6. Welcome Back to the Garden, Philly

Any Bruins fan will tell you that the first time the Philadelphia Flyers visited the Garden last year, it changed the season, and nearly changed the franchise, drastically. That date was October 27, 2007. Seem familiar?

Suddenly without their brightest young talent, and arguably best all-around player, the Bruins were looking at an uphill climb for the rest of the season. However, by the time the Flyers rolled back up to Boston on March 15,2008, the B's remained in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff hunt.

Undoubtedly, revenge was the first thing many fans thought of at first sight of those orange, black and white jerseys. However, if memory serves me correctly, Randy Jones actually didn't dress for this game, robbing Garden fans of showering him with obscenities and trash (kidding).

Shawn Thornton ultimately took it upon himself to start the festivities, taking on noted pugilist Riley Cote in a ferocious exchange of punches.



"It's just Rock'em Sock'em robots!"

After that, there wasn't really much in the way of bad blood, or a least none that resulted in fighting. There obviously were the occasional scrums, roughing penalties, etc. but nothing all that serious. The teams instead decided to play a remarkably entertaining hockey game.

Chuck Kobasew opened the scoring for the Bruins in the first period, but Philly stormed back with two straight goals in the middle frame.

With time ticking down, the Bruins put on some great pressure. Controlling the puck in the zone, Dennis Wideman fired a slapper on net, a shot Biron pushed aside. The rebound found its way to the stick of Andrew Ference, who fired one right back on net, found the twine, and tied the game with 27 seconds left.

In overtime, Tim Thomas stoned Jeff Carter of the Flyers on a breakaway. As is always the case in hockey, a big save can lead to a big momentum swing, and this game was a perfect example. Thomas made the save, and PJ Axelsson got control of the puck at the B's blue line. He made a litte spin move, slowed the play down, then moved the puck up ice. As he crossed the blue line, he made a pass back to a trailing Aaron Ward (though if you view the highlights at the end of this post, it seems like the pass may have been intended for the other forward on the ice), who simply unloaded a shot on net that beat Biron. Game over, big win for the B's, and the second time last season that Ward beat the New Broad Street Bullies in OT.

Thomas had an outstanding game, making a number of highlight reel stops. This game could have been called "one for Patrice", as Thomas, Ward and the rest of the Bruins made sure the Flyers made the short trip home wondering if they let the game get away.

Full game highlights can be viewed below, or at the link here.