After seven games and seven overtime periods, the Philadelphia Flyers have finally defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the National Hockey League playoffs.
Mark Recchi scored twice and Justin Williams had a goal and two assists Tuesday to lead the host Flyers to a series-clinching 6-1 rout of Toronto, and win the best-of-seven series, 4-3. Simon Gagne and Keith Primeau also scored for Philadelphia. Gary Roberts scored Toronto's only goal.
The Flyers advance to the second round for the first time in three years, and will play the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference semifinals. For the first time since the 1950 Stanley Cup finals, Games Six and Seven were played on consecutive nights. The Maple Leafs beat the Flyers, 2-1, in double overtime late Monday.
In other playoff action, the Minnesota Wild made their first-ever playoff series a memorable one, coming back from a three games-to-one deficit to eliminate the Colorado Avalanche and advance to round two.
Andrew Burnette scored three minutes into overtime to lift the Wild past Colorado, 3-2, in the decisive Game Seven.
The Vancouver Canucks also advanced to the second round Tuesday with a 4-1 Game Seven win over the Saint Louis Blues. Brendan Morrison, Trevor Linden, Martin Rucinsky and Henrik Sedin scored for Vancouver, while Dan Cloutier made 33 saves.