NEW YORK, 19 April 2004 — Danny Markov scored the game-winning goal with less than six minutes remaining to lead the Philadelphia Flyers into the second round of the playoffs with a 3-1 home win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
Robert Esche made 31 saves in goal for the Flyers, who lost to the defending Stanley Cup champions Devils in the 1995 and 2000 Eastern Conference finals, blowing a 3-1 series lead in the latter defeat.
It was a different story this time, however, as the Flyers won the best-of-seven Eastern Conference opening round series in five games to join the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the East playoffs.
Esche was solid in his first playoff series start, outplaying reigning Veznia Trophy winner Martin Brodeur to help the Flyers reach the second round for the second straight year.
The Flyers out-shot the Devils 40-32 but needed Markov’s goal at 14:37 from just inside the blueline to break a 1-1 tie in the third period.
In other playoff action, Curtis Joseph had to make just 15 saves for the shutout as the Detroit Red Wings moved on to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs with a 2-0 win over the Nashville Predators.
Detroit wins the best-of-seven series 4-2 and will next meet either the Calgary Flames or the Colorado Avalanche.
The Wings silenced the Nashville crowd with a pair of goals before the game was two minutes old and made that stand up with a solid defensive effort to hand the Predators the loss in their first playoff series in franchise history.
In Denver, Peter Forsberg had a goal and two assists as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Dallas 5-1, eliminating the Stars from the playoffs. Colorado wins the best-of-seven Western Conference opening round series 4-1. Chris Therien scored the lone goal for Dallas.
In Montreal, Yanic Perreault had a goal and two assists as the Canadiens forced a seventh game in their Eastern Conference series, downing the Boston Bruins 5-2 in Montreal.
In Calgary, Brendan Morrison scored at 2:28 of the third overtime period as the Vancouver Canucks stayed alive with a 5-4 win over the Flames in a game that started on Saturday and ended on Sunday.
The best-of-seven Western Conference series is tied at 3-3. Game Seven is in Vancouver on Monday night as the Canucks recovered to win after blowing a 4-0 lead.
