PHILADELPHIA - Four 1st period goals by Philadelphia sealed Ottawa's fate and gave the Flyers their first season series win over the Senators since the 1997-98 season.

The Flyers, who have suddenly reemerged as an Easten Conference powerhouse after nearly 2 1/2 months of inconsistency and futility, used an unlikely offensive explosion early in the game to propel themselves to a 6-3 victory over the Senators at the Wachovia Center on Saturday night.

Petr Nedved started the scoring for the Flyers a mere 35 seconds into the game, and they never looked back. A shot by Joni Pitkanen was blocked off in front, and Nedved managed to gather the rebound before making a turn and whipping a wristshot past Ottawa goaltender Ray Emery.

The recently acquired Niko Dimitrakos then made it a 2-0 game at the 2:01 mark when he grabbed the rebound of a Jeff Carter shot and tucked the puck through the 5-hole of Emery.

Carter would then tally a goal of his own and did it first by leading the charge into the Senators' zone. Once he got down low, he was able to strip a turning Ottawa defenseman of the puck and move in unhindered on the hapless Emery. A wristshot in close gave Carter his 19th goal of the year, and the Flyers a 3-0 lead less than 7 minutes into the game.

But the carnage would continue, and the Flyers would make it a 4-0 lead at the 8:33 point of the 1st when Michal Handzus scored his 10th of the year. Nedved got the play going by moving into the zone and gaining possession along the back boards before passing to Handzus, who completed the play with a wrap-around goal. Emery was then pulled out of the game in favor of newcomer Mike Morrison.

The win moved the Flyers into a tie with the New York Rangers for 1st place in the Atlantic Division and 3rd place in the Eastern Conference. It is also the first 4 game winning streak for the Flyers since the end of December. Philly has also won 5 of their last 6 games, and 7 of the last 10. Ottawa had their own 4 game winning streak snapped, but have lost just 3 times in their last 15 games.

The four early goals were the result of some intense and persistent offensive play by the Flyers that would carry on basically throughout the entire game. Hard forechecking, great play deep in the Ottawa zone, and the stellar goaltending of Antero Niittymaki would give the Flyers everything they needed to earn the win over one of the NHL's best.

Niittymaki strengthened his case for being the Flyers playoff goalie, as the decision remains unclear at this point. His 33 saves kept the gap wide for the Flyers, even when Ottawa was able to show why they are amongst the NHL's best. It was Niittymaki's 3rd straight win, and his 3rd start in the Flyers' last 4 games.

The fast and furious play would pick right back up in the 2nd period, but this time the Senators were actually able to cash in on one of the rushes. Ottawa scored the only goal of the 2nd period when Brian Pothier tallied a power play goal by blasting a slapshot from the top of the right circle that Niittymaki never saw. The goal was the Senators' 275th goal of the season, breaking a franchise record.

However, the Flyers would never let the Senators get any closer than that, and Peter Forsberg did his part to be sure of it. His deflection of a Joni Pitkanen shot riccocheted off the goal post and slipped behind Morrison to make the score 5-1. It was Forsberg's 19th goal of the year, and the second of two assists by Pitkanen. Pitkanen has now tallied 10 assists in his last 6 games.

Dany Heatley and Antoine Vermette also scored for the Senators in the 3rd period, but an unlikely goal by Donald Brashear kept the game well in hand for Philly. His 4th goal came as the result of a mad scramble in front of the Ottawa net, and Morrison was unable to gather the puck to keep it from bouncing through.

Brashear also made his presence felt with a fight against Ottawa big man Brian McGrattan, but was unable to score a decisive win. Brash and McGrattan fought to what appeared to be a draw and would continue to jaw at one another throughout the night, almost throwing fists once more before the end of the night.

NOTES: The Rangers were able to earn a point from a shootout loss to the Lightning tonight, preventing the Flyers from taking sole possesion of 1st in the division...Niko Dimitrakos looked to be seriously injured in the 1st period when he was hit in the face by a shot, but returned nearly unscathed later in the period.