(Sports Network) - Tied at a game apiece, the scene shifts to Philadelphia tonight when the Flyers host the Ottawa Senators in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at the First Union Center.
Ottawa opened the set with a 4-2 come-from-behind victory, but Philadelphia countered with a 2-0 triumph in Sunday's Game 2. After a very shaky first tilt, Flyers goaltender Roman Cechmanek made 33 saves for his second career playoff shutout.
Cechmanek, who made 17 saves in the second period alone, had promised his teammates that he wouldn't let them down after allowing three questionable goals in the opener.
"He's a leader," Flyers' coach Ken Hitchcock said of his netminder. "Leaders know when it's time to step up, so that's exactly what he did. He played within himself. He let the activity come to him. He's very good when he plays like that."
Simon Gagne and Mark Recchi scored for the Flyers, who defeated the Senators in the postseason for the first time since Game 1 of their 2002 series. Recchi tallied his seventh goal of the playoffs, which ties him for the league lead with New Jersey's Jamie Langenbrunner and Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis.
Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead on Gagne's marker 6:57 into the match, but was forced to sweat things out until Recchi provided some breathing room with 6:58 remaining in the third period.
Hitchcock, while happy with the fact that his club returns home tied at 1-1, was none too pleased with the playing style of the opposition. Two Flyers -- Keith Primeau and Kim Johnsson -- sustained pretty nasty cuts in Sunday's game as a result of being hit by Ottawa sticks. Hitchcock said the Johnsson gash particularly, which came after he was struck by the Sens' Martin Havlat in the second period, lit a spark under his team.
"Everybody got angry," Hitchcock said. "We're a much better team when we're angry."
Hitchcock, believing the Senators are playing dirty, hinted that he may dress a player like Todd Fedoruk, whose only role on the team is to be a physical presence, this evening. At the least, Hitchcock wants the entire team to bring more thunder.
"We're like a lot of teams, we play better when we play physical," he said.
Ottawa, meanwhile, isn't getting caught up in any war of words.
"They can call us whatever they want," Havlat said. "It's up to them. I was just trying to get to the puck, and to do that I tried to get my stick over [Johnsson's] head. I guess I must have hit him there. It's lucky the referee didn't see it, but it was an accident. Johnsson said it was an accident, too. I can't say anything more."
The Senators did keep a very worrisome stat intact with Sunday's loss. They have not been able to come back late in games during their playoff history, sporting an 0-22 mark when trailing after two periods.
Philadelphia is 3-1 at home in the playoffs, while Ottawa is 2-0 on the road. The Senators outscored the Islanders by a combined score of 7-2 on Long Island in the first round.
