Defense Never Rests in Panthers’ 2-0 Victory

How good was Florida’s defense Thursday night in Philadelphia?

So good that Eric Lindros didn’t get a shot.

That’s good.

Asked if he was happy with the way his team bottled up the high-scoring Flyers in a 2-0 victory, Panther Coach Doug MacLean said, “Happy’s not the word--thrilled.”

He has a right. Florida, which finished fourth in the Eastern Conference, figured its only chance against regular-season conference champion Philadelphia was to play conservative, tight-checking defense and hope for mistakes.

“We just want to play in-your-face hockey,” said Panther goalie John Vanbiesbrouck, who had 18 saves. “Most of all, when we got the puck deep in our zone, we didn’t try any fancy breakout plays that they could pick off and turn into a goal.”

It wasn’t exciting, but it was enough to win.

The Panthers’ goals came on Flyer mistakes.

The game-winner came at 5:56 of the second period, thanks to a bad line change by Philadelphia that resulted in a mix-up that let Stu Barnes and Dave Lowry break in against Flyer defenseman Kerry Huffman. Barnes used Lowry as a decoy and beat Flyer goalie Ron Hextall with a short backhander.

Barnes and Lowry combined for the second goal, which came on a power play with 4:10 to play.

Philadelphia’s Rod Brind’Amour turned the puck over just inside his blue line, to Barnes, who threaded a pass down the slot to Lowry streaking out from the corner.

Lowry waited until Hextall went down, then lifted a shot over him.

“The decisions that we made cost us,” Flyer Coach Terry Murray said. “On both goals, we ended up turning the puck over in the offensive zone.”

“If you look at the goals they got, it was more our mistakes,” Lindros said. “We gave them the opportunities.”

Chicago 3, Colorado 2--Jeremy Roenick scored a power-play goal at 6:29 of overtime, lifting the Blackhawks to a victory in Game 1 of their series in Denver.

Colorado’s Chris Simon went off at 4:39 of overtime for high-sticking, and Chicago converted its second power-play goal of the game.

Colorado’s Uwe Krupp fell and lost control of the puck behind the net. The Blackhawks set up a play, and Tony Amonte sent a pass to Roenick inside the left circle. His 15-foot shot beat Patrick Roy, ending Roy’s 12-game winning streak in overtime playoff games.

NHL Notes

The Mighty Ducks’ Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne are finalists, as is Boston’s Adam Oates, for the Lady Byng Trophy, emblematic of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct. The NHL announced the three finalists for all of the postseason awards, to be given June 19, and Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux, Philadelphia’s Eric Lindros and the New York Rangers’ Mark Messier are the finalists for the Hart Trophy, given to the most valuable player.