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DAMIAN CRISTODEROKeith Primeau, the Lightning's nemesis all series, ties it late in the third. Then Simon Gagne ends it late in OT.
PHILADELPHIA - Dan Boyle, sitting alone and still in his sweaty T-shirt and shorts, replayed Game 6 of the East final over and over in his mind. Every time, he shook his head.
Finally, for emphasis, it seemed, the Lightning defenseman let out a long sigh.
"I just don't know what to say," Boyle said. "It was tough."
And it is about to get tougher.
The Flyers' 5-4 overtime victory Thursday night in front of a roof-raising crowd of 19,910 at the Wachovia Center, tied the series at three games apiece and set up a deciding Game 7 on Saturday at the St. Pete Times Forum.
That Tampa Bay lost, and lost its first chance to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup final, was bad enough. That it was less than two minutes away from winning prompted the stunned reactions in the locker room.
Simon Gagne's second goal with 1:42 left in the extra period was the winner. But it would not have happened without an extraordinary effort by Flyers captain Keith Primeau on the tying goal with 1:49 left in the third period.
"That," Boyle said, "was one of the toughest goals I've ever been associated with if not the toughest. We'd better regroup real quick."
And store for future reference how the game turned, in part, because the Lightning, with a 4-3 lead entering the third period, lost its forecheck and stopped forcing the play. Instead, it played not to lose and was outshot 27-10 in the third period and overtime and 43-29 overall.
Despite all that, Tampa Bay, paced by two goals each from Vinny Lecavalier and Ruslan Fedotenko, two assists each from Martin St. Louis and Dave Andreychuk, and 38 saves by Nikolai Khabibulin, had a chance.
"But we collapsed," Boyle said.
And the Flyers surged.
"Desperate teams are dangerous because you throw everything but the kitchen sink at them," Primeau said. "That's why Game 7s are so exciting to watch because both teams are desperate."
Primeau was the most desperate. With two goals and two assists, and with grinding physical play, he set an example and the tone.
He scored the tying goal after gathering a rebound, kicking the puck through the crease and circling the Lightning net before putting it past Khabibulin. He also assisted on the winner in which Gagne fired from in close through Khabibulin's legs.
But the Flyers also got help from Tampa Bay.
Mistakes by Pavel Kubina, Darryl Sydor and Brad Lukowich led to Philadelphia's first three goals. Sydor's was especially egregious as his blind backhand pass into the slot went to the point to Vladimir Malakhov, who passed to Primeau for an easy goal that gave the Flyers a 2-1 first-period lead.
"I tried to make a play," Sydor said. "I (bleeped) up."
Lecavalier's goal 45 seconds into the second period tied the score. Sami Kapanen's goal with 7:18 left, on a shot from a faceoff circle that Khabibulin should have stopped, made the score 3-2.
Fedotenko's two goals, both from the slot off passes from Andreychuk, with 4:45 and 2:27 left in the second put Tampa Bay in front but also set up the disappointing finish.
That it didn't come sooner is testament to Khabibulin, who was brilliant in the third period, when Tampa Bay was outshot 17-5.
"Our game is very aggressive," Boyle said. "At times, we were very passive. The times we were aggressive, we made bad plays. The way we were playing, it was just a matter of time."
"It's disappointing," Lecavalier said. "We were so close. We should have kept coming at them offensively."
Center Tim Taylor listened to the painful analysis. He finally said, "Enough."
"It doesn't do us any good to go over it; none whatsoever," he said. "Game 7 is coming up in a day and a half. Moping around does us no good.
"The stage is set," Boyle said. "It's up to us to show how we can regroup. The most important thing is to realize we may never get this opportunity again, so we have to give it all we've got."