|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The Philadelphia Flyers have found someone
to pick up the slack for the injured John LeClair -- Simon Gagne.
Continuing his recent scoring surge, Gagne put in a backhander
with 9:52 left as Philadelphia beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3
Saturday for its fourth straight victory.
|  | | Carolina's Glen Wesley, center, covers up a shot by Philadelphia's Simon Gagne as Hurricanes goaltender Arturs Irbe stands ready. |
The game-winner was Gagne's third in the last four games for the
Flyers, who are starting to creep up the Eastern Conference
standings even though LeClair -- who has scored 40 or more goals for
five straight seasons -- is out with a back infection.
"My confidence is high right now," Gagne said. "I feel very
comfortable on the ice and I'm trying to be there at the right
moments. That's working for me right now and I hope it stays that
way for a long time."
The Flyers rallied from a 3-1 deficit, with Gagne's team-leading
22nd goal of the season the game-winner as Philadelphia improved to
a season-high 10 games over .500 (25-15-9-1).
"Early in the year we may have been questioning ourselves a
little bit," Flyers captain Eric Desjardins said of the team's 4-7-4 start. "Maybe we thought it was going to be easy because of
the way we ended last year."
The Hurricanes have lost three straight at home after a
team-record nine-game unbeaten streak there.
Jeff O'Neill's second goal of the game and 23rd of the season
early in the second gave Carolina a 3-1 lead. O'Neill has 17 goals
in his last 22 games.
But Philadelphia rallied with two goals over the final 13
minutes of the period to tie it 3-3, then won it on Gagne's goal.
"They clogged up that neutral zone as good as anybody has done
all year," O'Neill said.
"Our forwards couldn't get open for our defense and our defense
couldn't make a pass. They just frustrated us. We were up 3-1 and
we didn't even deserve to be in the game. I don't know what else to
say other than we played poorly."
Gagne also added an assist and has a team-leading 41 points,
including five goals and two assists in his last four games.
Carolina goaltender Arturs Irbe mishandled the puck in the
corner with the Hurricanes on the power play in the second period,
allowing Paul Ranheim to score shorthanded to make it 3-2.
Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said Ranheim jumped over the
boards too soon and surprised Irbe.
"We were yelling right from the time it happened," said
Maurice, arguing that the Flyers had too many men on the ice.
"There is no question."
Late in the period, Peter White tipped in a shot from the blue
line by Chris Therien past Irbe, who faced 30 shots through two
periods.
Carolina went more than 12 minutes without a shot to open the
game and fell behind 1-0 before striking for two goals in a span of
43 seconds.
Shane Willis tied it when he banked the puck off the back of
Flyers goaltender Roman Cechmanek after a wild scramble in front of
the net. The Hurricanes had gotten their first shot seconds earlier
by Rod Brind'Amour with 7:47 left in the period.
Ron Francis then set up O'Neill's team-leading 22nd goal in the
slot moments later.
The Flyers went ahead 1-0 six seconds into a holding penalty by
David Karpa on Keith Primeau, with Daymond Langkow tipping the puck
past Irbe for his 10th goal.
"The bottom line is we've got our team on the same page with
things and I believe our players are getting rewarded because of
it," Flyers coach Bill Barber said.
Game notes
Carolina allowed a season-high 19 shots in the first
period. ... Irbe started his 36th straight game for the Hurricanes.
... Brind'Amour extended his assist streak to five games. ... The
Flyers have scored a power-play goal in a season-high five straight
games. ... The Hurricanes have allowed five shorthanded goals at
home, tying them for last in the NHL with Minnesota and the New
York Rangers. ... Carolina's 18 shots matched a season low.
|
|
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Philadelphia Clubhouse
Carolina Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 4
Carolina 3
Montreal 4
Washington 2
Minnesota 4
Los Angeles 1
Boston 4
New Jersey 3
Buffalo 2
NY Islanders 1
Toronto 3
NY Rangers 1
Columbus 2
Anaheim 1
Florida 3
Tampa Bay 2
Pittsburgh 5
Atlanta 1
Colorado 5
Nashville 1
San Jose 4
St. Louis 3
Vancouver 5
Calgary 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jeff O'Neill goes the length of the ice and beats Roman Cechmanek for a Carolina goal.
avi: 656 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
