Wrapup (10:00 PM)

Jeff Carter absolutely took over tonight's hockey game and lifted his club to victory on a night where the Flyers seemed likely to go down to defeat.

It was a game where there were some weird bounces that ended up in the net, an 8-3 imbalance on powerplays and questionable calls and non-calls all night. Ultimately, Phoenix showed both the good and bad sides of having so many young players on the squad.

"It's tough to come back in this league when you're down after two (periods), and then when you're down again, you need to show a lot of poise to be able to come back and win," said Martin Biron.

Make no mistake: Jeff Carter led the way for the Flyers. He was creating chances for himself all night, even before he finally broke through.

"The thing that's so exciting for me in terms of Jeff is that he's doing all this scoring but not giving up any of his defensive responsibilities," said Flyers coach John Stevens. "He's playing against top lines every night, he's got big checking assignments every night, he kills penalties, plays big minutes and is still putting up big offensive numbers. He's developed into one of the better two-way players in the league."

The Flyers used their penalty kill tonight to generate quite a few shorthanded scoring chances (many by Carter).

Flyers goalie Martin Biron blamed himself for the second Coyotes goal, saying that he was a little too far back in his net as Luca Sbisa and Martin Hanzal grappled for body position and swung at the puck.

" I had the paddle down, but it went over my stick and through my pads. I should have been out challenging a little more," said Biron.

The third goal was a weird knuckleball of a shot ("a seeing-eye single" as John Stevens called it).

"I think it went off Kukky's glove and then it took a bounce. Andrew Alberts told me that he was behind the play and it looked like it bounced and took a curve to the right and went in the net," said Biron.

On the overtime winner, Mike Richards (1 G, 1 A, four hits, 13-for-20 on faceoffs but also three giveaways, four attempted shots blocked and two missed nets) had a burr under his saddles after what was sometimes a frustrating night for him. He's scored several goals over the last two seasons on similar plays moving over the middle.

"We don't get out there much together," said Carter. "But it's always fun to be out there with Richie. He can make things happen."



Overtime synopsis: Flyers 4 - Coyotes 3

At 0:19, Carter races off on yet another shorthanded rush. His right circle wrister is handled by Tellqvist.

Flyers 4 - Coyotes 3: Carter does it again. He tips a puck loose to Mike Richards. The Flyers captain moves up ice on a 2-on-1 with Carter, skates over the middle and snaps a wrister past Tellqvist to win the game at 1:35 of the extra frame.

The Flyers had both shots registered in OT.


3rd period synopsis: Flyers 3 - Coyotes 3

Jeff Carter's strong game continues, finally resulting in a game-tying goal late in regulation aft

Jovanovski off for tripping at 3:52. Very nice save by Tellqvist to stop Carle from the circle.

Flyers 2 - Coyotes 2: At 5:08 , Mike Knuble (8th of the season), re-directs a Kimmo Timonen point shot to tie the game. Secondary assist goes to Simon Gagne.

Mike Richards goes for holding at 7:56. Carter blocks a shot, goes off on a breakaway but misses the net on his wrist shot.

The referees have suddenly decided to call the game super-tight after letting a lot go earlier in the game. Kukkonen off for hooking at 10:03. Carter with another shorthanded chance, joined on the rush by Braydon Coburn. Coming out of the box, Kukkonen skates up the right wing and feeds a goal-mouth pass that misses connections.

I rarely write much about the officiating in game blogs, but the refereeing tonight is a joke. Scott Hartnell just got roughed in front of the Phoenix net in almost identical fashion to what got him penalized in the second period after the Hanzal goal. Either call both or call neither.

Coyotes 3 - Flyers 2: At 14:46 Todd Fedoruk's partially blocked shot by Lasse Kukkonen knuckleballs past Martin Biron. Assists to Hanzal and Boedker.

Flyers 3 - Coyotes 3: At 18:53 with Martin Biron off for an extra attacker, Jeff Carter (14th of the season) with a clutch re-direction from the slot, set up perfectly by Mike Richards from the half boards.

Richards off for interference at 19:10. Phoenix gets 1:10 of 4-on-3 time in OT.

Shots were 12-6 Flyers (32 for Flyers, 28 for Phoenix through regulation). Faceoffs were 10-7 for Phoenix (26-22 Flyers through regulation).


2nd period synopsis: Flyers 1 - Coyotes 2

Not exactly a riveting period, but Phoenix has been working very hard in this fairly evenly-played game. A late period goal gives the Coyotes their first lead of the night. This has also been one of the worst officiated games of the season to date, but that's pretty much par for the course whenever Dave Jackson gets the assignment.

Note: There has been a change in scoring on the Flyers' first goal. The official scorers ruled that Jeff Carter never touched the puck and it went off Michalek, then hit Tellqvist and then went into the net. The goal now belongs to Scott Hartnell, unassisted.

Martin Biron erases a turnover and denies Carcillo in front at 6:02. Phoenix has been getting the better of the play so far. Pheonix is putting on a lot of forechecking pressure.

A sliding blocked shot by Andreas Nodl up high in the defensive zone leads to a Scott Hartnell counterattacking opportunity at 6:20.

Phoenix's Martin Hanzal gets away with a pretty clear-cut boarding of Josh Gratton at 8:25. Play continues and Tellqvist stops a Lasse Kukkonen shot from the top of the circle, holding for a stoppage. A scrum ensues, but no penalties are called. Typical of a Dave Jackson refereed game. I fully expect a marginal even-up call against Phoenix at the first opportunity.

There it is: Olli Jokinen goes off for a borderline hooking penalty behind the net at 9:19(referee Dan O'Rourke with the call). The Flyers can't convert.

Kimmo Timonen off for hooking at 16:19. Solid kill with no Phoenix scoring chances.

Coyotes 2 - Flyers 1: At 19:09, Hanzal outwrestles Luca Sbisa in the slot and put a shot through Biron's legs as Sbisa also swipes at the puck. Scott Hartnell gets sent off for roughing in the post-goal scrum. Assists on the goal to Michalek and Porter.

Shots were 10 apieces (Phoenix ahead 22-20 through two periods). Faceoffs were 8-6 for the Flyers (19-12 Flyers through two periods, Richards 10-for-15 leads the way).


1st period synopsis: Flyers 1 - Coyotes 1

The Flyers look sharp early, but some sloppiness with the puck in the defensive zone -- after close calls on turnovers by Luca Sbisa and Andreas Nodl -- finally comes back to bite them on a Martin Biron turnover. The Flyers' goalie was otherwise very sharp.

Coyotes get a break on what could have been called too many men on the ice at about the 2:30 mark. Flyers have three of the game's first four shots.

On a delayed penalty call, Josh Gratton nearly bangs home a Lasse Kukkonen rebound. Former Flyer Todd Fedoruk goes off for an offensive zone tripping penalty at 3:43. The Flyers generate good puck movement and three shots on goal, but can't convert the powerplay into a goal.

Flyers 1 - Coyotes 0: At 6:18 Jeff Carter (14th of the season) redirects a puck that goes off Tellqvist's blocker and into the net. Assist goes to Scott Hartnell.

Sbisa turns the puck over near the circle to (I believe) Martin Hanzal at about 9:00, but no damage is done by Phoenix.

At 10:11, Tellqvist pokechecks a Mike Knuble rebound off the stick of Mike Richards before the Flyers captain can pull the puck into shooting position on the forehand.

The Flyers have won 10 of the game's first 12 faceoffs. Mike Richards is 5-for-6.

Jeff Carter goes for cross-checking along the defensive side-boards at 11:17. On the ensuing kill, the Flyers hold Phoenix to one shot.

Biron looks sharp steering a heavy point shot by Keith Yandle to safety without a dangerous rebound.

At 17:30, Nodl goes off for a boarding minor. On the ensuing kill, Martin Biron stops a turnaround shot by Kyle Turris from the slot (shots now 10-10).

Flyers 1 - Coyotes 1: At 18:50, Phoenix ties the game on the powerplay. At Martin Biron makes a miscue going behind the net to play the puck, and putting it right on the stick of Daniel Carcillo, who taps his first goal of the season into an open net. On the initial dump-in, Martin Hanzal skated right past Glen Metropolit and got in on Biron behind the net to pressure him.

Joffrey Lupul goes off for hooking at 19:19. There will be 1:20 of carryover.

Shots were 12 for Coyotes and 10 for the Flyers. Faceoffs were 11-6 in the Flyers' favor (Richards 5-for-9).


Updated (5:00 PM, EST)

I was wrong about the goaltending matchup tonight. Despite the back-to-back games, Martin Biron will start again tonight for the Flyers.

Preview (8:30 AM, EST)

The Flyers (8-6-4) will look for their fourth win in a row when they take on Wayne Gretzky's Phoenix Coyotes (8-9-1) at the Wachovia Center last night. The Coyotes, who are playing the second game of a four-game road trip, are coming off a 5-2 loss at Carolina. Phoenix has now dropped four straight games.

The Flyers have won four of their last six home games against Phoenix. However, when the Flyers and Coyotes met in Philly last December, the Flyers blew a 2-0 lead and went on to lose, 3-2.

Phoenix has overrelied on Shane Doan (11 goals, 19 points) and Olli Jokinen (7 goals, 17 points) to carrry the offensive load this season. Last night, Doan and Kevin Porter (4th of the season) scored the two Coyotes goals in a losing effort. The Coyotes have some exciting young talent on the squad, featuring the likes of Danish rookie Mikkel Boedker (five goals, nine points), Peter Mueller (five goals, 12 points, scored the game-winner against the Flyers last December) and the struggling Kyle Turris (one goal, five points).

Defenseman Derek Morris had to leave last night's game early, and is unlikely to play tonight. On the flip side, the team recalled forward Enver Lisin from the AHL, and he will be in the lineup tonight. The Flyers will go with the same lineup as last night (former Coyotes Daniel Briere and Ossi Vaananen remain out of the lineup).

With both Martin Biron and Ilya Bryzgalov having started last night and both clubs in the midst of a busy stretch of games, the clubs will likely turn to their backups. Antero Niittymäki will make his first career start against the Coyotes while Mikael Tellqvist (2-1-0, 1.68 GAA, .940 save percentage, one shutout against the Flyers) will make his fourth career start against the Flyers. Tellqvist has only appeared in two games to date this season.


FLYERS LINES AND SCRATCHES

Gagne - Richards - Knuble
Hartnell - Carter - Nödl
Upshall - Metropolit - Lupul
Gratton - Kalinski - Asham

Sbisa - Timonen
Coburn - Carle
Alberts - Kukkonen

Biron
[Niittymäki]


Scratches: Briere (groin), Vaananen (finger), Cote (LTIR, olique muscle), Powe (LTIR, concussion), Jones (LTIR, hip), Parent (LTIR, shoulder), Hatcher (LTIR, knee).

*****

Flyers-Sabres Wrapup

Not all shutouts are created equal. There are team shutouts where the victorious goaltender hardly breaks a sweat all night, and then there are games like last night's. The Flyers killed off five penalties and Martin Biron had numerous tough saves among the 40 shots he turned away last night.

Other than the goaltending, the Flyers' counter-punching ability won the game last night. Scott Hartnell's late first period goal and the first of Jeff Carter's two goals in the third period came directly after the Sabres generated sustained pressure in the Flyers' end of the ice. Giving up goals in those situations is disheartening to any team, but especially to a club that has been struggling of late.

****

Flyers Farm Report

* You can watch defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon and the rest of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in action today against Baie-Comeau. The game is available via free webcast. The puck drops at 4 PM EST.

* Claude Giroux and Patrick Maroon provided the two Phantoms goals in last night's 5-2 loss to Hershey.

*James vanRiemsdyk scored both UNH goals (his seventh and eighth of the season) in a losing effort last night, as Northeastern downed New Hampshire by a 3-2 score.

* Jocke "Sunshine" Eriksson was recently called up to the Brynäs IF senior team and has been practicing with the Elitserien squad and backing up wunderkind Jacob Markström in games. Earlier today, BIF had Anders Lindbäck start for the J20 team, so I assume Eriksson will back up Markström in Brynäs' Elitserien road game in Luleå later today.

* Defenseman Denis Bodrov has been traded from HC Lada to Atlant Mytishchi. He is going from one of the worst teams in the league to the club witht he best record in the KHL.

* Defenseman Joonas Lehtivuori's Ilves Tampere team took it on the chin again today, getting blanked by the Lahti Pelicans, 3-0. Lehtivuori, who has struggled ever since returning from a hand injury, has recently been paired with hulking former Dallas Stars prospect Matt Nickerson.

* In his last start, Jacob DeSerres lasted only one period in a 3-0 loss to Moose Jaw. The struggling Seattle goalie has a 4.63 goals against average and .848 save percentage on the season.

****

Flyers retro third jersey

You can pre-order the new 'retro' Flyers third jersey here.


Contact Bill at [email protected]