Written by Tim Panaccio, CSN Philly.com

The Boosh

Brian Boucher was outstanding in the series with a 1.59 goals-against average and .940 save percentage in the series. He also had 28 saves in Thursday's shutout win.

"When you're up 3-1 [in a series], they're looking for any sign of life and we did a great job to end it here tonight," Boucher said. "It seemed a lot of their chances came on the power play in this series. They got some chances. We got the bounces tonight."

He gave praise to his penalty killers. Like Ian Laperriere, who blocked a shot with his face.

"You don't win without guys paying the price like that," Boucher said. "That's why we're moving on."

The Drop

They didn't have Jeff Carter or Simon Gagne and most people didn't give the Flyers much chance of beating the Devils even if they had been in the lineup anyway.

So what happens?

The Flyers shut out the Devils 3-0 to win their conference quarter-final series in five games.

"With a couple of pieces missing from our lineup, we've been successful because we've been committed," said Flyers coach Peter Laviolette. "It's a group that's shown a lot of heart and a lot of character to get into the playoffs and get through this first round against a very good New Jersey team."

Saving Face

At least, Laperriere survived after stopping a Paul Martin shot with his face during a third-period power play.

"It's done and I got to live with it," Laperriere said. "I will do whatever it takes to block shots and pay the price again. What are you going to do? I don't think twice about doing it. Come next game, I'll do down."

He doesn't wear a shield.

"I will wear a shield now," Laperriere said. "That was my last warning. I will wear one for the rest of my career. I am dead serious. It's stupid. I'm mad at myself and not the shooter. It's a position you don't want to be in. It's too bad I needed that to make me realize that I need to wear a shield."

The Sophomore

The Flyers talked about players stepping up. Claude Giroux did with four goals in the series, including two in Game 5.

"It's obviously a pretty exciting time of year," said Giroux, who had three points in the closeout. "I think the whole team just showed up tonight. We obviously wanted to finish up tonight, we didn't want to give them a chance to come back in the series. I think the guys really stepped up and really played hard."

Teammate Danny Briere was impressed.

"Once again, big plays again from him tonight," Briere said. "That first goal, the shot top shelf. That's something you don't teach. Or even the spin-around pass back door on the first goal. He's been clutch. He's been a guy that we have been able to rely on."

His coach, Peter Laviolette said he talked with Giroux about taking on more responsibility.

"We revisited that conversation this morning with some veterans out of the lineup now," Laviolette said, referring to the absence of Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne. "I thought that he responded with a tremendous game. In a big situation, he was a very, very good player for us."

Even Strength

Defensively, the Flyers' penalty kill stifled the Devils power play. New Jersey was 0-8 and 4-32 overall. Ah, but New Jersey's last even-strength goal came at 15:56 of the third period in Game 2. The Devils went 187:39 seconds the rest of the series without a goal at even strength. That's defensive domination.

"It's playoff hockey," Blair Betts said. "We're starting to be more reliable defensively. We're not taking unnecessary chances. The style of offence we want to play, where we get our defence involved and pinching down the walls, a lot of that has to do with the trust that we will have a third guy high and support him."

Marty Says

Marty Brodeur was stunned after the game. That's three straight years the Devils have been bounced in one round.

"I just don't believe it," Brodeur said. "It's tough to digest. We had a hell of a team here. For whatever reason, we never got to the level we needed to play at in the playoffs. There were more expectations from our club than to fold in five games. This is three years in a row we accomplished nothing."

Jacques' Take

Devils coach Jacques Lemaire was understandably stunned.

"When I accepted this job, I thought we had a chance to go for the Cup," he said. "You talk about frustration, it is. After one round, you're out."

The Captain Says

Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner told the Star Ledger, "We've put together some pretty good regular seasons to give ourselves these opportunities. The last few years we [gave] away those opportunities in the first round where we had chances with good teams."

Tags: Flyers