“Carter made a great play in the middle throwing the shot on net, ” said an excited Upshall. “Lately I’ve been trying to get in front because that’s where a lot of our goals have been coming from. I just got my stick on it and it went in. It was a big goal for us.”

“We have a flair for the dramatic,” said Flyers coach John Stevens. “We like to make things exciting. I know the series was 4-1 but it was a lot closer than that and we’re lucky to be moving on.”

The series win sends the sixth-seeded Flyers to the Eastern Conference Finals, a tier the team hasn’t been to since the legendary 2004 season. Philadelphia will face the winner of the Pittsburgh-Rangers series, in which the Penguins dominate 3-1, with the fifth game held Sunday at 2:00 pm.

Unlike the previous four games, the Flyers chased the play for most of the contest. For the first time in the series, the Canadians took the early first-period lead when Tomas Plekanec scored on the power play.

The weathered Flyers would not be discouraged however, returning the favor five minutes later with a high-light reel goal from red-hot R.J. Umberger.

But the Habs would not go quietly into the night as Alexei Kovalev and Chris Higgins would give the Canadians a 3-1 lead, in what seemed like a ticket back to Philadelphia for game six.

Not ready to do what they did the series before against the Washington Capitals – allowing the Caps to battle to a game seven after trailing 3-1 – the Flyers turned it on. Mike Richards, Umberger and Scotty Hartnell tallied three goals within three minutes to equalize and take the lead, 4-3.

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Mike Richards’ captain’esque effort - Although he got the Flyers moving with a “hand of god” goal midway through the second period, it was Richards’ back checking and defensive play in the third period that mattered the most. Richards seemed determined to make sure his squad did not melt under the late-game pressure like they had done before in previous games. His efforts helping the Flyers snuff out the Canadians final-ditch effort.

Worst to first - For the first time since the Detroit Red Wings did it in the late 80′s, the Flyers went from the worst team in the league to making the Conference finals. The credit for such a turnaround goes to General Manager Paul Holmgren for grabbing character guys, including three former captains in free agency. It is the leadership that has kept the Flyers’ ship steady in the post season.

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The mess that is Carey Price - Oh how the hyped have fallen. It seems like decades since the young goaltender was crowned the next Patrick Roy. Despite making 31 saves, including turning away two Flyers breakaways, Price took bad angles and could not direct his rebounds with any accuracy. Although Upshall, Richards and Umberger’s first were not the fault of the talking shooter-tutor, Hartnell and Umberger’s second were absolutely soft.

Carbo’s Tie – The legend of Guy Carbonneau’s lucky tie ran rampant in the world of the Habs. As the story goes this ugly techno color tie was only brought out by Guy on special occasions and the biggest of big games. Unfortunately for the Habs, their “Kate Smith”, was about as nice looking as it was effective.

Danny Briere, go high glove - Late in the third period with the game tied at four, Flyers’ teenage looking sniper, Danny Briere, went in on a breakaway in what could have iced the series. He deked backhand and went forehand, only to smush the puck into the extended leg pad of Price. With the problems Price has had with his glove hand, that should have been Briere’s first look – but it wasn’t and he needs to know better.

Umberger (7) and Scott Hartnell (2) each scored in the second period to give the Flyers another 2-0 lead, but like most 2-0 Flyers leads in the series – it evaporated.  Tomas Plekanec’s (3) redirection and Saku Koivu’s (3) rebound goals in the third period got the Canadians back into the contest, 2-2.

With four minutes remaining in the game,  Montreal’s stone-handed fourth liner Steve Begin, laid a late hit on Flyers’ diminutive forward Sami Kapanen, receiving a two-minute interference penalty. The Flyers were not tentative in capitalizing, as Vinny Prospal blasted a shot that bounced around the crease and onto the stick of Briere who put it into the Canadians’ net.

“Know what? I don’t want to get fined,” said Carbonneau, who smirked tossing veiled accusations that the refs felt bad for Philadelphia when calling the penalty on Begin. “You watch it and you watch the whole game, then tell me after. There was enough things written in the paper today.”

Besides the late-game referee decisions, Montreal continues to struggle offensively with captain Koivu being the only player with any consistent production in the series.  Weak-willed Alexei Kovalev has once again done his big game disappearing act and Andrei Kostitsyn has seemingly buckled under the physical play the Flyers have laid on him. The Canadians are also struggling on special teams, going 0-4 on the power play while allowing the Flyers to tally two goals on four power play chances.

A big part of the Flyers recent success has been their defense. Biron was sensational once again, stopping 36 shots and putting a lid on Montreal’s early offensive flurry.  But helping Biron look so good has been the Flyers defensemen, who have limited Montreal’s second chances and kept the Canadians shots – for the most part – to the perimeter.

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Jaraoslav Halak - In one of the more surprising moves of the post season, Montreal decided to replace 20-year old supertender Carey Price with 22-year old Halak for game four. Halak had only started four games in the regular season and just a year ago was buried in the ECHL.  Put in a ridiculously tough position, the young goaltender did what he could to keep his team competitive and nearly came away with a win.

Chris Therien’s Begin to Beijing comment on the post-game show – As soon as the post game analysis started, former Flyers’ defenseman Chris Therien let everyone know just how he felt about Montreal’s undisciplined play. With the camera zoomed in on just his Frankenstein face, he looked dead seriously into the lens and said “Begin (pronounced BEY-ZHIN) should move to Beijing after that stupid play.” Although the line wasn’t comedic gold, the timing and seriousness in which “Bundy” said it made almost everyone watching chuckle a little.

Ron Hextall and Dave Mustaine wishing the Flyers good luck – Traditionalists and classic Flyers fans have been complaining for years on how their Flyers experience has changed during games.  With Brett Hamilton loudly cracking bad jokes and childish giveaways and kiddie contests taking away from the blood thirsty colosseum-like atmosphere.  But in the playoffs the environment has been much different.  Instead of games and wacky tom foolery, the only thing on the jumbotron have been videos of playoffs past and highlights of the season.  In game four, former Flyers’ goalie Ron Hextall appeared on the big screen to wish the Flyers good luck in their playoff run, accompanied by highlights of him attacking Chris Chelios. The crowd went into a frenzy.  Also wishing the Flyers good luck was Mega Deth’s Dave Mustaine, who told the crowd they could work security for him any day.  Good work by the Flyers organization to do things the right way and to know their fan base.

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Alexei Kovalev’s kneeing - Late in the third period with the puck buried deep in the Flyers’ zone,  the soft Montreal forward extended his knee to make contact with the knee of Umberger, who topped to the ice.  Typically no call was made, but upon seeing the replay, Kovalev’s intentions were obvious.  Looks like someone is getting frustrated.

After going down with a minor hamstring tear in game five against the Washington Capitals, Knuble will return in full capacity and hopefully kick start what has become a frantic power play in his absence.

“If I wasn’t ready to handle everything, I wouldn’t be dressing,” said Knuble, who has three goals and two assists in the post season. “It’s just too important, and there are too many guys that we have that are healthy, and I wouldn’t go out with any limitations on myself.”

Knuble’s return to the the successful Jeff Carter – Scottie Upshall line, leaves coach John Stevens with a roster decision of who to sit. The likely candidate is penalty bullseye, 20-year old Steve Downie, who collected six unearned penalty minutes in the first period alone of game three. Umberger, who has filled in nicely for Knuble at even strength will likely be placed with Richards and Lupul, with Patrick Thoresen taking the wing on the fourth line.

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At the start of the post season, Habs goaltender Carey Price was anointed the next Patrick Roy. During the Flyers series however he has looked more like Patrick Lalime, going from a .925 save percentage in the opening round against the Bruins to an .853 save percentage against the Flyers. Backup goalie Jaroslav Halak replaced Price in the third period of game three. Halek made saves on the three shots he faced. It is unknown who the Canadians will trust the entire series to in game four, but they are likely to ride the horse that got them there in Price and really see what the 20-year old is made of.

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With five minutes left in the third period, Darian Hatcher hit Canadians defenseman and New York born Francis Bouillon from behind into the boards, receiving a five-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct. The Canadians scored twice on the major power play but still lost the contest 3-2. Hatcher did not feel like the five-minute major was a reasonable punishment.

“I don’t think I hit him hard,” Hatcher said. “I was letting up on him.

“I don’t think there’s a question about it that we definitely don’t get the leeway (from the refs.) I don’t think we’ve gotten any leeway in this series, and I definitely don’t think we’ve gotten any breaks from the referees.”

The Canadians however, saw the same play much differently.

“It was a dirty play and a dirty hit,” said Montreal defenseman Mike Komisarek, who is an expert in late/cheap hits. “He definitely hit Bouillon from behind and it almost lost them the game.

“If he wants to do that and put his team down for five minutes, okay. You never like to see guys get him from behind, but if he wants to put his team down for five minutes and almost lose them the game, then okay. If he is proud of that, then I don’t know.”