[Drew]

FLYERS TAME THE WILD

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -Jeff Carter had a goal and an assist and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Wednesday night for their fourth straight road win.

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.

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. Scottie 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. 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 more 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.

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.

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.

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 didn't return.

[dudebeer]

I don't get this team right now, but very nice win. Going hard to the net, thats the flyers game and if we keep doing that and play good in the neutral zone, we should have no problem in fighting for the division title. I'm just finding hard to believe the flyers just had control of the game so well over a team that is so defensive and disaplined, and good pk. Get ready colarodo, here we come!!!

[The Mac]

Couple of comments about this game. Pk played great, Hatcher and Smith had wonderful nights in this area and defensively in general. You see Hatcher cut off that breakout pass that Johnsson tried to slip to Gaborik? Denied! It was nice that the pk unit rose to the challenge, but anyone else think the penalty calling was a little one sided? Aaaaaaanyhoo....
Mike Richards 5 game point streak ends. This is sad, but how about that Carter, Upshall, Tolpeko line! I love me some balanced scoring. If they keep playing like that we are going to be tough to stop. Who are people gonna stack their D against?
Good to see 27 back in orange and black. He looked good battling for the puck getting his nose in there. Hope to see him a lot more. When do we get Ottawa again? That'll be fun.
Okay, thanks for letting me get that out of my system. I'm always watching the Flyers out here in the middle of the state and sometimes I feel surrounded by Penguins fans. Glad I found this website.

[Jlg-28]

good game, good win, nice to see other guys get goals for a change, toguh game when we go to colorado, bhut should be a good one

[Drew]

Originally Posted by The Mac

Glad I found this website.

Welcome aboard, brother. Howd ya find us?

[The Mac]

Originally Posted by Drew

Welcome aboard, brother. Howd ya find us?

I was avoiding work by surfing Flyers info like I normally do and came across votemikerichards dot com. There was a link from there. That's another great website, by the way, Richy deserves a spot on that team. At least if we make enough of a splash they might consider putting him on the lead ballot for next year. We should have many more all star seasons to come with that kid!

[Andy]

Originally Posted by The Mac

I was avoiding work by surfing Flyers info like I normally do and came across votemikerichards dot com. There was a link from there. That's another great website, by the way, Richy deserves a spot on that team. At least if we make enough of a splash they might consider putting him on the lead ballot for next year. We should have many more all star seasons to come with that kid!

Funny that you say that. Drew and I are in charge of that, too!

Anyway, I like you. Welcome to the HIVE.