Flyers Are Dominant in Victory Over Hasek

Welcome to Philly, Dominik Hasek. As you can see, things are pretty hectic.

The Philadelphia Flyers, feeding off turmoil and distractions, gave Hasek a little taste of the pressure-cooker Thursday night. They bombarded him with 30 shots and beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2, on Simon Gagne’s third-period goal.

The Dominator, the archenemy of any playoff opponent, was left shaking his head and muttering to himself after the dizzying scramble that led to Gagne’s tiebreaking goal in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

“Maybe I’m a little surprised,” said Keith Primeau, who assisted on Gagne’s winning goal. “You’re not going to score three goals against Dominik every night.”

Hasek might have looked a little shaken. Despite all they’ve been through, the Flyers didn’t appear rattled at all.

Coach Roger Neilson, recovering from multiple myeloma, watched from a box in the balcony while interim Coach Craig Ramsay ran the team from behind the bench. Former captain Eric Lindros, sidelined because of a concussion, was nowhere to be seen.

The Flyers carried on mighty fine without him.

“We have a good group, and we liked our team,” Ramsay said. “It just happened to build throughout the season. Just making the stretch run, having a little fun with that was a big factor.”

Rookie Brian Boucher, chosen by Ramsay to be Philadelphia’s playoff starter over John Vanbiesbrouck, faced only 20 shots but came up with some clutch saves. Keith Jones and Daymond Langkow gave Philadelphia a 2-0 lead in the first period.