Trio Score Two Each as Flyers Finally Win, 6-2 Over Isles

Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Claude Giroux each scored a pair of goals as the Philadelphia Flyers broke a 5-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory over the NY Islanders.  The win gave Peter Laviolette his first win as head coach of the Flyers.

The win was also Philadelphia’s 12th straight over the Islanders.  As a matter of fact, the Isles are the only team the Flyers have beaten over the course of their last 10 games, winning twice (the other being November 25th on Long Island) over that span.

The first period saw the Flyers do some things they had not done in a long while, with strong play on both ends of their special teams.

At 9:47, Richards netted a power play goal, the first PP goal for a Flyer in their last 20 man advantages.  Kimmo Timonen wristed a shot / pass from the right point to where Richards was standing at the right side of the cage.  Richards got his stick on it and deflected the puck high over starting goaltender Martin Biron’s glove.  It was the captain’s 12th goal of the year and for the second straight night, Philadelphia staked itself to a 1-0 lead.

Danny Briere took an undisciplined elbowing penalty on Jon Sim at 14:09 and the stage was set for a Flyer lead to again go by the wayside.  This time, though, Richards poked the puck past point man Mark Streit and won the race to the puck.  He went in on a breakaway from right to left, wristing a shot past Biron’s blocker for his 2nd of the game and 13th goal of the year.

For a team that was on a record-pace for shorthanded goals early on last year, it was just the second SH by a Flyer in Philadelphia’s 28th game this season…and the Flyers held a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.

In the middle frame, Carter scored two goals, one on the power play, to give the Flyers a 4-0 lead.  But then a lot of the same problems for that have haunted the team crept back in, as it was a steady parade to the penalty box for the orange and black.

With NY on a 2-man advantage, a shot rebounded off a couple of legs and found John Tavares all alone at the right side of the net for an easy tap in to cut the Flyer lead to 4-1.  Still on the PP 4 minutes later, Tavares got his second of the game and 13th of the year to make it a 4-2 game.

Giroux restored the Flyers 3 goal lead late in the 2nd on a power play on a one-timer off of a give-and-go pass from Richards to give Philly some breathing room.  Giroux closed out the scoring early in the third with his 2nd of the game and 5th of the season that made it 6-2.

Goaltender Brian Boucher, who became the Flyers #1 goaltender for the next 6 weeks when it was announced Ray Emery will undergo surgery to repair an abdominal injury tomorrow, stopped 22 of 24 Islander shots to gain his 3rd win of the season.

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Taking a Flyer:  The Isles were 2-8 on with the man-advantage while Philly was 3-5 on the PP…Giroux’s goals were his first in 10 games, dating back to November 20th in San Jose…the 6 goals were the most the Flyers have scored since November 2nd, a 6-2 win over Tampa Bay…Kyle Okposo registered 2 assists for NY, but also finished a -2 in the plus/minus column…Danny Briere, Matt Carle, Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen all added 2 assists apiece for Philadelphia…Isles defenseman Brendan Witt logged over 17 minutes of ice after being hit by a car earlier in the day while crossing a Philadelphia street.  Who would ever say hockey players are not the toughest of any sport?

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