11/28/09 1-0 Loss SCORING 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total PHI 0 0 0 - - 0 ATL 0 1 0 - - 1 _______________________________ SHOTS 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total PHI 12 9 13 - - 34 ATL 3 12 3 - - 18

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Game Wrapup

Atlanta Thrashers 1, Philadelphia Flyers 0

Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) – Johan Hedberg stopped 34 shots to record his first shutout of the season, as Atlanta snapped a 14-game losing streak against Philadelphia with a 1-0 triumph at Philips Arena.

“That was a team effort. Every time a goalie has a good game, it was mostly because the team in front of him was playing well,” said Hedberg. “We spent a lot of time in the penalty box but still managed to keep them off the scoreboard.”

Rich Peverley provided the lone goal for the Thrashers, who hadn’t beaten Philly since a 6-5 overtime decision on November 18, 2005. Atlanta, which has won three in a row overall, also posted its first home win over the Flyers since December 21, 2003.

Brian Boucher made 17 saves in defeat for the Flyers, who have dropped five of their last six games. Philadelphia hadn’t been held scoreless in a game since March 1 at New Jersey.

Peverley’s one-timer off a pass from Pavel Kubina put Atlanta up 1-0 on a power play with 8:53 left in the second period. Hedberg backed up the lead by making nine saves, while Boucher stopped the remaining 11 shots he faced.

Hedberg continued to stay strong in the third period, surviving several close calls with the Flyers buzzing around his crease.

Scott Hartnell barely missed his chance, hitting the outside of the net with 2:23 left off a quick dish from Ian Laperriere.

Boucher was pulled with 1:49 left for an extra skater, and Jeff Carter’s sizzling wrister from the left circle with 46 seconds to go just missed the right post.

It proved to be the last quality chance for the visitors.

“You can’t get overly frustrated by it. That’s one of the things that are beyond your control,” Boucher said when asked if he’s disappointed in the result. “Sometimes you’re at the mercy of the team game. There’s gonna be nights where you lose a game like this even though you did a good enough job to win.”

Game Notes

Hedberg recorded his 12th career shutout and first since November 16, 2007 against Carolina…Atlanta’s Norm Maracle also blanked Philly, 1-0, making 26 stops on January 14, 2000…The Flyers played without Danny Briere, who finished serving his two-game suspension but is out with the flu, and forward Jared Ross who was on the wrong end of a hit from behind on Friday.
Last updated: November 28, 2009 at 10:25 PM

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Scoring Summary

1st Period
none

2nd Period
11:07 ATL PPG – Rich Peverley (10) Wrist Shot – Assists: P. Kubina (9) & M. Afinogenov (14)

3rd Period
none

Penalty Summary

1st Period
02:09 PHI Riley Cote : Fighting (maj) – 5 min
02:09 ATL Eric Boulton : Fighting (maj) – 5 min
05:03 PHI Braydon Coburn : Tripping – 2 min
13:15 ATL Johan Hedberg served by Maxim Afinogenov : Tripping – 2 min
16:03 ATL Maxim Afinogenov : Interference – 2 min

2nd Period
09:07 PHI Claude Giroux : Slashing – 2 min
10:58 PHI Ryan Parent : Tripping – 2 min
12:35 PHI Braydon Coburn : Interference – 2 min

3rd Period
00:12 ATL Colby Armstrong : Fighting (maj) – 5 min
00:12 PHI Arron Asham served by Daniel Carcillo : Instigator – 2 min
00:12 PHI Arron Asham : Fighting (maj) – 5 min
00:12 PHI Arron Asham : Misconduct (10 min) – 0 min
00:12 ATL Colby Armstrong served by Eric Boulton : Charging (maj) – 5 min
00:12 ATL Colby Armstrong : Game misconduct – 0 min
11:11 ATL Maxim Afinogenov : Tripping – 2 min
11:11 PHI Mike Richards : Holding – 2 min
14:35 ATL Christoph Schubert : Hi-sticking – 2 min

11/27/09 4-2 Loss SCORING 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total BUF 1 1 2 - - 4 PHI 2 0 0 - - 2 _______________________________ SHOTS 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total BUF 6 10 9 - - 25 PHI 10 8 15 - - 33

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Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) – Tim Connolly scored two goals — both in the third period — and added two assists, as the Buffalo Sabres won their second game in Philadelphia this season with a 4-2 victory over the Flyers.

Drew Stafford added a goal and an assist for the Sabres, who had lost a season-high four straight (0-3-1) since beating the Flyers at the Wachovia Center on November 14. Paul Gaustad also scored, while Ryan Miller made 31 saves to improve to an impressive 13-4-2 this season.

“I got some fortunate bounces, and after that it’s all about changing the flow of the game,” Miller said. “It’s crucial for us. We go home after back-to-back games feeling good about ourselves.”

Mike Richards and Braydon Coburn both scored for the Flyers, who have lost four of their last five games. Ray Emery allowed all four goals on 25 shots to lose his fourth straight start.

“We had some chances,” Richards said. “We just didn’t capitalize on them like they did tonight.”

Tied, 2-2, entering the third period, the Sabres moved in front on a goal with 14:33 left in the game. Connolly and Clarke MacArthur passed back and forth at the top of the offensive zone, and Connolly fired a perfect shot into the top left corner of the net for a 3-2 lead.

Connolly scored again with 9:08 remaining on a shot between the legs that bounced off defenseman Kimmo Timonen and went high in the air and over Emery for a two-goal advantage.

The Flyers pulled Emery with over three minutes to go but could not put a puck past Miller.

Stafford put the Sabres up early, as his pass toward the crease was deflected by Flyers defenseman Matt Carle’s stick and into the net at 8:19.

Philadelphia had an opportunity to get back in the game after Patrick Kaleta was given a boarding major and a game misconduct for a hit on Jared Ross, but the Flyers couldn’t capitalize on what amounted to a three-minute power play following a roughing minor on Riley Cote.

Late in the period, the hosts went in front on a pair of goals within a 30- second timeframe. James van Riemsdyk found Richards behind the defense for the first goal, as the Flyers captain when through Miller’s legs with 33.3 seconds remaining.

Then, with time winding down, Coburn ripped a slap shot from the left point that deflected off Connolly’s legs and into the top right corner of the net with 3.6 seconds on the clock for a 2-1 lead.

Buffalo tied the game with 13:51 left in the second on Gaustad’s deflection of Connolly’s slap shot while on the power play.

Game Notes

Buffalo Sabres captain Craig Rivet left the game in the third period with an apparent ankle injury…Flyers forward Daniel Briere served the second of a two-game suspension…Ross left the game and did not return after the hit by Kaleta.

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Scoring Summary

1st Period
08:19 BUF Drew Stafford (7) Wrist Shot – Assists: T. Connolly (14) & T. Lydman (1)
19:26 PHI Mike Richards (11) Backhand – Assists: J. van Riemsdyk (13) & J. Carter (14)
19:56 PHI Braydon Coburn (4) Snap Shot – Assists: A. Asham (3) & M. Pyorala (2)

2nd Period
06:09 BUF PPG – Paul Gaustad (6) Assists: T. Connolly (15) & C. Butler (7)

3rd Period
05:27 BUF Tim Connolly (5) Snap Shot – Assists: C. MacArthur (6) & T. Myers (7)
10:52 BUF Tim Connolly (6) Wrist Shot – Assists: D. Stafford (4) & S. Montador (4)

Penalty Summary

1st Period
02:05 BUF Jason Pominville : Tripping – 2 min
09:28 BUF Patrick Kaleta served by Adam Mair : Boarding (maj) – 5 min
09:28 PHI Riley Cote : Roughing – 2 min
09:28 BUF Patrick Kaleta : Game misconduct – 0 min
16:59 PHI Mike Richards : Roughing – 2 min

2nd Period
00:18 PHI Daniel Carcillo : Fighting (maj) – 5 min
00:18 BUF Craig Rivet : Fighting (maj) – 5 min
01:41 PHI Mika Pyorala : Hooking – 2 min
01:55 BUF Drew Stafford : Holding the stick – 2 min
05:39 PHI Oskars Bartulis : Holding – 2 min
09:20 PHI Daniel Carcillo : Fighting (maj) – 5 min
09:20 BUF Craig Rivet : Fighting (maj) – 5 min
09:20 PHI Daniel Carcillo : Misconduct (10 min) – 0 min
20:00 PHI Scott Hartnell : Roughing – 2 min
20:00 BUF Mike Grier : Roughing – 2 min

3rd Period
06:10 BUF Toni Lydman : Slashing – 2 min
11:16 BUF Chris Butler : Tripping – 2 min

Game 3 – Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

4/19/09 6-3 Win Penguins lead series 2-1 SCORING 1st 2nd 3rd OT Total PIT 1 1 1 - 3 PHI 2 2 2 - 6 _______________________________ SHOTS 1st 2nd 3rd OT Total PIT 11 8 10 - 29 PHI 7 14 9 - 30

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Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) – Simon Gagne netted a pair of goals, as the Philadelphia Flyers posted a strong 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at Wachovia Center.

Claude Giroux contributed a goal and assist for the Flyers, who climbed back into the series after dropping the first two games in Pittsburgh.

Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and Jared Ross also hit the net for Philadelphia, and Martin Biron stopped 26 shots for the win.

Evgeni Malkin tallied twice for the Penguins, who dropped their first road playoff contest since Game 2 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals in Detroit.

Rob Scuderi added a goal while Sidney Crosby picked up a pair of helpers. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed five goals on 29 shots in defeat.

Game 4 is set for Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Ross opened the scoring in the third with his first career playoff tally. Andrew Alberts didn’t get all of his slap-pass from the point, but the puck came to the Alabama native at the right post and he flipped it home at 3:42 and the Flyers were ahead 5-2.

While on an extended power play due to a double minor for high sticking to Danny Briere, the Pens got back within two as Malkin ripped a shot through traffic and off the far post 8 1/2 minutes in.

Fleury went to the bench for an extra attacker with just under two minutes to play and Gagne hit the empty net at 18:24 to seal the win.

Carter put the Flyers on the board 2:59 into the contest, taking a Joffrey Lupul feed in the high slot, faking a Pens defender then beating Fleury with a backhander.

Philly went up 2-0 on the power play at 5:14, as Gagne set up a screen just outside the slot to mask a Richards shot which slid through Fleury’s pads.

Malkin got a goal back for the Pens with a sizzling one-timer off a Ruslan Fedotenko dish only 12 seconds before the end of the first, and Scuderi’s point drive along the ice tied the game 13 seconds into the second period.

Giroux put the orange and black back on top at 4:32, when he broke free from a checker and was wide open to tap in a spinning feed from Briere.

He helped make it 4-2 for the home team while shorthanded, keeping possession deep in the Penguins zone and circling the net from right to left until finding Gagne at the side of the net for a tip-in at 8:58.

Game Notes

Gagne’s score was the first short-handed tally thus far in the entire postseason…In a 2000 Eastern Conference semifinal series, the Penguins won the first two games but Philadelphia reeled off four straight wins to take the series…Flyers forward Dan Carcillo returned from serving his one-game suspension for an incident in Wednesday’s Game 1…Briere posted two assists for the Flyers…Each side was whistled for 11 penalties…Penguins forward Jordan Staal and defenseman Sergei Gonchar each finished minus-three.

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Game Summary

Scoring Summary

PHI 2:59 Goal scored by Jeff Carter (1) Assisted by Joffrey Lupul (1) and Scott Hartnell (1)
PHI 5:14 Power-Play Goal scored by Mike Richards (1) Assisted by Michael Knuble (1) and Daniel Briere (1)
PIT 19:48 Goal scored by Evgeni Malkin (3) Assisted by Ruslan Fedotenko (1)

Penalty Summary

PIT 4:48 2 minute penalty on Jordan Staal for Holding
PHI 5:43 5 minute penalty on Scott Hartnell for Fighting
PIT 5:43 5 minute penalty on Chris Kunitz for Fighting
PIT 6:10 2 minute penalty on Tyler Kennedy for Roughing
PHI 6:10 2 minute penalty on Claude Giroux for Roughing
PHI 6:10 2 minute penalty on Claude Giroux for Elbowing
PIT 6:10 5 minute penalty on Kristopher Letang for Fighting
PHI 6:10 5 minute penalty on Darroll Powe for Fighting
PHI 9:56 2 minute penalty on Jeff Carter for Interference
PIT 13:19 2 minute penalty on Matt Cooke for Cross-checking

2nd Period

Scoring Summary

PIT 0:13 Goal scored by Robert Scuderi (1) Assisted by Sidney Crosby (3) and Chris Kunitz (1)
PHI 4:32 Goal scored by Claude Giroux (1) Assisted by Daniel Briere (2) and Darroll Powe (1)
PHI 8:55 Short-Handed Goal scored by Simon Gagne (2) Assisted by Claude Giroux (2)

Penalty Summary

PIT 5:35 2 minute penalty on Evgeni Malkin for Hooking
PHI 7:47 2 minute penalty on Mike Richards for Holding
PHI 11:50 2 minute penalty on Mike Richards for Slashing
PHI 16:23 2 minute penalty on Jeff Carter for Slashing
PIT 16:37 2 minute penalty on Evgeni Malkin for Hooking

3rd Period

Scoring Summary

PHI 3:42 Goal scored by Jared Ross (1) Assisted by Andrew Alberts (1) and Arron Asham (1)
PIT 8:30 Power-Play Goal scored by Evgeni Malkin (4) Assisted by Sergei Gonchar (4) and Sidney Crosby (4)
PHI 18:24 Empty Net Goal scored by Simon Gagne (3) Assisted by Braydon Coburn (3)

Penalty Summary

PIT 5:39 2 minute penalty on Robert Scuderi for Cross-checking
PHI 6:22 2 minute penalty on Daniel Briere for High-sticking
PHI 6:22 2 minute penalty on Daniel Briere for High-sticking
PHI 11:10 2 minute penalty on Simon Gagne for Roughing
PIT 11:10 2 minute penalty on Chris Kunitz for Roughing
PIT 11:10 2 minute penalty on Chris Kunitz for Goaltender Interference

10/11/08 4-3 Loss SCORING 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total NYR 4 0 0 - - 4 PHI 0 2 1 - - 3 _______________________________ SHOTS 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total NYR 14 9 4 - - 27 PHI 9 12 7 - - 28

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Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) – Nikolai Zherdev picked up a goal and one assist, and Michal Rozsival netted the game-winner as the New York Rangers held off a furious rally to top the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3, at the Wachovia Center.

Blair Betts and Fredrik Sjostrom also lit the lamp for the Rangers, who rode a four-goal first period to the victory. The club improved to 4-0 for the first time since starting the 1983-84 campaign with five consecutive wins.

Stephen Valiquette made 25 stops for his first win of the season.

Scott Hartnell, Simon Gagne and Mike Richards tallied for the Flyers, who have dropped three of their last four home openers. Daniel Briere picked up two helpers in the loss.

Martin Biron had a horrible start, allowing four goals on 14 shots through 16- plus minutes before his departure. Antero Niittymaki stopped all 13 shots he faced for the remainder of the contest.

When Rozsival netted the fourth Rangers goal of the first period — another power-play tally — at 16:13, Biron’s night was over in favor of Niittymaki.

The Flyers came within 4-1 with 3:13 gone in the second, as Glen Metropolit won a left-circle draw back to Hartnell for a one-timer high over Valiquette’s glove.

Gagne tallied his first goal of the season with 3:51 to play in the period, as he settled a loose puck in front and managed to get it past a fallen Valiquette.

After wasting a power play chance in the opening minutes of the third, Philly crept within 4-3 at 5:38. Briere cruised down the right wing and waited until the last second to dish into the crease, where Richards tipped the puck home.

Rangers forward Scott Gomez hit the crossbar on a power-play shot prior to the midway point of the period, and Richards’ tip a few minutes later ringed off the left post.

The Flyers then squandered a two-man advantage and Valiquette stoned Richards from 10 feet out with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.

Niittymaki was called to the bench with under a minute to go and Valiquette made two more stops down the stretch to lock up the game for New York.

Zherdev took a rebound and netted the first goal of the contest at 4:12 just as a Rangers’ man-advantage expired.

A little more than a minute later Zherdev fed Betts for a one-timer in the slot which beat Biron for a 2-0 New York lead.

Sjostrom beat Flyers defenseman Lasse Kukkonen to a dump-in behind Biron, circled the net and snuck a stuffer into an empty cage at 8:30 to put the Blueshirts ahead by three.
Game Notes

The Rangers have won 11 of the last 13 games in Philadelphia since 2005…Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin was involved in a ceremonial pre-game puck drop…Philadelphia missed defensemen Ryan Parent (shoulder) and Randy Jones (hip), both of whom are out of the lineup long- term…Philly backliner Luca Sbisa and forward Jared Ross made their NHL debuts…The Flyers fell to 23-12-6 all-time in 41 home openers, and dropped to 6-4-2 when starting the year at the Wachovia Center.

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Scoring

New York Rangers:
1. N. Zherdev (A. Voros, D. Girardi) 4:12 1st Pd
2. B. Betts (N. Zherdev, D. Girardi) 5:15 1st Pd
3. F. Sjostrom (B. Betts, C. Orr) 8:30 1st Pd
4. M. Rozsival (S. Gomez, M. Naslund) 16:13 1st Pd

Philadelphia Flyers:
5. S. Hartnell (G. Metropolit) 3:13 2nd Pd
6. S. Gagne (D. Briere) 16:09 2nd Pd
7. M. Richards (D. Briere, S. Eminger) 5:38 3rd Pd

Penalties

New York Rangers:
C. Orr (Fighting) 1:48 1st Pd
P. Mara (Roughing) 15:17 1st Pd
B. Dubinsky (Fighting) 16:23 1st Pd
F. Sjostrom (Holding) 6:04 2nd Pd
P. Mara (Roughing) 12:31 2nd Pd
S. Gomez (Roughing) 19:25 2nd Pd
D. Kalinin (Slashing) 3:00 3rd Pd
B. Dubinsky (Stick Holding) 10:25 3rd Pd
S. Gomez (Hooking) 10:51 3rd Pd

Philadelphia Flyers:
R. Cote (Fighting) 1:48 1st Pd
J. Ross (Holding) 2:11 1st Pd
M. Richards (Roughing) 15:17 1st Pd
D. Briere (Goaltender Interference) 15:17 1st Pd
M. Richards (Fighting) 16:23 1st Pd
M. Knuble (Tripping) 2:25 2nd Pd
B. Coburn (Boarding) 10:37 2nd Pd
L. Sbisa (Tripping) 17:02 2nd Pd
B. Coburn (Holding) 8:52 3rd Pd