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Big second period lifts Flyers past Senators

Nov 25, 2007 - 5:27 AM By Mark Robinson PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

OTTAWA (Ticker) - The Philadelphia Flyers took advantage of a struggling team playing without it's captain and most productive player on Saturday.

Daniel Briere and R. J. Umberger each had a goal and an assist as the Flyers beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-3, in come-from-behind fashion.

"We knew they've been going through some tough times lately so we wanted to come in here and get a win, and this one is huge for us". said Briere.

Playing without right wing Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa took an early lead when defenseman Wade Redden opened the scoring with a power-play tally at the 6:33 mark of the first session.

Redden's slap shot from the left point found it's way through traffic and beat Philadelphia goaltender Antero Niittymaki high on the stick side to put the Senators up 1-0.

The Ottawa lead was short-lived, however. Philadelphia responded 99 seconds later when Umberger scored his third goal of the season on a low wrist shot that snuck past Ottawa goaltender Martin Gerber's left pad. The shot seemed to surprise Gerber, who wasn't square to the play.

Ottawa left-winger Dany Heatley put the Senators up 2-1 when he skated into the Philadelphia zone and ripped a slap shot from the top of the right circle that appeared to glance off of Flyers defenseman Lasse Kukkonen's foot and beat Niittymaki on the glove side.

With that goal, Heatley extended his goal-scoring streak to five games. He also added an assist and now has nine goals and 10 assists in 18 career games against Philadelphia .

The Senators, who hadn't lost two in a row at home since dropping three straight from December 9-21, 2006, were coming off a 6-5 shootout loss against Pittsburgh on Thursday. They took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission, and were looking to win their fifth straight over Philadelphia after taking all four meetings between the teams last season.

"Obviously we wanted to come out tonight right the ship, but sometimes doing that is easier said than done." said Ottawa defenseman Wade Redden. "We knew it was going to be tough against a good team."

Less than a minute into the second period, the Flyers pulled even at 2-2 when left-winger Scott Hartnell blasted a slap shot of his own that beat Gerber cleanly over his glove.

That goal at the 58 second mark of the middle stanza was a harbinger of things to come for the Flyers. It was the second time Philadelphia bounced back from being down to Ottawa, and it wouldn't be the last.

Ottawa utility skater Christoph Schubert, playing at left-wing, gave Ottawa their third lead of the game when he chased a puck into the left corner of the Philadelphia zone and threw the puck toward the goal. Schubert was actually behind the net, but the puck hit Niittymaki and bounced into the goal behind him. That made it 3-2 for the Senators.

Philadelphia wasn't to be outdone and Flyer center Mike Richards tied the game once again at the 7:51 mark of the second period with a weak backhanded eluded Gerber and passed through his pads along the ice. That was the last shot Gerber would face, as Ottawa coach John Paddock elected to pull his starter from the game and insert backup goaltender Ray Emery.

"I didn't like the goals." said Paddock."Those kinds of saves have to be made. Routine saves have to be made. He's been doing that all year and he's been doing a great job for us, but you can't make the spectacular saves then turn around and not make the routine ones. So I felt we needed to make the change." Gerber faced 25 shots, allowing three goals in his 27:51 of work. The Flyers took the lead at 13:11 of the second period. It was a lead that would not be relinquished.

Philadelphia coach John Stevens was delighted with his team's effort and the road win. "I think we showed real character tonight." said Stevens. "Ottawa has been the class of the Eastern Conference so far this season. Repeatedly battling back like that really shows what we're made of."

Briere and Hartnell combined on a two-on-one and victimized Ottawa defenseman Chris Philips on a passing play that left Senators goaltender helpless. Hartnell flipped a pass through Philips to Briere who was skating toward the Ottawa net. Briere received the pass and tapped the puck past a sprawling Emery.

"It was a great heads up play by Scott Hartnell." said Briere. "Our line is starting to create some chemistry and that was a great example. Scotty sold it to their defender and sold it to Emery. All I had to do was push it in."

The Senators tried mounting a comeback of their own, but their offense sputtered.

"They played well." said Ottawa center Mike Fisher. "They skated hard and created opportunities for themselves. I think they outworked us for the most part. We had some chances in the third but couldn't come upwith one at the end. It's frustrating."

Ottawa was playing without their leading scorer and it showed. Alfredsson leads the Senators with 16 goals and 14 assists, but a groin injury he suffered during the overtime session on Thursday forced him to miss his first game on Saturday.

The Senators captain, who has spent his entire 12-year NHL career with Ottawa, hasn't missed more than five games in any of his last five seasons.

With the win over Ottawa, the Flyers are 13-7-2 on the season and they're looking to build some momentum.

"This was a big game for us." said Hartnell. "It was a chance for us to see how we stalk up against one of the best teams in the league, especially in their building. This is a big victory for us a big two points in the standings."