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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Eric Desjardins surprised himself more than
anyone.
Desjardins scored on a long slap shot and Roman Cechmanek made
22 saves for his fifth shutout as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the
New York Islanders 2-0 Thursday night.
Desjardins broke a scoreless tie with his 10th goal on a
70-footer from well outside the blue line that sailed past
goaltender Rick DiPietro's glove just 2:38 into the third period.
"I was just trying to put it on the net," Desjardins said.
"Maybe I surprised him a bit. It was a great surprise for me."
The 19-year-old DiPietro, the No. 1 overall pick in last June's
draft, made 26 saves in his second start. He had 29 saves in a 2-1
loss to Buffalo last Saturday.
DiPietro will remember Desjardins' shot for a while.
"It was a pretty hard shot. It kept rising," he said. "It's a
save you've got to make. It's something you hope never happens
again."
Mark Recchi added an empty-net goal for Philadelphia, which has
won six of seven, including a dominating 5-1 victory over Mario
Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.
"We were spent from last night, energy-wise and emotionally,"
Flyers coach Bill Barber said. "But in the third period we found a
way to get through it."
The Islanders, coming off a 3-2 victory over New Jersey on
Wednesday, were seeking their second consecutive win for the first
time since winning their fourth straight on Nov. 1.
"Obviously we miss (Roman) Hamrlik and (Brad) Isbister,"
Islanders coach Butch Goring said about the two injured starters
who are tied for second on the team in scoring. "There is no
question we don't have a lot of offense and when you take two guys
out of your lineup, it's going to have some sort of effect on your
team."
The Flyers squandered six power plays -- all in the first two
periods -- after scoring at least one goal with a man advantage in
eight straight games.
DiPietro made a nice glove save on a shot by Dan McGillis, then
a pad save on Chris Therien during a power play in the second
period. He stopped McGillis twice on Philadelphia's sixth power
play late in the second.
Simon Gagne hit the far post on a breakaway in the first, the
best scoring chance for either team in the first 40 minutes.
"We knew it was going to be a dangerous game," Recchi said.
"New Jersey let them hang around the other night and they came
back and won."
Cechmanek faced only one shot in the first period, but stopped
13 in the second. He made a nice save on Mariusz Czerkawski with
3:30 left in the game.
The 29-year-old first-year goaltender lowered his goals-against
average to 2.00.
Cechmanek, a sixth-round pick who started the season with the
AHL's Philadelphia Phantoms, is heading to Sunday's All-Star game
as a member of the World Team.
"It was one of my better games," Cechmanek said.
Game notes
Flyers defenseman Luke Richardson became the 159th player to
play in 1,000 games. Richardson is in his fourth season with
Philadelphia and 14th overall. ... Terry Murray, who coached the
Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals in 1997, rejoined the team as a
scout Thursday. Murray was fired by Florida in December. ... The
Islanders have the league's second-worst record on the road at
5-14-4-1. ... Flyers defenseman Andy Delmore was a healthy scratch
for the second straight game after playing in every game this
season. ... Islanders goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, a former
Flyer, did not dress after making 36 saves in Wednesday's victory
over the Devils. ... Recchi's goal gave him 400 points as a Flyer.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
NY Islanders Clubhouse
Philadelphia Clubhouse
RECAPS
Montreal 3
Boston 0
Philadelphia 2
NY Islanders 0
Washington 5
Toronto 4
Carolina 3
Atlanta 1
Tampa Bay 4
Buffalo 2
Columbus 2
St. Louis 2
Calgary 5
Chicago 3
Anaheim 4
Phoenix 2
Dallas 4
San Jose 2
Vancouver 5
Colorado 3
Nashville 6
Los Angeles 4
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Eric Desjardins makes it look easy with his long slap-shot goal.
avi: 570 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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