TAMPA, Fla. - Brad Richards was anything but a one-man show. That's just not how the Tampa Bay Lightning operate.

"I don't think any one guy or one player is going to win a game, but I think you need someone that's going to lead and say: `Jump on my back here, it's going to be my night, come with me,'" coach John Tortorella said. "But then everybody has to chip in."

Richards scored twice Tuesday night in Tampa Bay's 4-2 victory over Philadelphia in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Still, the Lightning wouldn't have moved within one win of their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals without another strong performance by goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who had 28 saves - 15 of them in the third period.

"Nik has been tremendous," center Tim Taylor said. "It hasn't just been one game. It has been consistently."

Richards is more comfortable talking about team success than himself.

Although before Game 5 he suggested someone needed to step up, he rejected the notion that he took his team on his back - much the way Keith Primeau did for Philadelphia in Games 3 and 4.

"The whole team really came out exceptionally hard and relentless in the first period. We played with a lot more desperation and passion," Richards said. "That got everybody going. It so happened I scored two goals, but it was a big effort by everybody."

Ruslan Fedotenko scored a third power-play goal, and Taylor added an empty-netter off a pass from NHL scoring champion Martin St. Louis to ensure Tampa Bay would take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Game 6 is Thursday night in Philadelphia, where the Flyers are 7-1 in the playoffs after splitting Games 3 and 4. Game 7, if necessary, will be Saturday night in Tampa.

"I think we can come back ... That's what I'm hoping," Philadelphia coach Ken Hitchcock said.

"We're going to go home and try to do our job, then Game 7 is up in the air if we can bring it back here," Flyers forward Mark Recchi said. "You never know when you get to Game 7. We have to at least give ourselves that opportunity."

Neither team has been able to put together consecutive wins. The Flyers were dominant in victories in Games 2 and 4, and the Lightning were equally impressive in taking the first, third and fifth games.

"We stress all the time how resilient our group is and we'll dig deep again," Primeau said. "We'll rally together and find a way. What makes our team special is we're going to push until there's no more pushing."

Khabibulin recovered from allowing two goals in a 38-second span of the second period to keep Tampa Bay ahead.

The Flyers were relentless after Michal Handzus and Patrick Sharp scored, but couldn't get to the Lightning goalie.

"Nik played exceptionally strong," Philadelphia's Jeremy Roenick said. "But we stress that we can't get frustrated. ... We have to go back on Thursday and have a big game in our building and make it a one-game series."

Feeding off the energy of a sellout crowd of 21,517, Tampa Bay outshot the Flyers 18-8 in the opening period. The Lightning took a 1-0 lead when Fedotenko tapped in a rebound after Philadelphia goalie Robert Esche rejected Dan Boyle's shot from the point.

Richards scored from the left circle just 24 seconds into the second period, then made it 3-0 when he beat Esche after Vincent Lecavalier won a faceoff against Primeau in the Flyers' defensive zone.

Cory Stillman slipped a pass to Richards in the slot, and the Tampa Bay center scored a mere three seconds into the power play.

But just when it looked like the game might be drifting out of reach, the Flyers scored twice to make it close.

And while Philadelphia's challenge now is to regroup and find a way to stave off elimination, the Lightning know it will be just as tough for them to put the series away.

If statistics are any indication, though, Tampa Bay would be wise to make sure Richards gets involved on offense.

Tampa Bay is 8-0 in these playoffs when he scores a point.

"That's a stat that I can't explain," said Richards, who has eight goals and six assists in 14 games.

"Obviously, the only thing I can say is hopefully I score next game."

Notes: Taylor scored his empty-net goal with 14.3

seconds left. ... Philadelphia was 0-for-3 on the power play, while Tampa Bay was 3-for-4. ... Richards' goal 24 seconds into the second period set a Lightning playoff record for fastest goal at the start of a period.