Jeremy Roenick scored his second goal of the game 7:39 into overtime to clinch the NHL Eastern Conference semifinal series in six games.
"To come out in overtime and beat a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs, to me, it's like I'm dreaming," Roenick said. "They're such a great hockey team.
"They have so much character and so much grit. And to beat a team like that is a huge achievement."
The Flyers rejoice after knocking off the Leafs in six games.(CP Photo/Adrian Wyld)
Roenick skated into the Toronto zone on a 2-on-1 break and fired a shot over Leafs goaltender Ed Belfour's left shoulder for the decisive goal, his fourth of the playoffs.
"Sometimes when you're all over another team like that, you expose yourself," Leafs forward Joe Nieuwendyk said of the odd-man rush.
Jeremy Roenick celebrates scoring in Tuesday's Game 6 at the ACC.(CP Photo/Adrian Wyld)
Toronto trailed 2-0 midway through the third period, but Mats Sundin forced overtime by setting up Karel Pilar's initial goal and then scoring his fourth with less that five minutes remaining in regulation.
"Anytime you're eliminated from the playoffs, it's very disappointing," said Sundin, the Leafs captain.
"I definitely felt we had a good enough team to go on to the next round. But we fell short."
"It's a pretty sickening feeling," noted Leafs defenceman Brian Leetch.
Tuesday's triumph at the Air Canada Centre was the first by the road team and catapulted the Flyers into the conference final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Toronto opened strongly, but a costly defensive lapse put Philadelphia ahead 1-0 at 9:55 of the first period.
When Pilar's cross-ice pass bounced over partner Tomas Kaberle's stick, Radovan Somik retrieved the loose puck and lifted his first goal of the playoffs beyond Belfour's reach.
Roenick made it 2-0 on a determined solo rush, squirting his own rebound between Belfour's pads after his initial shot struck Leafs defenceman Bryan McCabe.
It was Roenick's third goal of the playoffs and came with 4:30 left in the period.
The Leafs finally halved the deficit with 9:04 left in the third period as Pilar's slap shot from the point banked off a goal post and behind Flyers netminder Robert Esche.
That inspired the Leafs and the 19,625 fans on hand, setting the stage for Sundin's game-tying goal.
After Esche stopped Gary Roberts at the doorstep, Sundin buried the rebound to even proceedings and force overtime.
Toronto nearly won it outright in regulation, but Esche slid to his left to deny Tie Domi with just over a minute left.
"He was outstanding," Flyers head coach Ken Hitchcock said of Esche.
"When it went to 2-2, he came up with four unbelievable saves.
"I just thought the way we played in the overtime really builds confidence. We didn't sit back, we went and attacked and we really were working."
Quinn once again shuffled the Leafs' lineup as forwards Ron Francis and Clarke Wilm were scratched in favour of Tom Fitzgerald and Robert Reichel.
Toronto was also without forward Owen Nolan and defenceman Ken Klee, both sidelined with knee injuries.
The latter was replaced by Pilar, idle since March 11.
"I guess you have hopes and dreams," Leafs head coach Pat Quinn said. "I kind of envisioned this team as being one that had a little destiny to it.
"I was convinced right through this series. I was convinced we were going to find a way or make a way to advance."
"It's an empty feeling right now," Nieuwendyk concluded. "But it's been a lot of fun coming here.
"We're like a lot of teams – close. Unfortunately, even though we feel we were good enough, we're left out in the end."
with files from CP Online
