Saturday Afternoon Double Live Blog (That Turned Into A Triple Live Blog)

The original plan was to do a live blog of the Nova game while switching to the Flyers on and off, but seeing as I thought that the Nova started at 1 instead of noon, it appears that I will be doing the Flyers and switching to Nova-Cuse at commercials when they are back from halftime.

I can't do exact play by play because hockey moves to fast, but I'll give commentary on what is going on.

Shaun Thornton opens up with a quick shot right off the bat but Biron makes a nice save!

It appears Boston fans don't forget. Over a year after Randy Jones laid out Patrice Bergeron, Boston fans are still booing Jones when he touches the puck.

MARC SAVARD JAMS IT THROUGH MARTY BIRON! 1-0 Bruins lead.

Carter off the long pass had a good wrist shot that was saved by Manny Fernandez. And seeing as I was quick in getting this up, I kind of forgot to list the goalie match-up. And I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you that it's Martin Biron for the Flyers vs. Manny Fernandez for the Bruins.

1-0 Bruins as we head to our first break of the game.

For those that don't know, the Flyers are on a huge slump, 8 points out of first after having been in first not too long ago. And just like their basketball counterpart, the Boston Bruins are the best team in the NHL.

It's nice to see Braydon Coburn back. He was one of many Flyers that were struck with the flu over the past week or so.

Holding call on the Bruins and that means the Flyers are going on the power play! Power plays will always be conducted in bold in the live blog. Randy Jones is lucking hurt, that's not good. The puck is tipped out of play 15 seconds into it. Flyers powerplay is 2nd in the NHL. Coburn to Lupul whose shot is deflected out of play. Bruins clear it out of the zone, and we have a whistle though I'm not sure for what. Faceoff at center is won by the Bruins and cleared out to behind Biron. 50 seconds to go. Jones is back on. Gagne drifts and his shot is blocked. Flyers could not keep the puck in and take it in offsides. SHOT ON GOAL! LUPUL TRIES TO STUFF IT IN BUT FERNANDEZ TRAPS IT! WHAT A SAVE!

Power play over. And that was a dull power play with an exciting finish, that's for sure. Stuart's shot from the point is stopped by Biron. CARTER BREAKS THROUGH THE DEFENSE! PASS TO LUPUL BUT HE MISSES! Another penalty on Boston and that means back to bold.

Flyers win the faceoof. Harntell to Carter who banks to Timonen back to Carter to Lupul who tries a shot but misses! Flyers misfire on a pass and i leaves the zone. Another penalty on Boston and this wil result in a 2-man advantage for over a minute. ONE-TIMER BLOCKED! Bruins clear the zone. Giroux tries to center it but no one could jam it home. TIMONEN TO GIROUX TO KNUBLE TO GAGNE WHO SCORES! 1-second left on the 2-man advantage and we're tied at 1! Therfore, the Flyers still have a power play. Flyers get a few good chances but there's going to be an interference call on Hartnell and that will give us 8-seconds of a 4-on-4 followed by a Bruins power play.

Boston on the power play. Savard to Axelson, they jam at the puck in front and Biron hangs on to the puck! Here come the Bruins after the Flyers cleared it. They have a shot deflected wide and one that missed. BIRON MAKES A GREAT SAVE! And the Flyers clear the zone with 20-seconds left on the power play.

Nothing on the rest of the powerplay and the Flyers kill it with no damage done. 1:15 to go in the period. Stuart shoots it from the point AND HE SCORES! WAIT, NO! REBOUND BY BITZ AND HE DOES KNOCK IT HOME! 2-1 Bruins.

Kobasew breaks free off the draw and SCORES! 3-1 Bruins.

Biron should have made that save and Jim Jackson said it best. This was looking like a good first period for the Flyers but now it's a disaster. 2.3 seconds to go and with a draw in Boston territory. Flyers pull the goalie because it's impossible to shoot the puck down the ice in less than 3 seconds. Flyers win the draw, shot by Gagne but it does not make it through!

End of the first period. Bruins lead the Flyers 3-1.

And while they are at intermission, it's time to switch over to Villanova and Syracuse from the Wachovia Center. 10:13 to go and Nova leads the Orange 78-59. Onuaku misses both of his free throws. Stokes makes both of his. FISHER MAKES DRAINS ONE FROM DOWNTOWN! That was a longer 3 than I'm pretty sure any Sixer has made this year in this building....

Ah yes, I've got people coming in and I can't concentrate on what's going on. Okay, I can finally concentrate on this again and ONUAKU JAMS IT!

83-66 with 7:55 to go.

Stokes goes in hard but he gets called for an offensive foul. The 3 goes down for the Orange and Cuse is trying to make it interesting. Stokes from 3 misses, but Clark with a BEAUTIFUL ONE-HANDED JAM ON THE REBOUND!

Foul on Flynn who makes a freebie. Out of bounds and hte Orange have the ball right back. Foul on Jackson who has fouled out. Cunningham misses both of his free throws but they get the rebound. Cunningham makes a layup as he is fouled! Ongenaet has now fouled out for Syracuse. And wait a minute, I'm losing the coverage to Georgetown-Cincinnati! Oh well, Flyers are losing so might as well stick with what's exciting.

34.8 seconds to go. Cincinnati is looking for a big marquee road win to perhaps power them into a bubble for the tournament. However, G-Town is not looking to marquee anymore as Georgetown is just hoping to not fall to 4-7 in the Big East.

Going bold for the end of this one, pass is tipped out of bounds. They inbound, SHOT DOES NOT GO! 5-SECONDS LEFT FOR GEORGETOWN! SUMMERS FOR 3 AND THE GAME!......OFF THE BACKBOARD! NO GOOD! OVERTIME IN GEORGETOWN!

Meanwhile the Flyers are back on. Asham intercepts a pass behind the net. He passes to Glen Metropolit who SCORES! HERE COME THE FLYERS! 3-2 Boston.

Well then, that was lucky timing for me. I turn to the Flyers game and 5-seconds later I see the puck in the net.

Let's go back to the finishes in college basketball and we'll go back to the Flyers later. 92-81 Villanova although Cunningham makes one deep for 2. Both free throws are missed for the Orange. Devendorf travels. Clark with yet another tip-in and Nova is up by 15 with 2:33 to go. Fisher to Reynolds with a wide open lay in and that may seal the deal! I actually get the Big East Network so I will go back to the Georgetown-Cincinnati game.

Cincy leads 60-59 with 3:10 to go. Cincinnati plays some great defense, not allowing Georgetown to score despite numerous chances. G-Town makes 1 out of 2 free throws.

"Tied at 60 again." - Mike Gleason

It was 60-60 before? Someone got minus points? Cincinnati misses on the runner but there is a foul. Mike Williams at the line makes both of his freebies. Cincinnati gets a takeaway! JTIII is livid, thinking that there was a foul on that play. G-Town fouls Vaughn and he makes both of his freebies.

I change the channel to see that the Flyers have tied at 3! It was Hartnell on the power play!

57.5 to go and Georgetown may be in trouble. I'll go back to the Flyers permanently and check back with G-Town-Cincy in a few minutes or so. It's a final in Philly. Nova 102, Syracuse 85.

11:08 to go in the second period, still tied at 3. Nittymaki is now in goal for the Flyers.

Flyers are at commercial. 64-62 Cincy but the Hoyas have the ball. JTIII calls a timeout with 13.3 to go. WRIGHT TO FREEMAN WHO SHOOTS AND TRIES TO DRAW THE FOUL BUT MISSES THE SHOT AND HE CAN'T DRAW THE FOUL! AND THAT'S IT! CINCY BEATS GEORGETOWN IN OVERTIME! 64-62.

3-3 in Boston with 9:01 to go in the 2nd. DAMN! There was a broken glass play that I missed! Replay, please!

"Lots of fans to be seen here at the Boston....Arena." - Keith Jones

You could tell he wanted to say "Boston Garden". Now it's the TD Banknorth Garden, and before that, for as long as I can remember, it was the Fleet Center. We're playing again in Bean Town. Kessel has a weird looking shot that's barely handled by Nittymaki. That was ugly the whole way around. Lupul with an interesting shot right off the draw that's stopped by Fernandez.

Ooh! A scrum in front of the Flyers' net. Hartnell with a wide open shot from the slot but it's saved by Fernandez! And now here's Giroux for Carter who has a chance but again it's stopped by Manny Fernandez! Oh man, that was close.

Oh! Puck sent in on Nittymake out of nowhere and he's lucky to make that save! And there's going to be a too many men on the ice penalty on the Bruins. This is the Flyers' 5th powerplay of the game (as opposed to 1 for Boston). 3:19 to go in the second, and we're going bold for the power play.

Timonen's shot off the draw is blocked. Bergernon lost his stick. Coburn blasts one that misses wide nad bounces all the way around along the boards out of the zone. Carter to Hartnell whose shot is deflected and sent out of the zone. Offsides is called as Hartnell and Zdeno Chara have a staredown. Giroux has a shot that's blocked. Gagne misses high. Jones can't keep it in and that's the powerplay.

CARLE TO GAGNE TO GIROUX WHO WAS NOT EXPECTING IT AND FERNANDEZ SURVIVES WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A WIDE OPEN GOAL! Less than a minute to go. We've got a penalty called on Wheeler of Boston for hooking.

The Flyers can't get anything off the draw. And that's the end of the 2nd period. The Flyers got 2 early on in the second and we are tied at 3.

We've started the 3rd period in Boston with the Flyers on the power play. Coburn with a nice wrist shot that's saved by Fernandez! And there's a small scrum in front of the net. Carle to Giroux back to Jones and the power play is over.

Backhander by Giroux that's saved by either Chara. and/or Fernandez I believe that just ended up tied up in his feet. Nittymaki saves one that bounces high and kept in by the Bruins although it's eventually poked out. Hartnell with a shot that's blocked!

Chara blasts one that goes wide of Nittymaki. Giroux tries to pass it to Gagne for an open shot but the pass was off. That could have gotten interesting. Carle touches up an icing call. Hartnell's shot is deflected wide off the draw.

The Bruins right now are just trying to survive the Flyers' offense. The best team in the NHL is clearly on the ropes as they are just trying to play defense by constantly clearing the zone whenever the Flyers has the puck instead of trying to build an offensive attack, often resulting in icing calls.

Wideman is down and we have a fight an ambush in the corner. Powe was just trying to clear the puck that accidentally hit Wideman and he got ambushed by Chara and 2 other Bruins. Refs don't call anything though. Metropolit could not locate the puck on a wide open net. Savard has a chance at the other end and he misses wide! So what was a slower 3rd period has picked up. Powe on in to the Boston zone and he fires one that's stopped by Fernandez!

Yelle with a shot and WHAT A SAVE BY ANTERO NITTYMAKI!

Over halfway through the 3rd and it's still 3-3. Kessel is taken down with a hook and the Bruins are going on a powerplay. Kessel could be nominated for an Academy award for that performance.

The power play starts off with a quick shot by Chara that's saved by Nittymaki! Knuble clears the zone. The Bruins take it back in but it's offsides. Chara to Savard behind the net where it's fought for. Sent in front but nothing comes of it. One-timer by Bergeron is blocked. Savard has it but loses control as he's taken down. 4-seconds remaining on the power play.

Back to 5-on-5 hockey. 6:35 to go. Ferentz blasts one wide for Boston. Kessel blasts one off of Coburn's stick and that subsequently goes wide. NOKELAINEN WITH A CHANCE IN FRONT BUT NITTYMAKI MAKES A GREAT SAVE!

Things are beginning to slow down a bit as we have 4:48 to go in regulation. Nittymaki with a dangerous turnover behind his net but the Bruins can't take advantage of it! Phew! Carter scoops up the puck, dances into the zone, but fires a weak shot that's easily handled by Fernandez! Meanwhile at the other end, Nittymaki handles 2 interesting shots from the Bruins.

Shot from the point and Nittymaki makes the save! And the roles in this game have reversed. Now it's the Bruins on the attack and the Flyers on thier heals. Less than 2-minutes ago.

METROPOLIT IN ON NET AND MISSES WIDE! Oh! I don't think that was a breakaway, but that was a damn good chance that he fanned on. Loose puck in front of the net. Nittymaki bats it with his stick and it ends up out of play! That's a penalty on Nitty! That was clearly not intentional, but when a member of a team knocks the puck out of the zone in their end it's a penalty.

Zhara with a ONE-TIMER THAT GOES WIDE! SO CLOSE! WAIT A MINUTE! JEFF CARTER HAS A SHORT-HANDED BREAKAWAY AND HE MISSES WIDE! OH SO CLOSE! 20 seconds to go. Gagne has it. Flyers may have a chance! SHORTHANDED 2-ON-1! GAGNE SHOOTS IT AND IT'S SAVED BY FERNANDEZ! WHAT A SAVE BY FERNANDEZ WITH 4 SECONDS TO GO! Nothing comes off of the ensuing faceoff and we're going to overtime in Boston with still over 30 seconds remaining on the Boston power play.

We start overtime. Bruins still on the power play. Wideman fires and it's saved by Nittymaki. Savard WALKS IN FRONT.....CAN'T GET THE SHOT OFF!

The power play is over and it's now a 4-on-4 overtime. Ferrence with a shot that does not get through. Giroux steals it, but nothing comes of it. Kessel has it to Cahra who blasts one wide! 3-minutes to go in overtime.

The Flyers ice the puck and there will be a faceoff in front of Nittymaki with 2:49 to go.

SHOT FIRED BY THE BRUINS GOES OFF THE POST! Carter makes a move fires one that's stopped by Fernandez!

Randy Jones fires one, IT DEFLECTS OFF A BRUIN AND GOES IN! THE FLYERS SCORE AND THEY HAVE WON IT OVERTIME! 4-3 FLYERS!

And the man who knocked out Bergeron a year ago and is already hated in Boston is hated even more, as he as gotten the game-winning goal for the Flyers!

Well then, that was a fun Saturday afternoon! Villanova dominated Syracuse, Georgetown lost to Cincinnati at home, and the Flyers came back from a 3-1 first period deficit to beat the Bruins 4-3 in overtime. I will be live blogging the Pro Bowl tomorrow at 4:30 and Villanova's showdown with Marquette on ESPN's Interactive Tuesday.