Here was a guy who made the most of his physical gifts. Over the previous five seasons, the Flyers forward - and former Sabre - had played in more Stanley Cup games and scored more playoff points than any other player in the NHL.
"Yeah, that's impressive," Gerbe said yesterday. "He's a smart player, a very, very gifted player. He's smart, skilled and feisty, and great to watch. The fact that he's small is obviously an attraction for me."
Briere is indeed a joy to watch, though Sabres fans might get a knot in their stomachs seeing the Flyers center torment their team. The better Briere plays on hockey's biggest stage, the harsher the reminder that Buffalo let him get away in free agency after the 2006-07 season.
There's no need to restate the particulars of Briere's exit. But since leaving, he has continued to demonstrate a rare ability to produce in the playoff pressure cooker - a quality that has been sorely lacking in many of the star forwards on Buffalo's current roster.
Briere has played 84 playoff games since the lockout, more than a full regular season. He has 86 points. He's the only NHL player to appear in four conference finals in the last 5 years. A year ago, he was the leading playoff scorer with 30 points as the Flyers lost to Chicago in the finals.
In the first three games of the Sabres-Flyers series, only one player had two even-strength goals: Briere. He didn't seem to be playing especially well. But he had the game-winner in Game 2 and the goal that put Philly ahead for good in Game 3.
"If he gets a chance," said the Sabres' Tyler Ennis, "it's going in."
The question is, why? At a time when even the best scorers can struggle to produce, why does Briere raise his level of play?
