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Richards lifts Flyers past Ducks in shootout

Jan 3, 2009 - 7:48 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Captain Mike Richards scored the lone goal in the shootout after collecting three assists in regulation as the Philadelphia Flyers edged the Anaheim Ducks, 5-4, on Friday.

Martin Biron made 23 saves before denying all three shooters in the bonus format for the Flyers, who have won back-to-back contests and jumped into a tie atop the Atlantic Division with the New York Rangers with 49 points.

"It's a huge two points," Philadelphia coach John Stevens said. "We just go into overtime and, obviously, we wanted to push the envelope and try to get the extra point, especially against a Western Conference team."

Defenseman Ossi Vaananen and Josh Gratton both netted their first goals of the season, while blue-liner Braydon Coburn and Mike Knuble also tallied in regulation for Philadelphia.

Corey Perry, Rob Niedermayer, rookie Andrew Ebbett and Ryan Getzlaf scored for the Ducks, who have lost five of their last six contests (1-3-2).

"I think this was the most intense game that we've played in a while," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "It was a good hockey game. From our side, we're taking a positive spin on it because we worked hard."

In the second round of the shootout, Richards fired a wrist shot that beat goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, finding the top corner of the net.

"I knew he was going to go down. I knew he was going to take the lower part of the net away," Richards said of the netminder. "I just kind of waited for him to make the first move, and when he went down, I just tried to go upstairs."

Biron, who already had made solid saves on Perry and Bobby Ryan in the bonus format, watched Getzlaf's ensuing attempt go wide, securing the win.

"I think all three of them had pretty good moves," Biron said of the shootout. "I think Bobby Ryan had a really good shot. He just probably didn't hit his spot. I think Getzlaf just fanned on it."

Perry tied the contest at 1-1 with 35 seconds left in the first period with his 10th goal, and the Ducks carried that momentum into the next session. Niedermayer scored 32 seconds into the second.

Ebbett, who was celebrating his 26th birthday, extended the advantage to 3-1 at 6:16 with his first career goal.

"It's a great feeling just to get it out of the way," Ebbett said. "Now I don't have to worry about that first one anymore. It would have been nicer if it had been in a win. It's my birthday, too, so it's especially nice."

But the Flyers halved the deficit 16 seconds later on Gratton's goal and evened the contest with 2:19 remaining in the period, when Coburn netted a power-play goal.

In an exciting final 2 1/2 minutes of the session, Anaheim reclaimed the lead on Getlaf's man-advantage goal with 74 seconds left. But Knuble tied the game at 4-4 just 14 seconds later with his 14th tally.

"It's good that we're coming back, it's bad that we're getting down," Richards said. "We're giving teams too much momentum off the start, and they're scoring on too many power plays. It's obviously something that we don't want to do, but it's nice to see the resilience."