BOSTON - With the chips stacked against them, the Bruins went all in and got the break they desperately needed.

Aaron Ward sent a sold-out crowd of 17,565 at TD Banknorth Garden home happy as his game-winning slapper by Marty Biron with 2:43 left in overtime gave the Bruins a 3-2 victory over the Flyers, solidifying the club’s playoff hopes and opening up a two-point lead over eighth place Philadelphia.

“Actually I was a little selfish, ” Ward said of his game winning goal, which came at three-on-three. “I took it away from Phil (Kessel). It went off his back foot and I was skating into it, so I made a quick decision that I had a better position than he had at the time. I think maybe Biron was screened.

Ward’s dramatics wouldn’t have been possible without the heroics of Andrew Ference. With just one point in his last 11 games played coming into Saturday, the defenseman tied the game off of a rebound in an all-out, last gasp push with just 26.4 seconds left in regulation.

“It’s the law of averages,” Ference said. “I mean, if you take 1,000 shots, eventually one is going to bounce the right way. (The puck) kind of pops out and at that time of the game Wides (Dennis Wideman) did a good job of getting it through an and an opportunity for the rebound. It was basically close your eyes and hit it as hard as you can.”

Tim Thomas was superb in goal making 24 saves, including several odd-man chances in the third period as his club tried desperately to mount an offensive rush. No save was more important than stopping Jeff Carter point-blank on a breakaway with three minutes left in overtime.

“It happened from the far blue line. I had lots of time to think about it,” Thomas said. “If I just stop this one it will be easier than a shootout because then I’d have to stop three.”

It was an emotional afternoon for both teams as it took just 3:02 for the gloves to drip, with Riley Cote and Shawn Thornton doing the honors. Two minutes of blows and bear hugs were exchanged, leaving both players drenched in sweat. When the officials finally ended it, both players patted each other on the head in true tough-guy, sportsmanlike fashion.

The Bruins took the lead when Chuck Kobasew scored his career high 21st goal of the season off a pass from Marco Sturm with 7:39 left in the first. Though not credited on the play, it took a stellar effort from David Krejci not to tip the cross-ice pass between the two.

Tempers continued to flare right before the period ended. This time defenseman Marc Stuart trading blows with Scott Hartnell after the winger knocked Phil Kessel into the boards while trying to play the puck in the corner. Saturday marked the first appearance for the new Broad Street Bullies since the “incident” last October. And while Patrice Bergeron is finally skating again, Randy Jones was MIA Saturday after suffering a hip flexor in Wednesday’s loss to Toronto.

The two Flyers' goals came on back-to-back shots over three minutes in the second period. Joffrey Lupul threw a fluttering puck in on Thomas, which was initially stopped before Mike Richards knocked the rebound out of mid-air to tie the game. Daniel Briere’s 26th goal of the season gave the Flyers a 2-1 advantage, a one-timer tip from Vinny Prospal that Thomas, playing the shot, never had a prayer on with Shane Hnidy’s diving attempt to stop the pass all for naught.

“We played hard and we stuck to the things that make us successful,” Biron, who made 33 saves, said of his team’s effort. “We kept throwing the puck at the net and had lots of scoring chances, but deserving a better fate is not in the standings.”

It looked as if the Flyers would get that better fate for 59 minutes as the Bruins were mere seconds away from being dogged by their own Achilles heel - the second period. Boston has outscored its opponents in the first and third periods, but have been outscored in 73-57 in the middle frame, and out-shot by more than 100 shots over the course of the season.

Today, it was Philadelphia’s struggles to close the game out late, which reared its ugly head.

“When you get the lead in the third period you have to find a way to close things out,” Briere said. “For us in the past month it has happened way too often and we’re giving away valuable points.”

Game Notes

- Glen Murray is expected to suit up in his 1,000th NHL game tomorrow in Washington.

- The Bruins will have reason to celebrate win or lose this week -Andrew Ference turns 29 on March 17, Zdeno Chara turns 31 on the 18th and Dennis Wideman turns 25 on March 20th.

- Of the remaining teams fighting for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, Florida has the easiest remaining schedule with its opponents averaging 72.4 points per game. Boston’s remaining opponents average 81.2 points per game and Philadelphia’s average 81.4.

- Mike Richards returned to the Philadelphia lineup for the first time since suffering a torn hamstring against Florida on February 23rd.