Randy Jones Strikes Again: Philadelphia Flyers Beat Boston Bruins 4-3 in OT

It may have happened 468 days ago, but Boston fans certainly haven't forgiven Randy Jones. On October 27th 2007, Patrice Bergeron's season was cut short due to a disgraceful boarding by Flyers defensemen Randy Jones. The Garden faithful gave Jones a Kovalev-esque treatment, loudly booing the defensemen anytime he touched the puck. However, it appeared Jones embraced the role of the villain as the Flyers overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat the Bruins 4-3 in OT in a Saturday matinee at the TD Banknorth Garden.

The Bruins took to the ice without Michael Ryder, who's suffering from a broken facial bone after taking an Antoine Vermette high stick to the face on Thursday. The B's were also without Aaron Ward (flu) and Marco Sturm (torn MCL). However, the Flyers themselves weren't 100 percent as they were without captain C Mike Richards and RW Scottie Upshall. Upshall and Richards also missed the last game against Boston in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

This was the Bruins third game in four days and also marked the return of Bruins G Manny Fernandez. Fernandez had been out since January 8th with 'back spasms' and was subjected to much scrutiny for his rather lengthy time on the shelf. It's possible Manny himself has been hearing about the trade rumors involving his name as he ditched the normal black, gold and white pads for a bland set of black and white Reebok pads.

Marc Savard got the party started early for Boston, putting one by Martin Biron just under 4 minutes into the game for his 21st of the season, six away from matching his career high with 30 games to play. Simon Gagne tied the game 10 minutes later by capitalizing on a 5-on-3 due to a Mark Stuart tripping call. Byron Bitz notched his first career NHL goal after tipping in a crazy bounce off the cross bar and in and Chuck Kobasew followed Bitz's goal up eight seconds later with one of his own. As the period came to a close, the Bruins found themselves up 3-1.

When the teams came onto the ice for the second period of play a change was made in the Philadelphia net. Antero Nittymaki came in for the inconsistent Martin Biron, who allowed three goals on 15 shots. Antero was coming off a strong January in which he went 3-1-1 with a 2.16 GAA. This was an official turning point in the contest as goals by former Bruin Glen Metropolit (2) and a powerplay goal by Scott Hartnell (20) let the Flyers head into the dressing room tied 3-3 after 40 minutes of play.

There's no question the Boston vs. Philadelphia rivalry had jumped to another level of intensity following the incidents with both Patrice Bergeron and Andrew Alberts. The third period was no exception as both teams came out flying with intensity, fighting for every corner and finishing their checks. As both goalies demonstrated great poise and positioning at key points the teams found themselves in a 3-3 stalemate after three periods.

For the third time in their last six meetings, the Bruins and Flyers were going to OT. As the Flyers killed off the remaining 36 seconds on Nittymaki's delay of game penalty they moved towards an offensive attack. As they pressed on into the Boston zone, Jeff Carter set up a pass to Randy Jones. Jones took a shot which went off Andrew Ference's knee and past Manny Fernandez to give the Flyers a 4-3 in Boston. Fans got up and left disappointed as for the second time in their last three trips to the Garden, Randy Jones had ruined the day for the Bruins and their fans.