Flyers make historic comeback to blow away Hurricanes in a shootout

Hurricanes 5 - 6 Flyers (SO)

The Flyers produced their biggest comeback in 2o years and gained their first shootout success of the year, as they beat the Hurricanes 6-5 in a stunning game at the Wachovia Center.

A hat trick from Scott Hartnell and four unanswered goals in the third period, saw Philly tie the score with 1:44 left in regulation, having trailed 5-1 with just 19 minutes to go in the game.

After a scoreless overtime session, Simon Gagne and Mike Richards continued the team's momentum and produced in the shootout to give the Flyers their first shootout win in three attempts this season.

Carolina jumped out in front early, as center Eric Staal put the visitors ahead with barely a minute gone in the first period, before the Hurricanes doubled their advantage with Matt Cullen's goal two minutes into second.

Scott Hartnell reduced the deficit later in the period, after he tipped Jeff Carter's shot past replacement goaltender Michael Leighton, with the Flyers on the power play.

But barely ten seconds later, Carolina had restored their two goal lead, with Staal this time turning provider, as he set up Sergei Samsonov who fired past Philly's backup tender, Antero Niittymaki.

From here on in, it looked like it was going to be a rout, as power play goals from ex-Flyer Joni Pitkanen and a second from Staal, put the Flyers four goals behind with five minutes still remaining in the second.

Tempers flared as the hosts became frustrated, with Arron Asham picking up 15 minutes in the bin for instigating a fight, and it looked for all the world like Philly were dead and buried.

But it must have been one hell of a team talk from Coach John Stevens in the second interval, as the Flyers came out all guns blazing in the final period, playing as if their lives depended on it.

Less than two minutes in, Hartnell had his second of the night, with yet another shorthanded Flyers goal.

The winger was assisted for the second time by Carter (9th assist of the season) and Andrew Alberts, who got a second later in the period.

With plenty of time left in the game, Philly piled the pressure on the Hurricanes and within six minutes, Hartnell had completed the fourth hat trick of his NHL career, and the Flyers' first since Mike Knuble bagged a treble back in February.

At 5-3, the Flyers continued to push forward, but for a while the dream comeback looked like it would come up short, as shot after shot was kept out of Carolina's net by Leighton.

But with five minutes remaining Philly's pressure paid off, as Lasse Kukkonen's blocked shot rebounded to Scottie Upshall, and the winger made no mistake to pull the Flyers back within one.

Carried by a tidal wave of momentum, Gagne completed the most improbable of fight backs, as he collected a behind the net pass from Knuble and fired past a helpless Leighton, to bring the Flyers level for the first time since the opening minute.

Richards also nabbed an assist on the play, his ninth point in the last six games, taking his total to 20 assist and 31 points on the year.

Philly had out shot the Hurricanes 15-6 in the final period, however overtime was much more even.

Niittymaki, who was standing in for the rested Martin Biron, made up for the five he conceded in the first 35 minutes, by producing some big saves in the extra period to take the game to a shoot out.

The Fin also proved his worth in the shootout, saving both of Carolina's attempts, whilst Richards and Gagne made no mistake, giving the Flyers their third straight win and their fourth in five games.

This is the first time in the team's history that Philly have ever successfully overturned a four goal deficit at home, and the last time they did it was in an 11-6 win in Detroit way back in 1988, when again they had trailed 5-1.

More important for the Flyers though is the here and now, with the win securing a 3-1 series victory over their Eastern Conference rivals.

All four games have been played within the last month and the sides will now not meet again this season, unless it is in the playoffs.

Philly (15-7-6) also remain tied with Pittsburgh for second place in the Atlantic division and fifth seed in the conference, whilst Carolina retain the second spot in the South East despite being ninth in the conference.

The Flyers have the chance to go second outright in the division when they welcome their state rivals the Penguins on Saturday afternoon.

One thing's for sure: it is going to be tight, with both meetings between the teams so far this season having gone to overtime.

Add to that the fact that 14 of the Flyers 15 home games to this point have been decided by just one goal, and it looks like we will be in for yet another tense one.

It also promises to be feisty as there is definately no love lost between the two franchises.

Flyers hockey may give you the odd nervous breakdown, but it is never dull!

Briere becoming sicknote - Center out again!

The Flyers will once again have to do without star center Danny Briere, this time for 4-5 weeks, after the Canadian picked up a groin strain in Tuesday's home win over the Lightning.

Briere had only just returned to the lineup, having missed 14 of the previous 16 games with different injuries, all of which are believed to have stemmed from the abdominal injury that required surgery earlier in the year.

Doctors believe that this new injury is also related, but don't know why it happened in a game but not in training - maybe because nothing, even full training, comes close to the intensity of a proper NHL game.

GM Paul Holmgren has confirmed that the injury is more serious than was thought at the time, and that it had been niggling at Briere for some time.

Briere has played well when healthy this season, picking up nine points in as many games.

But this new injury means he is set to miss between 13 and 17 games, unless he rehabs ahead of schedule.

So far this season, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards have done a good job picking up the slack left by Briere's various absences.

Carter has 25 points in 24 games including an NHL leading 18 goals, whilst captain Richards has 26 points in the same span.

As always Simon Gagne is also pulling his weight, leading the team in points (31) and assists (18).

However in the long term, very few can make up for a guy who was the driving force behind Philly's resurrection and playoff run last season with 72 points, and who scored a massive 95 points for the Sabres in 2006/7:


But the Flyers will have to try, starting tonight against the Devils.

Lightning doesn't strike twice as Flyers return to winning ways

Lightning 3 - 4 Flyers (OT)

Center and captain Mike Richards may have won the game for the Flyers last night, two minutes into overtime, but his teammate Scott Hartnell could have cost them the game in regulation, with one of the most extraordinary penalties you are ever likely to see.

With 16 seconds left in the third period, Lightning winger Ryan Malone broke away from a tired Flyers unit to go one-on-one with goaltender Martin Biron when, in an act of desperation, Hartnell threw his glove in front of Malone to try and put him off.

Malone's shot, which if scored would have won the game, was saved by Biron, but the referees correctly called a foul on Hartnell, giving the Lightning a penalty shot and with it, another chance to clinch the win.

Thankfully for the winger, Biron again produced a stunning save to send the game to overtime.

Here it is...I have never seen anything like it:


Some would say it was a great heads-up play as no-one was going to catch Malone, especially with Biron having saved 6/10 regulation penalty shots already this season.

Others would call it a moment of madness, that gave the visitors two chances to steal the win.

Richards took advantage of Philly's good fortune, scoring his second goal of the night early in the extra period to get the Flyers back on track, after two losses in two days at the back end of last week.

Ironically it was Malone that gave the Flyers the power play from which they scored the winner, after he was called for interference on Biron.

The Flyers had led the game 3-1 early in the third period, before allowing Tampa Bay to come back and level the scores with less than five minutes remaining.

It was a feast of a game for the Flyers' centers as they scored all 4 goals, with Jeff Carter's power play goal giving Philly the lead with less than three minutes on the clock.

After Tampa pegged the Flyer's back midway through the first, Philly regained their advantage just seconds into the third with Richards' first goal of the night.

Despite being a man short, the Flyers created a two-on-one break which the Canadian duly converted.

Carter doubled Philly's lead just four minutes later, grabbing his second of the night on another Flyers power play.

The goal was Carter's 18th of the season, which ties him with Buffalo's Thomas Vanek for the league's leading goal scorer.

The center was also credited with an assist for Richards' game winner, giving him three points on the night and 25 on the season.

However, it was not such a good night for the Flyers' other main center Danny Briere, as he left the game after the second with yet another injury.

By this point winger Scottie Upshall had already left the game in the opening period, but he was ejected in the first period after getting a game misconduct call for a boarding penalty.

The result avenged Philly's 2-1 loss to the Lightning back in November, when two former Flyers came back to haunt their former team.

The same nearly happened again last night, with four ex-Flyers combining to have a part in all three Tampa goals.

Ex-Philly winger Mark Recchi brought the Lightning level at 1-1 in the first, with another former Flyer Vaclav Prospal getting an assist on the play.

Prospal then scored Tampa's second, just seconds after Philly had gone 3-1 up.

The center was assisted by Steve Eminger, who the Flyers traded to the Lightning less than a month ago for defenseman Matt Carle.

Another player leaving Philadelphia in the Carle trade was winger Steve Downie, and it was he who knotted the scores late in the third before all the last gasp drama.

With the win the Flyers move up to 12-7-5 on the year and 6th in the Eastern Conference, just two points behind division rivals Pittsburgh, who lie second in the Atlantic Division.

Meanwhile the Lightning have now lost five straight games and slipped to second bottom in the East, a position the Flyers found themselves in not too long ago.

That time appears to be way in the past for Philly, who are now one of the hottest teams in the conference, having gone 7-1-2 in their last 10 games.

General Manager Paul Holmgren will be hoping his team can continue this form and build on it Thursday, when the New Jersey Devils visit the Wachovia Center.

Briere scores on return but the Flyers get struck by Lightning

Lightning 2 - 1 Flyers

Danny Briere grabbed a goal on his return from injury but it was the Flyers only goal of the game, as they lost at home to the Tampa Bay Lightning: their third straight defeat.

Briere's goal was more than the Flyers deserved, as they piled on the pressure in the first period, compiling 18 shots in the opening session.

But Philly were frustrated for much of the opening 20 minutes, as Lightning goalie Mike Smith produced save after save to keep the hosts at bay, before Briere broke the deadlock late in the period with the Flyers up 5-on-3; Simon Gagne and Mike Richards assisting the centre.

However these missed opportunities proved costly for Philly and despite some good work by Biron in the home net, he couldn't prevent two former Flyers coming back to haunt their old team.

Ex-Philly winger Mark Recchi broke away and set up Jussi Jokinen for Tampa's equaliser, before centre Vaclav Prospal completed the turnaround inside six second period minutes.

Both the goals came off Flyer mistakes but aside from that Philly managed to restrict the Lightning's offensive chances, with new defensive signing Matt Carle playing his way to the game's third star.

But for the second straight game the Flyers offense cooled off, with Tampa limiting them to five shots in the final period, leaving Philly to rue the chances they spurned early in the game.

A lot of credit has to go to Lightning goal-tender Smith, who was the player of the game after saving 34 of the Flyers 35 shots, but this will be little consolation for Philly who can't seem to get things going offensively and defensively in the same game.

The Flyers couldn't even fight properly- Philly's Arron Asham and Tampa's Ryan Craig had two goes at each other but neither could keep their feet for more than 30 seconds:

ROUND 1



ROUND 2



The season may only be 13 games old but already the Flyers are in their second major skid, with only the New York Islanders between them and the bottom of the Atlantic division.

In fact Philly's 4-6-3 record is the third worst in the NHL and with a three game road trip looming, Coach Stevens will need to use all his experience to try and get his side back to winning ways.

Tuesday night may be his best chance to do so, as the Flyers head to New York to take on the Islanders, before two tougher games at Pittsburgh and Montreal.

Things are going to have to change quickly if the team want to avoid a repeat of two years ago, where the Flyers finished with the worst record in the league.

Flyers get Briere injury boost + sign defenseman Carle

The Flyers received some good news on the injury front today as it was announced that Danny Briere has returned to full fitness ahead of schedule.

The star centre had been sidelined for the past six games after suffering a lower body injury in the shootout loss to the Sharks last month and, after having surgery on October 25th, was expected to miss at least three weeks action.

But just two weeks on, Briere is set to be back in the lineup for tonight's game against the Lightning, with Flyers coach John Stevens maintaining he is 100% ready to go.

Briere was one of the few bright points during Philly's winless first six games, with three goals and four assists, but you have to wonder whether his return has been brought forward by the Flyers current two game losing streak.

Whether he's ready or not, Briere will slot straight back in one of the best lines in the NHL, between Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble.

The Flyers may also see the return of Andreas Nodl tonight, after the Austrian winger missed the last two games through injury.

Tonight's game against Tampa Bay will not just see the return of old faces but also the debut of an unfamiliar one.

The Flyers today signed defenseman Matt Carle from the Lightning just in time for him to face his former team, in an attempt to solidify what has at times been a porous Philadelphia defense.

The 24 year-old had only signed for Tampa Bay in July, but in 12 games so far this year he was 2nd on the team in blocked shots and third in average ice time, with one goal and one assist.

Carle started his professional career with the San Jose Sharks, notching 16 goals, 47 assists and only 70 penalty minutes in 151 games over three seasons, before moving to Tampa.

The trade saw the Flyers acquire Carle and a third round draft pick from the Sharks, in exchange for two fringe players; defenseman Steve Eminger and winger Steve Downie, as well as Tampa Bay's fourth round draft pick in 2009.

Carle becomes one of the youngest players in a defensive group full of experience, but with all the defensive struggles Philly have had in the first 12 games, Stevens will hope his Alaskan signing will bring some youthful exhuberence to the team and have an instant impact.

He will immediately get the chance to show his former employers what they have given up as the Flyers and Lightning get it on in a few minutes time.

Hot Senators blow away Flyers

Flyers 1 - 4 Senators

The Flyers travelled to Ottawa on Thursday and suffered their second straight loss at the hands of the red hot Senators.

Philly coach John Stevens will be hoping this isn't the start of a run like the team went on to start the season, when Philly went 0-3-3 in their first six games.

Conversely Ottawa will be hoping their recent 4-0-1 streak will kick-start their season following four consecutive losses.

First period goals from Anton Volchenkov and Dany Heatley meant the Flyers were chasing the game early, with the visitors managing only three shots in the opening session.

Winger Arron Asham claimed his first goal of the season in the second to bring the Flyers within one, with but this reprise was short lived as Jesse Winchester restored the Sentaors lead less than a minute later.

This two goal cushion was more than enough for Ottawa (6-5-2), but Chris Neil added some extra insurance late in the game, firing into an empty net.

Philadelphia (4-5-3) have now conceded three or more goals in eight of their 12 games so far this year, winning just once when they have done so.

Neither Martin Biron nor Antero Niittymaki (who started the night) have managed to consistently keep the puck out of the net this season, and little help has come defensively from their colleagues.

Even offensively the Flyers cooled off: Jeff Carter's seven game points streak came to an end, whilst Mike Knuble failed to score for the first time in six games.

The one bright spot for Philly was captain Mike Richards who continued to supply his teammates with chances, collecting his 11th assist in 12 starts.

He will have to continue leading by example on Saturday, as the Flyers return home to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (4-4-4) who have also started the year slowly.

The Lightning will head into the game on the back of two road losses to the Devils and the Rangers, and Philly will look to make this consecutive loss number three against Atlantic division opponents.

Flyers win streak ended at 4

Oilers 5 - 4 Flyers

The NHL season is still young but already the Flyers have experienced some highs and lows in their first 11 games.

Philly were win-less through their first six games (0-3-3), before back to back wins over divisional rivals the New Jersey Devils sparked a run of four wins on the bounce.

Edmonton made sure that streak didn't reach five, holding off a late rally by the Flyers to win 5-4 at the Wachovia Centre.

The Oilers Eric Cole opened the scoring mid-way through the 1st period before a Mike Knuble power play goal levelled the scores two minutes later.

Two Ales Hemsky scores saw Edmonton regain the lead and despite a second power play goal, this time from Braydon Coburn, the Oilers extended their lead to 5-2 in the 2nd period.

Philly were hot on the power play all day (going 3-6) and Jeff Carter benefited late in the second; the center extended his scoring streak to seven goals in seven games to give the Flyers hope.

Left wing Simon Gagne pulled the Flyers within one with just 20 seconds gone in the third, but Philly's rally ended there.

Scott Hartnell came the closest to a Philly equaliser but his breakaway shot was well saved by Dwayne Roloson, ensuring that the visitors ended a five game skid of their own.

It's impossible to see the direction of the Flyers season so early on, but they are already 10 points off the high pace set by the New York Rangers.

At least they have a few days to recover before traveling to Canada to take on a an on form Ottawa Senators side on Thursday night.