ST. PAUL, Minn. -- With the usual offensive suspects either
in the penalty box or stifled by the defense, the Philadelphia
Flyers "other guys" came up big.
Fourth-line center Jeff Carter had a goal and an assist, and the
Flyers beat the Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Wednesday night for their
fourth straight road win.
"They were great. I really thought that whole line was good,"
Flyers coach John Stevens said. "(Scottie) Upshall had good jump.
We got great minutes out of the fourth line there. ... They looked
very comfortable early on there. We got a lot of good things from a
lot of different areas of our hockey team."
Minnesota, riding a four-game winning streak, was kept in check
by the Flyers despite a decided advantage in power-play minutes.
The Flyers, behind 28 saves by Antero Niittymaki, held Minnesota to
just one power-play goal in eight opportunities, including a pair
of extended two-man advantages.
The win moved Philadelphia into a tie with the idle New York
Rangers atop the Atlantic Division. The Flyers have now won nine
road games, but only six at home.
"The thing is we play a simple game on the road. That's the
key," Niittymaki said. "We go home and we try too much, try to
play a little silly game. I think this is the way we should play,
just good defense and get great turnovers and score from there."
Pavol Demitra scored for the Wild, and Niklas Backstrom made 22
saves.
Carter scored four goals in the Flyers' first five games of the
season, but had only one goal since Nov. 8 prior to Wednesday.
His shot on goal in the first period started a scramble in front
of Backstrom that ended when the puck bounced off Backstom's leg
and into the net. Upshall was credited with the goal.
Midway through the first period, Carter scored on a backhander
after he was left uncovered in front of Backstrom, giving the
Flyers a 2-0 lead.
After NHL officials put the Flyers on notice for hard hits
earlier in the week, the referees seemed determined to reinforce
that message early in the game.
"We talked about it," Flyers captain Jason Smith said about
the warning from the league office. "We have to be a hard team to
play against. We've got to be physical, and we have to get to the
forecheck and be physical in the defensive zone. But, obviously we
have been involved in some incidents that are outside the rules. We
have to make sure we are playing on that edge, but not costing
us."
Within 86 seconds of the opening faceoff, the Flyers' two
leading scorers, Daniel Briere and Mike Richards, were in the
penalty box and Minnesota had a 5-on-3 power play for more than a
minute.
The Wild appeared to have taken the lead when Aaron Voros' shot
from the top of the crease disappeared beneath goalie Antero
Niittymaki. The referee closest to the play signaled goal, but a
video review couldn't find evidence that the puck had crossed the
goal line. It was one of many frustrating moments for the Minnesota
power play.
"When you don't move, you can't get great scoring chances,"
Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "I felt that we stopped
doing things."
Minnesota got on the board for real in the opening minute of the
second period, when Pavol Demitra deflected Brian Rolston's shot
past Niittymaki on a power play. It was Demitra's first goal since
Nov. 1, and his first since returning from missing nine games in
November with a groin injury.
"It was one of those games when we treaded water," Rolston
said. "Once we get down 3-1 we start trying to do things that we
don't do. We try to carry it through the neutral zone or make
little passes that don't work."
Defenseman Braydon Coburn, who recently signed a contract
extension, scored his first goal of the season to put Philadelphia
back up by two. His slap shot from outside the blue line fooled
Backstom, sailing into the upper right corner of the net. It was
Coburn' first goal since March 31 against the Rangers.
Game notes
Flyers forward Jim Dowd was one of the original members of
the Wild, and played nearly 300 games for Minnesota before being
traded to Montreal in 2004. The Flyers are his 10th NHL team. ...
Wild captain Mark Parrish missed his third consecutive game because
of a hip injury. ... Nick Schultz started the game on defense for
Minnesota, but left the ice after taking a puck to the throat in
the first period. He spent Wednesday night in a hospital and will
not travel on Minnesota's upcoming road trip to Detroit and
Columbus.