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10:30 PM EDT (10/17/12)
Hovinen Hurt in Titans Win
The Trenton Titans ran their 2012-13 record to 3-0-0 tonight with a 3-1 win over the Reading Royals. It was a costly victory for the Flyers' ECHL affiliate, however, as Flyers goaltending prospect Niko Hovinen sustained an injury early in the second period and did not return to the game.
Hovinen, who had a shaky preseason and was beaten out by Cal Heeter for a spot on the Adirondack Phantoms' opening night roster, was making his second start of the ECHL regular season. He played well in the Titans opening night win, and was off to a good start tonight as well. The big Finn stopped 11 of 12 shots through the first 20:25 of the game.
At that point, Hovinen got hit up high with a shot, struck near his left clavicle. He left the game and was replaced by New Jersey Devils prospect Scott Wedgewood, who did not allow a goal on 20 shots the rest of the way. Hovinen is schedule to be re-evaluated on Thursday and is likely to miss at least the team's upcoming road games against Evansville on Friday and Cincinnati on Saturday.
Rookie forward Marcel Noebels recorded a goal for Trenton, who also got a goal from defenseman Blake Kessel. Team captain Ray DiLauro scored the other Trenton goal. Forward Jason Akeson assisted on the Noebels tally.
DiLauro, a native of Bensalem in Bucks County, is one of those compelling hockey stories you find sometimes beyond the NHL game. He is not Flyers property but grew up a Flyers fan. The 33-year-old defenseman is quite the hockey world traveler.
The veteran defenseman has not only played in the AHL and ECHL but has also played professional hockey in Germany's DEL, Austria's EBEL, Italy's Serie A, and even in Japan for the Nippon Paper Cranes of the ALIH. Now, in his second season with the Titans, the offensive-minded defenseman is the captain of a team located roughly 25 minutes from his hometown.
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Bryzgalov Gets Back-to-Back Starts, Falters in 3rd Period
Coming off a strong outing on Monday, Ilya Bryzgalov was rewarded with a second straight start yesterday for CSKA Moscow. Apart from one somewhat questionable goal from the deep slot by Jarkko Immonen, Bryzgalov was strong for the first 50 minutes of the game.
Then the walls caved in.
CSKA, which trailed 2-0 after the opening period, battled back to tie the game on a second period goal by Mikhail Grabovsky and a goal by Alexander Radulov at 6:55 of the third period. Just 3:44 later, Bryzgalov allowed a soft goal to Danis Zarapov, who skated into the lower right circle and backhanded a low shot that somehow got through the five-hole and into the net.
The sequence started off a turnover at the blueline. Even so, Zaripov's shot should have been a routine save. It was the worst possible time to give up one like that when the team had been battling uphill all game and finally got the game knotted.
The next shot Bryzgalov saw, 1:17 after the Ak Bars' go-ahead goal, also went in the net. This play was a defensive breakdown by CSKA. Bryzgalov would have needed to make a difficult save to prevent a wide-open Immonen from scoring his second goal of the game. Even so, sometimes a goalie needs to come up with one like that when his team desperately needs it to stay in the game.
The Ak Bars scored an empty net goal with 1:29 remaining in regulation to seal the 5-2 win. Bryzgalov finished with 24 of 28 shots. CSKA's next game is on Friday.
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Read assists on GWG
Flyers forward Matt Read has record at least one point in each of the four games he's played to date in Allsvenkan. Centering New York Rangers winger Carl Hagelin and French national team winger Damien Fleury, Read has racked up eight points (1G, 7A) over that span.
On Wednesday, Södertälje SK's top line broke a 1-1 deadlock with home team Almtuna IS. Read and Hagelin assisted on Fleury's go-ahead goal in the opening minute of the third period. The line had come close to scoring several other times during the game, but it took until the third period to finally break through.
Emil Billberg (Read's former Bemidji State teammate and close friend) added a late empty-netter to close out a 3-1 win for SSK. The victory was the team's first regulation win on the road in the still-young season. SSK returns to action on Friday, hosting Troja/Ljungby.
Highlights of the SSK-Almtuna game are available here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the video highlight package.
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KHL: Barys Blows Out Fedotenko's Team
Ruslan Fedotenko and the Ukraine-based HC Donbass Donetsk club were in Kazakhstan on Wednesday to take on Barys Astana. The game stayed close for two periods until Barys reeled off four unanswered goals in the final stanza to skate away with a 6-1 win.
Fedotenko (1 goal, 2 assists in 11 GP) did not get on the scoresheet. He skated 17:02 of ice time in 26 shifts, and was 7-for-13 on faceoffs. Donbass visits Yugra on Friday.
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FARM SYSTEM UPDATES
* OHL: Center Nick Cousins tallied an empty net goal for Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday to seal a 3-1 win over the Sarnia Sting. Cousins has 17 points (7 goals, 10 assists) through the first 11 games of the regular season.
* MHL: Defenseman Valeri Vasiliev did not record a point and was minus-one for MHK Spartak in the team's 4-3 shootout win over Energie Karlovy Vary on Wednesday. For the season, Vasilev has zero goals, one assist, 20 penalty minutes and a plus-one rating in 13 games played.
* OHL: The lone Flyers-related game taking place in any league on Thursday is Derek Mathers and the Peterborough Petes hosting the Plymouth Whalers. Game time is 7:05 p.m. eastern U.S./Canada time. A free radio stream is available (Petes announcers) or a webcast stream can be purchased for $6.99.
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TODAY IN FLYERS HISTORY (October 18)
1970: Bobby Clarke's goal 15 seconds into the third period spearheaded a comeback 4-2 victory over Toronto in Maple Leaf Gardens. Andre Lacroix capped the comeback with the game-winning goal and insurance in the final stanza. Gary Dornhoefer scored the other Philadelphia goal.
1972: "Cowboy" Bill Flett's goal with 31 seconds remaining in the game lifted the Flyers to a 4-3 road win over the Los Angeles Kings. The goal was Flett's second of the game and fifth of the young season (he'd score a career-best 43 that year). Dave Schultz and defenseman Jean Potvin scored one goal apiece.
1975: The Flyers and Canadiens battled to a 2-2 tie at the Montreal Forum. Reggie Leach and Gary Dornhoefer did the scoring honors for Philly, while Wayne Stephenson earned first star of the game honors by stopping 34 of 36 shots.
1979: The Flyers got goals from all four forward lines in a 6-2 win over the Atlanta Flames. Reggie Leach led the way with two goals. Bill Barber, Paul Holmgren, Rick MacLeish and John Paddock rounded out the balanced scoring attack.
1984: The Flyers slaughtered the Vancouver Canucks at the Spectrum by a 13-2 score. Brian Propp and Ilkka Sinisalo each recorded hat tricks. Tim Kerr scored twice. Single tallies were recorded by Brad McCrimmon, Dave Poulin, Peter Zezel, Rick Tocchet and Murray Craven. As often happens in blowouts of this magnitude -- especially during the 1970s and 1980s -- the latter part of the game was filled with fights.
1992: Rookie Eric Lindros was held off the scoreboard but plenty of other players stepped to the forefront in a 5-4 home win over the Winnipeg Jets. Doug Evans scored the game winner with 1:20 remaining in the third period. Eventual Calder Trophy winner Teemu Selänne scored early for Winnipeg; his 6th of an NHL rookie-record 76 goals.
1995: Mikael Renberg set up Eric Lindros to put the Flyers ahead just one minute into the game, but that would be all the Flyers would score in a 1-1 tie against the LA Kings.
2007: Martin Biron recorded a 38-save home shutout of the New Jersey Devils. Mike Richards, Sami Kapanen, ex-Devils forward Jim Dowd and Joffrey Lupul tallied for Philly.
2011: The Flyers blew out the Ottawa Senators, 7-2. Over the course of the game, rookies Sean Couturier and Harry Zolnierczyk scored their respective first goals in the NHL while veteran Max Talbot scored his first as a Flyer. Matt Read had a goal and two assists. Wayne Simmonds, James van Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux (1G, 1A) also tallied for the Flyers.
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