• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Carter scores twice as Flyers maintain mastery of Thrashers

Feb 9, 2009 - 12:49 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Jeff Carter recorded two goals and an assist and Antero Niittymaki and the Philadelphia Flyers once again got the best of the Atlanta Thrashers with a 3-2 victory on Sunday.

Niittymaki made 29 saves to lead the Flyers to their 14th consecutive victory over the Thrashers.

Philadelphia, which has now beaten Atlanta four times this season, has not lost to the Thrashers since November 18, 2005. The 28-year-old Niittymaki has been a major factor in that success, posting a 13-0-0 record against Atlanta during his career.

"It was a good effort from our team," Philadelphia coach John Stevens said. "Niittymaki seems really focused in practice. He played well, especially in the third period. If he continues to play well, he will continue to get time in the net."

"You need to be lucky, too," Niittymaki said. "I have been good in a couple of games against them. But when they scored goals, we've scored, too. There have been a couple of tough games. You need a little bit of luck, too."

Carter scored in the first period and netted his 100th career goal early in the third to give the Flyers a 3-0 advantage.

"A lot of guys stepped up," Carter said. "Every point counts right now."

All-Star Ilya Kovalchuk recorded a goal and an assist and Vyacheslav Kozlov also tallied for the Thrashers to make it 3-2, but Niittymaki and the Flyers held on.

Carter beat Thrashers goaltender Johan Hedberg to the glove side just over eight minutes into the opening session. Joffrey Lupul doubled the advantage with a tally 52 seconds into the second period.

"We played a great game," Hedberg said. "They did enough of what it takes to pick up a win. It's on us to be smarter with the puck early in games and not give them the turnovers that we did."

Carter recorded his 34th goal of the season just under three minutes into the third on the power play to give Philadelphia a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Atlanta responded when Kovalchuk unleashed a shot that trickled past Niittymaki for his 22nd goal of the campaign.

Kozlov made it a one-goal game with 6:56 remaining, when he beat Niittymaki from the right circle.

Both Atlanta goals came on the power play, giving it two power-play goals in the same game for the first time since December 30, a span of 17 games.

"No question, they had a lot more jump," Atlanta coach John Anderson said. "Our power play was struggling and got going because we began cycling down low a little bit better. We gave ourselves a chance to win. Our overall effort was way better. We played smarter, but it still wasn't good enough."