Wachovia Center. Must say that the Flyers exiting to "Whatcha Want" by the Beastie Boys was a killer choice! What the Bruins want is to come out with the same intensity that they had in the first two games.

"We know they're coming out with all they have, and we need to come out with more," forward Michael Ryder said. "This place will be nuts but we need to match it."

Speaking of Ryder, he has a new linemate tonight as Vladimir Sobotka and Blake Wheeler have switched spots in the lineup. Wheeler will play with Savard and Ryder, while Sobotka drops down to the fourth line to play with Steve Begin and Shawn Thornton. Here are the lineups for tonight:

Bruins
Forwards
Daniel Paille–Patrice Bergeron–Mark Recchi
Milan Lucic–David Krejci–Miroslav Satan
Blake Wheeler–Marc Savard–Michael Ryder
Vladimir Sobotka–Steve Begin–Shawn Thornton

Defensemen
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Matt Hunwick–Dennis Wideman
Andrew Ference–Adam McQuaid

Goaltenders
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas

Flyers
Forwards
Scott Hartnell–Mike Richards–Daniel Carcillo
Ville Leino–ClaudeGiroux–Danny Briere

James van Riemsdyk–Darroll Powe–Jared Ross 
Andreas Nodl–Blair Betts–Arron Asham

Defenseman
Matt Carle–Chris Pronger
Kimmo Timonen–Braydon Coburn
Ryan Parent–Lukas Krajieck

Goaltenders
Brian Boucher
Johan Backlund

5:45 p.m.: Happy Cinco De Mayo from high above the ice at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia where the Bruins and Flyers will square off in Game 3. The Bruins have a chance to take a 3-0 lead in this Eastern Conference quarterfinals series and one of the main reasons why is that the defense is jumping into play and creating offense. One blue liner that has always been good at that and is starting to find that balance between when to pinch and when not to is Dennis Wideman. Wideman has four assists in his last two games and is tied with Patrice Bergeron for second most playoff points on the team with eight.

8 a.m.: The Bruins have proven they can beat the Flyers at the TD Garden — but can they get the job done in what may be the unfriendliest confines in the NHL?

Toting a 2-0 series lead, the Bruins travel to the Wachovia Center to take on the Flyers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Expect there to be a lot of lingering bitterness over the Marc Savard-Dan Carcillo alleged biting incident — and expect the Flyers to throw everything they have at the B's. Nobody expects this Philly team to go down easily, least of all the Bruins, who are doubtlessly expecting the best game Philly has played so far.

And seeing as though the B's haven't beaten the Flyers by much in either of the first two games, they know Wednesday's battle will be a hard-fought one.

Faceoff is scheduled for just after 7 p.m., but check back before then for frequent updates.