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EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The Stanley Cup playoffs are all about momentum. In the Eastern Conference finals, it belongs to rookie Brian Boucher, veteran Rick Tocchet and the rest of the Philadelphia Flyers. Boucher thoroughly outplayed a shaky Martin Brodeur and Tocchet continued his resurgence with a goal and an assist as the Flyers grabbed a two games to one lead in the best-of-seven series with a 4-2 victory. Boucher made 27 saves, including a pair of momentum-shifting stops, to help Philadelphia regain the home-ice advantage it surrendered in Game One. A member of the NHL's All-Rookie Team, Boucher's heroics elicited steadily louder chants of "Boosh, Boosh" from the pockets of Flyers' fans who made the trip up the New Jersey Turnpike. "A few periods ago, it's 3-1 and it looks like we're dead," Tocchet said. "Now we're up (two games to one). It's a thing of momentum." Several minutes after the Devils forged a 1-1 tie in the first period, Boucher made a lunging glove save on fellow All-Rookie Team member Scott Gomez. He also stopped Claude Lemieux's blast from the top of the slot and gave Jay Pandolfo no angle on the rebound with 7:09 remaining in the period. Just over a minute later, Tocchet helped put the Flyers in front to stay. His pass sent Keith Primeau between two defenders. Brodeur made a chest save on Primeau's shot, but Keith Jones broke down the slot and got the shaft of his stick on the rebound, getting just enough of the puck to slide it past Brodeur. "It was a great play by Tocchet at the blue line. Primeau drove the middle and I could've put that in with a righthanded stick," said Jones, who shoots lefthanded. While Brodeur was not sharp, Boucher was stellar. He made a point-blank stop on Petr Sykora with four minutes left in the period, then hugged the right goalpost and stacked the pads to stuff Gomez, who walked out from behind the net with just under a minute to go. Boucher's best save -- arguably the best in this year's playoffs -- came 86 seconds into the second period. With the Flyers on a power play, New Jersey's Patrik Elias broke in alone and appeared to have Boucher beaten. But the 23-year-old goalie, taking a page from Dominik Hasek's book, managed to blindly extend his glove hand while spinning onto his back to preserve Philadelphia's lead. "I tried to get him with the pokecheck. He went around it and I was desperate and threw my arm at it," Boucher said. "I got lucky there because he made a great move. If it gave our team a boost, great. It was just desperation. You feel like you're beat when you miss the pokecheck. I got lucky." Tocchet, a 17-year veteran, called it "one of the top five saves I've ever seen." "It's a two-goal swing," he added. "If Elias scores, it's a different ballgame." Said Elias, "I knew he was going to pokecheck me, and I didn't finish. We could've tied the game, 2-2, and instead we get scored on." Tocchet, who had two goals and an assist in Tuesday's come-from-behind victory, doubled the lead just under six minutes later. He snuck behind the Devils' defense, took a pass from Primeau and from the top of the right faceoff circle leaned into a slap shot that beat Brodeur between the pads. It was the fourth playoff goal for Tocchet, who ended an eight-game scoring drought in Game Two. "Keith Primeau made a great play, just threw it across to me," he said. "I had so much time, but it was lucky it went through his legs." The Flyers did nothing fancy in the third period, taking four icings in the first 3 1/2 minutes and going half the period without a shot. Boucher stoned Scott Niedermayer on a rebound from close range with 12:14 left, but Niedermayer finally put one past him with 4:01 remaining after Sykora's shot from the right circle never reached the net. New Jersey sprang to life and pressed for the equalizer, but Simon Gagne motored past fellow rookie Brian Rafalski on the left side, cut to the net and slid a backhander by an agressive Brodeur with 1:49 left to seal the victory. Philadelphia did not miss center Daymond Langkow, who sat out after suffering a concussion in Game Two. New Jersey, which hosts Game Four on Saturday, was without rookie John Madden, who is expected to miss the rest of the series with a knee injury. Flyers left wing John LeClair needed 36 stitches to close a cut on the right side of his nose after Brodeur caught him with a stick behind the net with 8:15 left in the third period. No penalty was called. Philadelphia ended an eight-game road winless streak against the Devils, winning for only the fifth time in its last 29 trips to New Jersey (5-22-2). Brodeur entered with a 1.67 goals-against average but never appeared comfortable. He failed to handle a couple of early shots, letting former teammate Valeri Zelepukin's drive from the top of the left circle trickle behind him barely two minutes into the game. The Flyers took the lead on their third shot. LeClair broke down the right side on a 2-on-1 but could not handle Mark Recchi's crisp pass. The puck caromed to the bottom of the left circle, where Recchi put a backhander between Brodeur's pads for his fifth playoff goal and fourth in the last five games. "I don't think that will go down as one of his better (games), but he's been keeping us in most games," Devils coach Larry Robinson said of Brodeur. "It's about time we returned the favor. We had some good opportunities and the other kid played pretty well." "Marty's been here a long time. That's definitely not a concern," countered Niedermayer. "The concern is the guys in front of him. We're just not all over the ice like we should be. We're giving them too much room." Philadelphia's advantage lasted 87 seconds. Defenseman Vladimir Malakhov, whose turnover led to the 2-on-1, atoned with a perfect pass that enabled Lemieux to split two defenders at the Philadelphia blue line. Lemieux put a wrister over Boucher's right shoulder and under the crossbar at 4:24 for his third postseason tally.
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