Boston follows up its big win in Toronto with a victory over Philadelphia, the top team in the Eastern Conference.

01:00 AM EST on Friday, February 20, 2004

BY DAN HICKLING
Special to the Journal

PHILADELPHIA -- Most teams that find themselves two weeks into a long road trip would be asking themselves, "Are we there yet?"

But after yet another impressive victory away from home, last night's 4-3 besting of the Philadelphia Flyers, the Bruins might well inquire, "What can we do for an encore?"

It's hard to say how high the sky might be in the wake of their disposal of the Flyers, who came in with the top record in the Eastern Conference.

Coming on the heels of their stellar 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Tuesday, and with them gaining points in their last 10 starts, it's clear the Bruins are on quite a roll.

Unfortunately for them, so are both the Ottawa Senators and Maple Leafs, which is why the Bruins can't afford any letdowns.

"We'll just keep pushing," said Bruins coach Mike Sullivan, whose team wraps up the trip tomorrow night in Carolina. "We're trying to take this thing one task at a time. We've just got to make sure we don't get ahead of ourselves. We're obviously encouraged with the progress that we've made. I think our team has found a way to become more consistent and finding different ways to win on different nights. But there's a fine line between winning and losing, and we'll remind these guys why they've been winning."

The teams were tied 2-2 after a first period that was entertaining for the fans, but may have given both coache an ulcer.

"We didn't have the start that we wanted," said Sullivan. "That's something that keeps creeping into our game that we have to improve on."

By the 4:16 mark it was 1-1, with each team scoring a fluke goal in a span of 15 seconds.

Hal Gill opened the scoring at 4:01 when he let fly a dump-in from the right boards that hopped past Flyer forward Radovan Somik, then bounced in off the mitt of goaltender Sean Burke.

Before the announcement could be made, Simon Gagne had answered for Philadelphia. Gagne walked out of the corner, leaving behind a pair of Bruin defenders, then slid a shot past Boston goalie Felix Potvin.

Boston regained the lead at 10:37 when Brian Rolston, leading an odd-man rush, unloaded on Burke. Burke kicked the rebound straight to Rob Zamuner, who slipped past defenseman Joni Pitkanen and rifled it home.

But at 15:36, Philly's John Leclair tied it again just after Potvin stopped a knuckler by Kim Jonsson from the right point. Potvin failed to cover the rebound and Leclair was able to poke it in.

Boston overwhelmed their hosts in the second, outshooting Philly, 20-4.

But it wasn't until Patrice Bergeron scored at 16:47 that the Bruins were rewarded for their efforts.

"Since the beginning of the year, we've been a confident team," said Bergeron. "And I think we played a solid game tonight."

Up until then, the Bruins had scoring chances by the carload but were thwarted by Burke, who had shrugged off his earlier shakiness.

Two chances came on the first power play of the game, which came midway through the period.

Bergeron had the first of those when he swiveled into the slot, only to be stonewalled by Burke. Later, Burke came up big on a blast by Sean O'Donnell.

The game turned physical at 12:51 when Andy Hilbert and Philly's Branko Radivojevic did battle. It was a renewal of an old score, first begun in the AHL two seasons ago when Hilbert was a rookie with the Providence Bruins and Radivojevic skated for the Springfield Falcons. Unfortunately for Hilbert, the result was no different last night than it was then.

But late in the period, Bergeron picked up a giveaway in the Bruin zone, then dashed up ice with Zamuner trailing on the left wing. Bergeron faked the pass, then zipped in the go-ahead marker, his 16th of the season.

He nearly had another at the tail end of the period while the Bruins were on a power play, but his deflection from close range slid into the net well after the horn had sounded.

"I think his play speaks for itself," said Sullivan. "He gets big goals at key times for us. I think he's a complete player."

Just :31 into the third, while Boston was still a man up, Glen Murray made it 4-2 when he cleaned up Joe Thornton's rebound from the edge of the crease. It was Murray's 25th goal of the year, tops on the team, and 13th in his last 15 games.

Leclair made for some anxious moments when he netted his second of the night with 4:37 remaining, but the Bruins ran their forecheck to a tee and buttoned down the win.

Boston -- 2 1 1 -- 4

Philadelphia -- 2 0 1 -- 3

First period: 1, Boston, Gill 2, 4:01. 2, Philadelphia, Gagne 16 (Radivojevic), 4:16. 3, Boston, Zamuner 4 (Rolston, Donato), 10:37. 4, Philadelphia, LeClair 19 (Johnsson, Recchi), 15:36. Penalties -- None.

Second period: 5, Boston, Bergeron 16, 16:47. Penalties -- Markov, Phi 8:15; Radivojevic, Phi, major 12:51; Hilbert, Bos, major 12:51; Handzus, Phi 18:32.

Third period: 6, Boston, Murray 25 (Thornton, Bergeron), :31 (pp). 7, Philadelphia, LeClair 20 (Recchi, Handzus), 15:23. Penalty -- Gill, Bos 2:46.

Shots: Boston 11-20-10 -- 41. Philadelphia 13-4-10 -- 27. Power plays: Boston 1 of 2; Philadelphia 0 of 1. Goalies: Boston, Potvin 9-7-5 (27 shots-24 saves). Philadelphia, Burke 12-18-5 (41-37). A: 19,577 (19,519). T -- 2:24.