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Richards scores in OT as Flyers edge Rangers

Mar 26, 2008 - 4:43 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Daniel Briere called it a big-time play, while Mike Richards described it as lucky. Either way, there was no mistaking the magnitude of it for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Richards scored 2:16 into overtime to lift the Flyers to a 2-1 comeback victory over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.

Philadelphia (39-28-10), which won its fourth in a row, climbed within one point of New York (39-26-11) for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers have gained four out of a possible six points in their last three meetings with the Rangers and improved to 9-3-3 following a 10-game losing streak.

Most of that was accomplished without Richards, who missed nine games with a hamstring injury. But since returning, the All-Star has scored four goals in his last six contests.

"It keeps the transition going for him," Briere said. "He's getting better and better. He's playing solid, and that's a big-time play at this time of the season (with) the situation we're in to get a goal like that in overtime. That's the type of player that he needs to be. He's becoming even better than people are expecting, and that's great to see."

"He's a good guy, and the way he's been playing this year, obviously he's huge," Philadelphia defenseman Kimmo Timonen added. "He scored a big goal today, so getting him back in the lineup, obviously it's huge."

Richards was able to score after Philadelphia captain Jason Smith forced New York's Sean Avery into a turnover. After receiving a pass in the neutral zone, Richards skated past New York defenseman Marek Malik and swept a backhander past goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and inside the right goalpost.

"I was going to go forehand and try to go upstairs, but he was right there and the puck kind of hopped up on me and just trickled over his pads," Richards said. "We got a little bit lucky there."

"I'm very disappointed with how it happened," Avery said. "I made a terrible pass and they went on to score. We made two mistakes, primarily both by me, and that's the difference in the game."

Besides gaining on the Rangers, the Flyers also remained two points ahead of the eighth-place Boston Bruins (38-28-10), who defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

"The No. 1 objective is to get into the playoffs," Flyers goaltender Martin Biron said. "No. 2 is to just keep working on your game. That was a big step for us tonight."

Biron helped the Flyers take another step by making 31 saves. He allowed just a goal by captain Jaromir Jagr 1:41 into the contest but made several key stops to help Philadelphia improve to just 3-21-5 when trailing after 40 minutes.

"It's easy to come back when everyone's playing well," Richards said. "Marty kept us in it tonight and the last couple of games, it just seems like every night, everyone's battling for each other. It's different lines stepping up and different people."

The Flyers had scored seven goals in their previous two games with the Rangers but had none on 12 shots through two periods in this one. That changed just 7:32 into the third, when Briere scored his 30th of the season by finishing off a pretty passing play with Vaclav Prospal.

After defenseman Jaroslav Modry kept the puck in the offensive zone near the left point, he sent a pass to Briere low in the left faceoff circle. Briere fed Prospal in the slot before receiving a return pass, which he buried for his 30th goal of the season and fourth in three games.

"That was huge," Briere said. "Lately, we've dropped a couple of games where in the third period, we're up by a goal or two and we find ways to lose it. So that was huge for us to come back in the game, tie it up and find a way to win it in overtime."

The Rangers played without leading scorer Scott Gomez, who bruised his ribs Friday in Philadelphia. They also earned a point in their fourth straight game but fell two back of fifth place in the East.

"We lost a big point tonight," New York coach Tom Renney said. "That is the most important thing to recognize."

Jagr opened the scoring when he beat Timonen to the puck and dug it out of the right corner. He skated to the bottom of the right faceoff circle and, as rookie Brandon Dubinsky set a screen in front of Biron, Jagr fired a wrist shot that found its way into the net.

The goal was Jagr's 20th of the season, marking the 17th time in as many NHL seasons the Czech has reached the plateau.

After that, New York failed to capitalize on several scoring chances and also continued its struggles on the power play with an 0-for-4 showing.

"We had some chances," Jagr said. "There were a lot of scoring chances, and a 1-0 lead is not enough. Sooner or later, somebody is going to make a mistake, and that's what happened."