Flyers

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Flyers  center Mike Richards' effort in the clinching Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals could be used as a video job description for how an NHL captain is supposed to perform.

Richards had a goal, two assists and was literally a force from Philadelphia's first goal to its last in the Flyers' 4-2 series-clinching win against the Montreal Canadiens.

"He doesn't say much, but he goes out there and goes through everyone," Flyers center Ian Laperriere said. "You want to follow a guy like that."
Montreal scored 59 seconds into the game, and Richards got it back by surviving a race/collision for the puck with Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak and defenseman Roman Hamrlik. When Philadelphia forward Claude Giroux threw a clearing pass up the ice, Richards went jetting after it. Halak came 35 feet out of his net and collided with Hamrlik and Richards as the puck went past them. Richards quickly rose to his feet and shot the puck into the empty net.

"We didn't come out the way we wanted, and one of our leaders goes out and does a play like that," Giroux said. "You know, it just shows how much of a leader he is on the ice, and he shows a lot of character on that play."

With 23 seconds left in the game, he fought off a defender to drive the puck into Montreal's end with an empty net. He was knocked down but pushed the puck toward the slot, where Jeff Carter knocked it home to end the Canadiens' rally hopes.

On Philadelphia's third goal, it was Richards making the perfect feed to Carter, who flipped into the net to give the Flyers' a two-goal lead.

Richards was 23 when named captain two years ago. Bob Clarke, the most famous captain in Flyers history, was 24.

"Every time we have a big game, it's Ritchie coming up big," said Flyers winger Simon Gagne.

Richards made an interesting decision as Philadelphia's captain after the game. He carried the Prince of Wales conference trophy into the dressing room. Superstitious captains have refused to touch it in the past because it's not the trophy they really want. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews didn't touch the Clarence Campbell trophy when the Blackhawks won their Western Conference title Sunday.

"I was for it," Gagne said. "I saw Pittsburgh two years ago not doing it, and they did grab the trophy last year. Oh, who knows, you know. I think you deserve to celebrate a little bit tonight for what we accomplished. It's a big thing."

Chris Pronger doesn't put much attention to the superstition story about the conference trophies.

He can do it either way," Pronger said. "It is what it is. If (we) win, you'll write about it. If we lose, you'll write about it. You're going to write a story either way. Doesn't matter."

Richards said there was debate on the ice about what to do.

"I thought a little about it last night, and my first instinct was to grab it," he said. "Obviously, (it) took us a lot to get here, and obviously, (it's) not the trophy that we want. But we haven't done anything conventional all year, especially in these playoffs. Might as well go against the grain one more time."