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David Krejci, Bruins get first measure of revenge against Flyers with crushing 7-3 win

Boston Bruins v Philadelphia Flyers - Game One

in Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Wells Fargo Center on April 30, 2011 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Bruce Bennett

The Boston Bruins need three more wins to truly get their revenge for last year’s 2010 semifinals collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers, but today’s 7-3 win must have been sweet for David Krejci.

Krejci gained a measure revenge against Mike Richards and the Flyers, who knocked him out of Game 3 of last year’s series. He scored two goals and two assists as Boston absolutely squashed Philly, adding fuel to the fire of the Flyers’ seemingly eternal goalie questions.

Boston 7, Philadelphia 3; Bruins lead series 1-0

Krejci and his linemate Nathan Horton helped the Bruins build a 2-1 lead in the first period, but the Flyers didn’t really unravel until the ugly second period. Krejci, Mark Recchi and Brad Marchand scored three more goals to bump Boston’s lead to 5-1, chasing befuddled Brian Boucher out of the Flyers’ net in the process.

James van Riemsdyk scored to make it 5-2 as the second period ended, but things didn’t get much better for the Flyers.

The third period featured a plethora of puzzling penalty calls and non-calls capping a sub-par afternoon of officiating. Mike Richards made it 5-3 on the tail end of a 5-on-3 power play, but Marchand and Gregory Campbell sealed the deal with two more goals.

Although the second period was a disaster overall for Philadelphia, the two-goal span that made it 3-1 Boston really sapped a lot of the Flyers’ energy. They got there thanks to a late first period goal by Horton and Recchi’s tally 2:33 into the second.

Plenty of positives for the Bruins.

Obviously, the Bruins must feel excited about the Krejci-Horton-Milan Lucic line, even if Lucic technically didn’t score. Lucic was more involved in this game than he was in the first round, although he needs to be careful being that he was thrown out of the late proceedings after mixing it up with Flyers fighter Zac Rinaldo.

The Bruins also received great performances from Patrice Bergeron (three assists) and Marchand (two goals, one assist). Much has been made about Philadelphia’s offensive depth, but the Bruins can roll with more than one quality scoring line themselves.

Obviously, Boston also boasts one of the best goalies in the NHL in Tim Thomas. He made 31 out of 34 saves, including some highlight reel stops that must have made Flyers fans a little jealous.

The only issue for the Bruins is their still-stagnant power play. They went 0-for-5 in Game 1, extending their struggles to 0-for-26 in eight playoff games. It’s an area of concern, but with Boston dominating like they are at even strength, it’s far from a crisis.

Flyers face questions in areas beyond goaltending.

Speaking of crises, the Flyers have a lot of questions to answer. The most obvious one revolves around their goalie issues. Will Philly go back to Boucher or stick with Sergei Bobrovsky? It must be noted that Michael Leighton’s play sparked much of the team’s 2010 turnaround after Boucher struggled and then dealt with an injury.

Goaltending isn’t the only issue for Philadelphia, though. The Flyers lost plenty of puck battles during the game and must find a better matchup against Boston’s Horton-Krejci-Lucic line. Perhaps they should take Pierre McGuire’s advice and send two-way center and captain Richards after that group?

The Flyers power play wasn’t exactly fantastic either, as they only went 1-for-5 in this game.

Philly might take two positives from the game: 1) their offensive leaders produced and 2) Chris Pronger looked more like his old, angry self in Game 1. Danny Briere scored his playoff-leading seventh goal, Richards found the net on the power play and JVR scored a goal while peppering the net with eight shots.

They’re going to need Pronger and his mates to play elite defense if they hope to get back into this series against the Bruins, though. This Flyers team might succeed in tough spots, but the Bruins look like a more versatile opponent in 2011.