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Carter, Kalinski fuel Flyers past Canucks

Dec 31, 2008 - 7:02 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- Jeff Carter recorded his league-leading 27th goal and added an assist as the Philadelphia Flyers snapped a two-game losing streak with a 3-2 triumph over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

Rookie Jon Kalinski netted his first career NHL goal and Scott Hartnell also tallied for Philadelphia, which has 10 wins and four ties since its last loss in Vancouver on January 17, 1989.

Martin Biron finished with 29 saves for the Flyers.

"There were some great chances at both ends there and Marty made the great saves at the key times of the hockey game," Philadelphia coach John Stevens said. "That's what you need to win on the road against good teams."

"Tonight (the) third period was big, but the way we played all the way through the first two periods, I think gave us a chance (and) gave myself a chance to be in that position in the third to be able to make a difference," Biron said. "It was what we needed after coming out of the Christmas break."

Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler scored for Vancouver, which is 1-3-0 in its last four games.

"I don't think we really think about closing out the year," Kesler said. "We need these two points and we didn't get them."

"We battled hard, but we need wins," defenseman Kevin Bieksa said. "We need points right now. We've got to score some more goals. We're getting the chances, we're generating a lot."

Curtis Sanford stopped seven of nine shots before he was replaced by Cory Schneider, who finished with 19 saves for the Canucks.

"Curtis, this morning during practice, tweaked his groin," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. "We didn't know if he'd be able to go tonight, and after warmup he said he'd like to try. Obviously he wasn't good enough to play and we're going to have to put him on (injured reserve) here for a period of time. We don't know. It's probably going to be week-to-week."

After opening the scoring with his 27th goal, Carter set up Hartnell to net the Flyers a 2-1 lead with 2:21 remaining in the first period.

Kalinski gave Philadelphia a two-goal advantage just 2:36 into the second period after Josh Gratton's attempted feed was denied, sending the loose puck to the rookie. Kalinski made no mistake by beating a fallen Schneider for his first career goal.

"It's great especially getting your first one," Kalinski said. "It was a game-winner, I guess that's just a bonus."

"It's just nice to see a guy like that get his first one," Hartnell said of Kalinski. "Probably he had some family in the stands I'm sure. Especially being the game-winner too, it's nice to see him do well. He just had an ear-to-ear grin on his face and it's just nice to see."

Kesler brought the Canucks within one midway through the period, but Vancouver could not solve Biron again.

The Flyers did receive some bad news just 15 seconds into the game as Simon Gagne left the contest with an upper body injury.

Gagne, who was on the receiving end of a hit by Bieksa, retreated to the locker room and did not return.

"I was really proud of our team the way they stepped up," Stevens said. "(Gagne) goes down first shift and I thought guys in his absence just did a heck of a job. Claude Giroux moved up and played huge minutes and played a whale of a hockey game."