Wrapup (11:00 PM, EST)
The Flyers rode the strong goaltending of Antero Niittymaki, their uncanny ability to score shorthanded goals and the quick shot release of Jeff Carter to 2-1 overtime win in Carolina.
Philadelphia also blocked 23 shots and registered a season-high 37 hits and were charged with just two giveaways (one game after being charged with 23) to earn the road victory.
On the game-winner, Carter tried to draw the puck back to point, but when he wasn't able to do it, he pivoted around Rod Brind'Amour and fired a quick shot that got on Michael Leighton in a hurry and found a hole.
The Flyers go back at it on Tuesday night, when they take on the Islanders at the Wachovia Center.
Phantoms notes
Patrick Maroon scored a hat trick and registered a pair of assists in tonight's 5-2 Phantoms victory over Binghamton at the Spectrum. The first two goals were scored from the doorstep, the final one was an empty netter late in regulation. Jared Ross and Jeff Swesz had the other Phantoms goals.
Maroon's skating still looks awkward and he's not much of a puckhandler or a defensive player, but he has three things that can't be taught: size, anticipation and soft hands around the net. Once he smells a scoring chance, it's tough to move him out from the slot.
After a quiet first period, Claude Giroux (who did not record a point tonight) had several strong strong shifts in the second period. He set up Boyd Kane on tremendous feed that Kane simply didn't finish. On another shift, Giroux made an explosive move right off the faceoff, going in an coming within a whisker of scoring.
Preview (9:30 AM, EST)
The Flyers (12-7-6) split last week's holiday home-and-home with the Carolina Hurricanes (12-12-2), but Carolina's overtime win last Friday afternoon is the club's lone victory in its last six games. The club has changed coaches since the last meeting with the Flyers, bringing back longtime bench boss Paul Maurice.
As of this writing, Simon Gagne intends to play tonight, as does Kimmo Timonen. Matt Carle remains sidelined with back spasms.
Carolina has been a chronically slow-starting club this season, scoring just 16 first period goals (to 25 goals against). They tend to get better as the game moves along. The Flyers saw this last Wednesday's 3-1 win. Philadelphia held the Canes to a single shot in the first period, but had to rely on Antero Niittymaki to make numerous good saves, especially in the second period. The Flyers did a good job closing out the game.
There remains a significant special teams disparity between the clubs. Carolina's powerplay is limping along at a 13.2% success rate (29th in the NHL), while the Flyers kill off penalties at 86% clip (5th in the NHL) and lead the NHL with 10 shorthanded goals.
The Flyers powerplay has been much better at home (a remarkable 31.6% success ratio) than on the road (14.9%) but is ranked third overall. Carolina is in the bottom one-third of the NHL (22nd overall) in penalty killing with a 79.5% success rate. The Canes have yet to score a shorthanded goal. However, Carolina usually does a good job of staying out of the box. The Canes enter the game tied for the fewest penalty minutes per game in the NHL.
FLYERS LINES (subject to change)
Gagne - Richards - Knuble
Hartnell - Carter - Upshall
Nodl - Metropolit - Lupul
Cote - Powe - Asham
Timonen - Vaananen
Coburn - Sbisa
Alberts - Kukkonen
Biron/Niittymaki
Scratches: Carle (back), Briere (LTIR, groin), Jones (LTIR, hip), Parent (LTIR, shoulder), Hatcher(LTIR, knee).
*****
I will be at the Phantoms game tonight and will post a late-night wrapup of the Flyers-Canes tilt, along with some notes from the Phantoms-Binghamton game.
Last night, the Phantoms beat Hartford 6-3 at the Spectrum. Jared Ross scored twice and added an assist. Claude Giroux tallied a goal and two helpers. Jonathan Matsumoto converted a penalty shot, while Boyd Kane and David Laliberte also tallied goals for Philly.
Contact Bill at
[email protected]
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»