Wrapup
In a game that saw a lot of special teams play, especially in the first period, the Flyers rode a 4-for-6 performance on the powerplay to a 6-3 win over the Penguins. Philadelphia continues its regular-season home mastery over Pittsburgh, and leaps past the Penguins into second place in the Atlantic Division. The Flyers are two points behind the Rangers with three games in hand.
The Flyers did an excellent job of getting pucks on the net and traffic in front. As the game progressed, their puck movement got better and better.
"To be honest with you, I don't think we moved the puck as well as we should have on the first couple of powerplays," said Kimmo Timonen. "We had a couple go our way and then we got better puck movement, and they backed off a little bit. We definitely won today's game on the special teams."
Determined not to have a repeat of the first two periods of Thursday night's game, the Flyers came out with a lot more energy today. Head coach John Stevens thinks there may have been a carryover effect from the club's third-period comeback against Carolina.
"We practiced yesterday and the mood was terrific," he said. "The focus was good. We had energy, which I'm not sure would have been the case had we not come all the way back and won the game. In our business, it's all about winning. It's about the body of work and how you are playing. There's no question that our team being able to do that in front of our gans made a big difference for our team coming into this game."
With the referees calling everything in sight in the first period, it was tough for either team to get into a rhythm. Stevens noted that is was hard to get certain players into the game with all the special teams play. But Philadelphia won the special teams battles early, and set themselves up for a convincing win.
"We wanted to have a statement game, and I think we accomplished that," said Mike Knuble. "Any time you win a division game, especially against a team like the Penguins, and do it in regulation, you've got to be pretty happy."
Notes:
* Timonen led all skaters on both teams 26:00 played, Mike Knuble led all players with seven shots (Sidney Crosby led the Penguins with four), Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke led with four hits (Carter had three for the Flyers), Mark Eaton led with four blocked shots (Matt Carle, Luca Sbisa, and Andrew Alberts all had two apiece for the Flyers).
* Matt Carle had a rough start to the game but came back to generate a pair of tremendous assists. He said after the game that his back bothered him sporadically during the game, but he's feeling better.
* Timonen wasn't thrilled about the borderline hit he took, but stopped short of criticizing the officials for letting it go.
3rd period synopsis: Flyers 6 - Penguins 3
Mike Richards has a chance to push the rush at about the 1:00 mark, but puts the puck safely into the corner instead and goes off for a line change.
Strong forechecking shift by the Powe line, forcing the Pens to work hard in their own zone for about 30 seconds.
No shots for either team through the first 4 minutes of the period. Finally, Mike Knuble puts on net a long-distance shot through a screen.
Kimmo Timonen lands a solid hit on the much bigger Evgeni Malkin in the corner at 6:19.
Pens still have no shots through the first 7:03 of the period.
Kimmo Timonen triggers a beautiful rush, with precise passes from Timonen to Gagne to Richards. Mike Knuble can't get much on a bid for a hat trick goal.
A scrum breaks out in the Flyers' end between Matt Cooke and Mike Richards, with teammates moving in. Richards and Cooke get coincidental roughing minors at 7:34, setting up 4-on-4 play.
Mike Knuble has a nice neutral zone takeaway during the four-on-four. The Flyers control in the offensive zone for about 15-20 seconds.
Pens still shotless through the first 9:26, but control the next faceoff and generate their first two shots and first sustained pressure of the period.
Flyers 5 - Penguins 2: Malkin ducks a Jeff Carter hit in Penguins end, and play swings the other way. Malkin feeds cross-ice to Petr Sykora. Eric Godard goes to the net and directs his first goal of the season past Biron at 11:06.
The Flyers settle down the play on the next shift.
Hartnell and Godard drop the gloves at 14:07 after the Pens enforcer goes after Hartnell. The Penguin wins a short fight, but draws an extra roughing penalty. The Flyers turn it into their fourth powerplay goal of the game, as the Penguins PK -- burned by being overaggresive early, became too passive.
Flyers 6- Penguins 2: The Flyers work around the puck. Joffrey Lupul moves right off the half-boards into the circle, putting the puck at the net. Jeff Carter directs the puck home for his 21st of the season. Kimmo Timonen gets the secondary helper. Time of the powerplay goal was 15:50.
Braydon Coburn gets a hooking minor at 16:31.
Flyers 6 - Penguins 3: Ruslan Fedotenko scores his obligatory goal against his former team, snapping a shot from the left circle past Biron for his 8th of the season. Assists to Sykora and Taffe. Time of the powerplay goal was 18:25.
Shots were 10-8 in Pittsburgh's favor (Flyers won 27-26). Faceoffs were 11-8 in the Flyers' favor (Flyers won 29-23 overall; Carter 10-for-16). Hits were 9-7 for Pittsburgh (Pens ahead 22-21 for the game). Giveaways were 4 by the Penguins to 3 by the Flyers (Flyers had 21 gives to 12 by the Pens).
2nd period synopsis: Flyers 5 - Penguins 1
The Flyers' forecheck, precision passing and willingness to go to the net enables them to increase their lead to 5-1, despite generating just six shots for the period. Martin Biron struggled with rebounds for much of the period but got help when he needed it.
Crosby and Satan open the period with a strong shift for Pittsburgh.
Joffrey Lupul feeds from the circle to Carter going to the net, but Carter can't get much of the puck at about the 2:00 mark.
Darroll Powe blocks a shot up high in the defensive zone and the fourth line gets some forechecking pressure on the Penguins.
Kimmo Timonen loses his stick and Pittsburgh spends a lengthy shift in the Philadelphia end. Finally, Scott Hartnell gives his stick to Timonen, retrieves Timonen's behind the net and plays the puck with it.
Flyers 2 - Penguins 1: On the rush, Ruslan Fedotenko feeds to Alex Goligoski at the point. Jordan Staal goes to the net and steers the puck past Biron as Goligoski puts it at the net. Time of the goal was 7:08.
NOTE: My computer connnection went down. Here's a quick synopsis of the goals.
Flyers 3 - Penguins 1 Matt Carle collects a turnover in the neutral zone and catches Mike Richards in stride. Richards carries over the middle, measures a wrister and fires it over Sabourin as he's knocked to the ice for his 12th goal of the season. Time of the even-strength goal was 10:09.
Flyers 4 - Penguins 1: A tic-tac-toe goal. Behind the net, Jeff Carter passes to Matt Carle at the bottom of the circle. Scott Hartnell crashes the net and puts Carle's perfect feed past Sabourin for his 10th goal of the season and fourth in the last two games. Time of the even-strength goal was 12:38.
Flyers 5 - Penguins 1: With the Flyers on the powerplay, Mike Richards fires a point shot at the net. Mike Knuble deflects it home for his second goal of the game and 12th of the season. Time of the powerplay goal was 17:09.
Shots were 12-6 in Pittsburgh's favor (Flyers lead 19-18 after two periods). Faceoffs were 9-7 in the Flyers' favor (Flyers lead 18-15 overall; Carter 7-for-10). Hits were 10-5 for Pittsburgh (Flyers lead 16-15 through two periods). Giveaways were nine by the Flyers, and three by Pittsburgh (Flyers have 18 gives to 8 by the Pens).
1st period synopsis: Flyers 2 - Penguins 0
One of the Flyers' best first all-around periods of the season, despite the constant parade of penalties called by the referees. Philly controlled most of the key aspects of the game. The team's deadly home powerplay produced a pair of goals, while Martin Biron came up with the saves he needed to make.
In the first half-minute, a Matt Carle turnover to Ruslan Fedotenko in the corner leads directly to an Evgeni Malkin scoring chance at point-blank range. Martin Biron makes the save. Seconds later, at 0:33, Malkin is sent off for holding. A scrum ensues after the whistle.
On the ensuing powerplay, with 30 seconds left, Jeff Carter snaps a wrister on net. Sabourin gets it and protects the rebound from Scott Hartnell. With 12 seconds left, Joffrey Lupul gets sent off for hooking at 2:21.
Cooke off for an offensive zone stick hold at 4:31. The Flyers' remarkable home powerplay turns it into a goal on a broken play.
Flyers 1 - Pens 0: An attempted pass by Jeff Carter gets stuffed but claimed at the point by Kimmo Timonen. The defenseman's shot misses the net, but with Sabourin down on the ice in the butterfly, Joffrey Lupul claims it behind the net and puts the puck in on the wraparound to score his 9th goal of the season. Time of the PPG was 5:49.
Shots are 7-1 Flyers through the first seven minutes of the period. Faceoffs are 6-3 Flyers, and Jeff Carter has started off 4-for-4.
A Braydon Coburn turnover to Fedontenko creates a scoring chance. On the same shift, Scott Hartnell is sent off for slashing ay 7:43. The Flyers come within a hair of their 12th shorthanded goal of the season on a nice move by Mike Richards, but Glen Metropolit can't finish in close. Later, Martin Biron makes a save on a Sidney Crosby shot from just inside the hash marks.
The early penalty parade continues. Philippe Boucher is sent off for hooking at 10:11. Pittsburgh is attacking the puck very aggresively, but the Flyers are moving the puck well.
Joffrey Lupul flubs a tough one-timer attempt but moments later, the Flyers strike for another powerplay goal.
Flyers 2 - Pens 0: Mike Knuble scores his 11th goal of the season, putting the puck in from the doorstep. Mike Richards and Kimmo Timonen get the assists. Time of the PPG was 11:41.
Arron Asham takes a totally needless neutral zone slashing penalty at 13:46. The powerplay is canceled out by an interference penalty at 14:20.
Crosby buzzes around the Flyers' zone after collecting a turnover (Kimmo Timonen) in the defensive zone and leading a counterattacks.
Scott Hartnell with a nice hit late in the period.
Shots were 13-6 in the Flyers' favor. Faceoffs were 9-8 Flyers (Carter 4-for-6). Hits were 10-5 Flyers (Vaananen the only player credited with two). The only negative stat for the Flyers was their 9 giveaways to 5 by Pittsburgh.
Preview (10:45 AM, EST)
The Flyers (15-7-6) have been on a 10-1-2 since November 15, including Thursday night's improbable 6-5 comeback win against Carolina. But they'll face a tough test this afternoon when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins (16-9-4) at the Wachovia Center.
Philadelphia has the opportunity to overtake the Penguins in the standings with a victory today. The Penguins come to town after roughing up the Islanders to the tune of 9-2. Both Petr Sykora and Pascal Dupuis registered hat tricks.
The Flyers' current run started after a 5-4 shootout loss the last time they played the Penguins. In that tilt, the Flyers fell behind 3-0, rallied behind Simon Gagne's two shorthanded goals to take the lead, but were unable to close out the game. Sidney Crosby scored an easy one off a turnover late in regulation and the Pens went on to prevail in the shootout.
Philly has not played many games of late against top-notch opposition, and they'll need to start beating Atlantic Division clubs other than the Islanders. This will be the first meeting at home with the Penguins this season. Pittsburgh won both meetings at the Igloo earlier this season, once in the final 10 seconds of overtime and the other time in a shootout.
The Flyers generally fair much better against the Penguins in Philadelphia than they do in Pittsburgh. Last season, the Flyers swept the Philadelphia portion of the regular-season series between the clubs and split the two Wachovia Center games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby usually has strong games against the Flyers, regardless of locale. Evgeni Malkin, on the other hand, has a history of dominating at the Igloo and disappearing in Philly.
Today's referees are Marc Joannette and Dan O'Halloran. Linesmen are Jean Morin and David Brisebois.
Team comparisons
EVEN STRENGTH
5-on-5
Flyers 45 GF - 52 GA
Penguins 54 GF - 47 GA
4-on-4
Flyers 5 GF - 8 GA
Penguins 7 GF - 5 GA
SPECIAL TEAMS
Flyers powerplay
Overall - 24.3% (3rd NHL)
Home - 31.8% (2nd NHL)
0 Shorthanded goals allowed
Penguins penalty kill
Overall - 84.5% (T-7th NHL)
Road - 80.3% (17th NHL)
3 Shorthanded goals scored
Penguins powerplay
Overall - 18.1% (17th NHL)
Road - 12.1% (28th NHL)
5 Shorthanded goals allowed
Flyers penalty kill
Overall - 84.7% (5th NHL)
Home - 83.6% (15th NHL)
11 shorthanded goals scored
Scoring First
Flyers 12-1-4
Penguins 9-3-3
Opponent Scoring First
Flyers 3-6-2
Penguins 7- 6-1
Goals by period
1st period
Flyers 24 GF - 26 GA
Penguins 25 GF - 18 GA
2nd period
Flyers 34 GF - 32 GA
Penguins 35 GF - 32 GA
3rd period
Flyers 30 GF - 22 GA
Penguins 31 GF - 27 GA
OT
Flyers 5 GF - 4 GA
Penguins 3 GF - 1 GA
LINEUPS (subject to change)
Flyers
Gagne - Richards - Knuble
Hartnell - Carter - Lupul
Upshall - Metropolit - Nodl
Cote - Powe - Asham
Timonen - Vaananen
Coburn - Carle
Alberts - Sbisa
Biron
[Nittymaki]
Penguins
Satan - Crosby - Dupuis
Fedotenko - Malkin - Sykora
Cooke - Staal - Minard
Taffe - Talbot (?) - Wallace
Orpik - Letang
Scuderi - Boucher
Eaton - Goligoski
Sabourin/Fleury
NEW FLYERSBUZZ TV EPISODE TONIGHT 11:30PM CN*8
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