NEWARK, N.J.— The Philadelphia Flyers were the last team into the Stanley Cup playoffs, but are the first to reach the second round.

Given a second chance to knock out the New Jersey Devils 10 years after squandering their first opportunity, Flyers goalie Brian Boucher was brilliant on Thursday night as Philadelphia won 3-0 in Game 5 to finish off the series Thursday night.

Claude Giroux scored twice in the second period after Danny Briere had given the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the first. Boucher made the offense stand up as Philadelphia beat New Jersey for the ninth time in 11 meetings this season.

Back in the 2000 Eastern Conference finals, Boucher and the Flyers let a 3-1 series lead slip away to the Devils, who went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Boucher finished with 27 saves this time in his second career NHL playoff shutout.

The most likely opponent for the No. 7 seed is Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington, which leads 3-1 against Montreal.

Philadelphia did its damage despite a relatively low shot total on Martin Brodeur. Giroux, who also assisted on Briere's second of the series, scored his two goals in the second when the Flyers recorded only four shots. They were outshot 18-14 through 40 minutes, yet led 3-0.

The Devils face a disappointing end to a season that showed promise. New Jersey won the Atlantic Division title for the ninth time, reached 100 points for the 12th time in 15 seasons, and qualified for the playoffs for the 13th straight season.

Blackhawks 3, Predators 0

At Nashville, Tenn., Patrick Sharp scored his first two goals of the postseason and Chicago finally found its offensive form to tie the series at 2-2.

Jonathan Toews also scored his first playoff goal and had an assist. Marian Hossa had an assist, just his second in the series, and rookie Antti Niemi stopped 33 shots for his second shutout.

Sharks 5, Avalanche 0At San Jose, Calif., Evgeni Nabokov stopped 28 shots to record his seventh career playoff shutout, Logan Couture scored twice and San Jose took a 3-2 lead in the first-round series.Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau and Dwight Helminen also scored for the Sharks.Colorado goalie Craig Anderson stopped 29 on 33 shots before being replaced by Peter Budaj at 11:05 of the third period.